33

p Soon after the transfer of the Soviet Government from Petrograd to Moscow in 1918, Lenin asked Zholtovsky, the architect, to come and see him.

p Ivan Zholtovsky took from his side-pocket a thick folded sheet of paper and as he reread it he thought again of the fact that Lenin had indicated not only the hour of the appointment and the address—the former City Duma—but even the floor and the room number, to help Zholtovsky save time in finding his way.

p He wondered what the head of the Soviet Government wanted to see him about. Was it really new construction— and this at a time when the Soviet State was confronted by a host of outstanding problems, when it was hard pressed by enemies on all sides and beset by ruin, famine and disease?

p Punctual to the minute, Zholtovsky knocked at the door Lenin had indicated. He was met by a young secretary with short-cropped hair.

p “You must be Comrade Zholtovsky? Vladimir Ilyich is ready to see you,” she said.

p Zholtovsky walked in. Lenin rose from his desk, walked forward briskly, with his head slightly inclined to one side, and warmly shook his hand. He motioned invitingly towards the armchair.

p “Did my invitation come as a surprise, Ivan Vladislavovich?" Lenin asked.

34

p “I was very glad to get it, Vladimir Ilyich,” answered Zholtovsky quite frankly, still feeling somewhat nervous.

p “We are badly in need of your assistance and experience.”

p “I shall be happy to oblige in any way I can, Vladimir Ilyich.”

p “Comrade Lunacharsky thinks very highly of you and believes you are the best man to carry out some of our plans.”

p “I am greatly flattered, Vladimir Ilyich, and am entirely at your service.”

p Lenin’s face lit up with a soft smile.

p “You will admit, I’m sure, that this is quite a surprise: all of a sudden and at such a difficult time, the Bolsheviks broach the subject of long-term plans for Moscow’s reconstruction and new building?”

p “The reconstruction and new building of Moscow?" Zholtovsky echoed. "But that’s wonderful!”

p “You are a man of action, and let’s come straight to the point: the Soviet Government invites you to take charge of all this work. I have heard that you have already done something in this direction in the newly established design office. I should like to know whether you have the basic idea of a future plan.”

p Lenin’s posture as he sat in the armchair by Zholtovsky’s side—with his head on his hand, a kindly twinkle in his eyes—imparted a sense of homeliness and ease and took the official edge off the conversation.

p Zholtovsky suddenly felt a wave of relief, and now, with Lenin talking to him about what he knew and liked so well, at once regained his composure.

Zholtovsky believed that the main idea behind Moscow’s development plan should be to build up the areas leading to Vorobyovy Hills  [34•*  and around Novodevichy Convent. He explained that the prevailing 35 winds in the city were southwesterly, which made Vorobyovy Hills the healthiest place for new residential areas.

I. Zholtovsky

p “That’s a splendid idea,"

p exclaimed Lenin and rose to pace the floor. " Vorobyovy Hills, Vorobyovy Hills!" he repeated. "You remember, of course, that it was there that Herzen and Ogarev pledged their friendship. It will not be a bad thing at all if the Bolsheviks start building the new Moscow in that area. Not bad at all, and rather symbolic, I should say.”

p Lenin stopped short in front of Zholtovsky and looked at him with his keen and friendly gaze. Zholtovsky found himself rising, but Lenin gently but insistently made him sit back in his armchair.

p “Tell me about yourself and your work. I know very little about you.”

p For a moment Zholtovsky felt confused and embarrassed: talking to Lenin about yourself was no easy matter. What could he tell about himself? That he had graduated from the Academy of Arts with a gold medal for designing the House of the People? That he had reconstructed the Yusupov Palace in Petrograd, and built the Byelovezhsky Palace? That he had also built the Racing Club in Moscow and numerous mansions for the rich, and had been to Italy? 36 All this would hardly be of interest to Lenin, he thought. Or should he tell Lenin that he, an academician of architecture since 1909, had for many years been carrying on a one-man struggle against the degradation of architectural style in Russia?

p He found it appropriate to mention only his design of the House of the People, of which he was really proud. Impetuously, he also expressed his aversion for modern eclecticism.

p “Many consider that I am old-fashioned and conservative in my views on architecture. But I can’t help myself, I would reject eclecticism at the stake. I must confess that I have thoroughly studied the beautiful creations of the Italian master-builders, the classics of the 15th and 16th centuries—Brunellesco, Rossellino, Alberti and Palladio. That is immortal beauty indeed! We have a lot to learn from the classics.”

p “I, too, have a weakness for beauty, for genuine beauty in art,” said Lenin. "I believe that now you will not be alone in your strivings. There are so many things that demand our immediate attention at present, but I assure you that we will come to that too, in time. And we will then proclaim for all to hear that we must in every way strive towards beauty, using it as a model for the development of art and culture in socialist society.”

p Lenin walked up to the window and stopped in meditation.

