What a century it’s been. It was 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution exploded, resulting in the Soviet Union declaring Moscow as the capital. “Imagine Moscow: Architecture, Propaganda, Revolution”—running March 15 to June 4 at the new home of the Design Museum, London—looks back at the city in the 1920’s and ’30’s via models, plans, and drawings for projects that were proposed but never realized. Among them are the Palace of the Soviets, architect Boris Mihailovich Iofan’s concept for the world’s tallest building, and Cloud Iron, a complex of ground-scrapers envisioned by El Lissitzky. The latter’s series of prints for an avant-garde opera are also being presented alongside posters, magazines, textiles, and porcelain. “Designs from this period inspire the work of contemporary architects,” curator Eszter Steierhoffer says. “And the radical ideas remain relevant to cities today.”
Drawing on rarely seen material, Imagine Moscow presents an idealistic vision of the Soviet capital that was never realised. Large-scale architectural drawings are supported by artwork, propaganda and publications from the period. Taken together, these unbuilt projects suggest an alternative reality for the city, offering a unique insight into the culture of the time.
Each of the six projects presented in the exhibition introduce a theme relevant to life and ideology in the Soviet Union: collectivisation, urban planning, aviation, communication, industrialisation, communal living and recreation.