House of Soviets (Rostov-on-Don)

The House of Soviets (Russian: Дом Советов, Dom Sovetov) is an administrative building in the centre of Rostov-on-Don built in Stalinist style in the late 1930s. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the House of Soviets had not yet been fully completed. Repair and restoration work were carried out only in the 1950s, and the facades of the building were completed only in 1968. The total volume of the Rostov House of Soviets is 370,000 cubic meters, which makes it one of the largest buildings in the North Caucasus and the largest administrative structure in Southern Russia.

House of Soviets
Дом Советов
Main façade of the House of Soviets behind Soviets Square
General information
TypeAdmonistrative building
Architectural styleStalinist architecture
LocationRostov-on-Don, Russia
Coordinates47°07′54″N 39°25′53″E
Construction started1935
Completed1956
Design and construction
ArchitectIlya Golosov
Other designersVladimir Grigor, Vladimir Simonovich

History and description

The House of Soviets is situated at the historic center of Rostov-on-Don, at Soviets Square. It was initially planned that the building would have 1000 rooms, a conference hall, canteens, a post office, a hairdresser, buffets, a printing house and other services. The highest floor were to be in a form of the cylindrical body with a conference hall. However, this high-altitude project did not have enough time to be finished, and what had been already built, was badly damaged during German occupation of the city in 1942. Eight-story building during the post-war reconstruction partially lost its originally planned appearance. The facades were deprived of tape glazing - it was simply laid with brick, it was made in relief, a heavy portal was installed above the main entrance to the building with huge pilasters of rectangular cross section. The authors of the new project of the facade were architects Vladimir Grigor and Vladimir Simonovich.[1]

The project of Rostov House of Soviets was completed in 1929-1934 by architect Ilya Golosov. On the site chosen for the administrative building, until 1930 stod the Church of Alexander Nevsky. In 1935, the foundation of the House of Soviets was laid.[2] The construction works were carried out at an insufficient rate. Construction, basically, was completed by 1941. Before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the finishing works were not fully completed, although the building partly was already in use. In the post-war period, taking advantage of the lack of funds from the city, the Ministry of Defense proposed that the House of Soviets to be rebuilt by German prisoners of war under the condition of alienating 80% of the usable area. The city was forced to agree, and so now this building in the most prestigious district of Rostov-on-Don is now partly occupied by the so-called Watch factory. Only the last two wings of the House of Soviets, facing the Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, and the central rizalit are occupied by the Administration of Rostov Oblast.[1][3]

References
  1. "Советский конструктивизм". Rostov-Region. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  2. Максим Штаханов. "Архитектура Ростова-на-Дону советского периода". Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  3. Вера Волошинова. "Ростов-на-Дону: Дом Советов". Portalus. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
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