p “It is good that you started your architectural career with the building of the House of the People, and there is no need for you to feel embarrassed over the fact that you have built palaces, mansions and other beautiful buildings for the rich. After all, what else was there for you to build in tsarist Russia considering who your customers were. Your customer now is the socialist state, which, I assure you, will give you much more scope. At present, 37 however, so much needs to be done—so many things that we need! Just take a glimpse at this here: corn-chandlers’ shops, gluttons’ row, dirt, filth and disorder in the very heart of Moscow. All this needs to be demolished, wiped out. It is national disgrace on display.”

p “The remarkable thing,” said Zholtovsky, "is that on my way here I thought of the same things.”

p “Yes, it is too glaring a sight to escape notice. And yet I’d like to draw your attention,” said Lenin turning abruptly towards Zholtovsky, "to the need of exercising discretion in this question of reconstruction and replacement as some of our comrades are apt to carry destruction too far. We should look deeper into the root of things: removals and replacements, by all means, wherever necessary— but only after mature consideration. You have been entrusted with drawing up a plan for Moscow’s reconstruction and development: what are your views on the Russian people’s rich national heritage, the numerous ancient architectural monuments? Of course, I think we could and should create new beautiful structures in place of all these trade rows and flour-shops, but in the area of the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral I hardly think we should attempt to elaborate anything, for there is undying beauty there already—we need only to preserve and emphasise it.”

p “I fully agree with you,” exclaimed Zholtovsky, "those are precisely the principles I had in mind.”

“I should also like to ask you,” Lenin went on, "to give as much thought as you can to Moscow’s vegetation. Consider this one of the basic aspects of Moscow’s general development plan. In this case your model could be London with its splendid Hyde Park, Paris with its Champs Elysees, Vienna with its picturesque Ring.... Give it some serious thought, including the green-planting of the Moskva’s banks. We must see to it that Moscow is well supplied with fr&hair, and plenty of oxygen.”

38

p As he listened to Lenin, Zholtovsky found himself wholeheartedly in agreement with everything he said. Zholtovsky had a feeling that he was discussing technical details with a fellow architect, and what was most important was that he, an eminent academician, the head of a whole school of Russian architecture, was finding support for some of his own vague ideas. Lenin seemed to rouse and lend wings to his dormant powers.

p Zholtovsky immediately accepted the offer to work for the Soviet Government, issuing a challenge to his reactionary-minded colleagues.

p In the first few months of the republic, he had come to know many of the Moscow Soviet’s functionaries and had sensed that only by working with these men might he realise his youthful dreams of erecting public buildings and whole architectural ensembles.

p What Lenin had proposed surpassed all his expectations. Zholtovsky had had some doubts about the need and feasibility of plans for Moscow’s general reconstruction and development but Lenin dispelled them all, when he said: "We realise that we have burdened you with a tremendous task whose solution, frankly speaking, requires more than a lifetime. I suggest, therefore, that you select for yourself strong and competent assistants, men with initiative who share your convictions, and who are loyal to the Soviet power. Have you any in mind?”

p “I do,” Zholtovsky hurriedly assured him. "I can name several—Shchussev, Fomin, Tamanyan, Shchuko. They are highly talented architects, fully dependable and meet our requirements.”

p Lenin went to his desk and jotted down some notes.

p “That’s splendid, then put them to work,” he said with a smile, and rubbed his hands. "Surprising, how flexible the Russian language is, don’t you think? Here I just said ’put them to work’ and you could take that literally to mean ’sweating for the Soviet power’ and a lot more." 39 Then he was serious again. "Well then, we’ve talked about many things, but you haven’t told me of your decision: are you willing to take charge of the task of drawing up Moscow’s general reconstruction and development plan?”

p Overcome by the solemnity of the moment and strong emotion Zholtovsky uttered the somewhat old-fashioned words which occurred to him: "I shall consider it a great honour to accept this proposal and promise to serve with truth and loyalty.”

p Lenin seemed pleased with the answer, or rather with the keen eagerness to start that he sensed in the architect’s voice. On his face was a broad smile.

p “Truth and loyalty, Ivan Vladislavovich, is just what we need. Tell your friends that the Bolsheviks have come to stay: they are not destroyers or barbarians, as the Western and our own bourgeoisie depicts them. We will yet build and attain such a vast scale and rapid growth of construe-^^1^^’ tion as no bourgeois has ever dreamed of.”

p Zholtovsky rose to leave, feeling it fully appropriate to do so as everything had been thoroughly discussed. And although Lenin had in no way implied that the interview was over, Zholtovsky expressed his gratitude for the trust placed in him. Lenin, in turn, thanked him for the talk, and expressed pleasure at having made his acquaintance.

p “It is I who should thank you, Vladimir Ilyich.”

p “Not at all, Ivan Vladislavovich. We are no longer strangers, and I ask you to come and see me should the need arise. You will encounter many difficulties and will require help, so do not hesitate to come.”

p Zholtovsky made a bow, but it was more of a polite refusal than acceptance—he could not imagine he would ever have to come and worry Lenin.

p Lenin saw Zholtovsky to the door, shook hands and said, "That was a splendid suggestion of yours—about the 40 Vorobyovy Hills for a new development area. Let our motto be: towards Vorobyovy Hills.”

p Outside Zholtovsky, in a mood of exaltation, felt a strange urge: he had no desire whatsoever to go home or to his studio. He turned into a street leading to Red Square. As always, a feeling of deep veneration descended on him at the sight of the Kremlin Wall, the Towers, and the gay domes of St. Basil’s. "Lord,” he thought, "their beauty is truly supernatural.” He went down towards the bridge, crossed the Moskva and the Kremlin’s majestic panorama opened before his eyes. He stood there gazing at a close-up view of the ancient towers, gilt-domed cathedrals and white-stone palaces. From there the crenelated wall seemed to be light and transparent because of its pale-grey hue. "It is true,” thought Zholtovsky recalling Lenin’s words, "this splendour needs only to be emphasised and preserved just as it is. The Kremlin should be clearly visible from all sides—then it will dominate the heart of the city with its unparalleled beauty enhanced.”

p Upon his return home, Zholtovsky went straight to his joiner’s shop. There he wrote down some of his thoughts about the Kremlin in the light of his conversation with Lenin: "Man needs beauty, for it elevates and ennobles him. Unity of diversity is a major principle of harmony in architectural composition, witness the Moscow Kremlin and the Centre in Petrograd.”

p As was his wont Zholtovsky spent several hours in his shop that day. He took off his jacket, put on a blue coat and began to examine different specimens of dry planks. Here he would devote himself for hours to his hobby: planing, sawing, gluing and polishing. He was both a master carpenter and expert furniture-maker, designing many new models and building them with his own hands. Wood was a building material the Russian master-builders had used from time immemorial and Zholtovsky sought to utilise it as an ornamental element.

41

He started planing a plank mechanically, not quite knowing what he would do with it: he needed some physical exercise to let off some of the tension built up on that eventful day.

p Outwardly, Zholtovsky’s life seemed to flow as usual. He alone knew how greatly it had changed since his talk with Lenin.

p As chief of the Architectural Department of the Moscow Soviet he was now completely engrossed in blueprinting and replanning Moscow’s eleven districts.

p He had some highly competent assistants who needed no more than a hint. In view of the large-scale reconstruction work to be done in the capital, the Moscow Soviet set up three additional departments to deal with research, building materials and legislation.

p Although Zholtovsky had hoped to manage without worrying Lenin and taking up his valuable time, Lenin himself again invited him to come and see him after a few months. This time the meeting took place in Lenin’s office of Chairman of the Soviet of People’s Commissars at the Kremlin.

p Lenin greeted Zholtovsky as an old friend and then came straight to the point: "I have two big requests. I have been told that the Bolshoi Theatre building is in a precarious state. The experts say that it needs a new foundation, and that it would also be highly desirable to reconstruct and widen its stage. I realise that this is a complex task, but I should like you to undertake this assignment.”

p “Put myself to work?" smiled Zholtovsky.

p “That’s it, precisely—until the sweat comes pouring down.” Lenin laughed in his contagious way. "I realise full well, my dear Ivan Vladislavovich, that you have enough problems as it is, but there are emergencies, and tasks of first priority, so to speak. The reconstruction 42 of the Bolshoi Theatre and the entire Theatrical Square is one of them.”

p “I shall get on with it right away.”

p “And what about Okhotny Ryad?”

p “I remember our conversation, Vladimir Ilyich. The flour-shops and trading stalls are all to go soon.”

p “That will be fine. Well, and how is our general plan working out?”

p Zholtovsky told Lenin about the establishment of a design office for Moscow’s new development scheme, and the working out of drafts for some of the districts.

p “Simultaneously,” he continued, "we are studying problems of civil engineering to promote and improve the organisation of public services and amenities, including additional green-planting.”

p “You mean large green tracts?" asked Lenin.

p “Exactly,” said Zholtovsky.

p “I should like to have a glance at the blueprints,” said Lenin.

p Zholtovsky paused, making a mental calculation.

p “We shall be able to show you the first drafts for some districts within three weeks, or a month at most.”

p “Good thing you mentioned civil engineering. How do you visualise solving the problem of the city’s future transport facilities? I believe this too belongs in the general plan?”

p “Certainly, Vladimir Ilyich, but we have not looked into things that far ahead.”

p “And that’s a pity, Ivan Vladislavovich, for you should, and here is why. Moscow will soon, very soon indeed, be facing a growing transportation and traffic problem. Time flies and in five or ten years we shall be told that our streets are clogged with trams and a more rational solution will then be urgently demanded: elevated or underground roads. As a Muscovite, I personally should not like to have any roads above ground. I have seen 43 enough of them, and they only rob a city of its sunlight and pollute the air. Besides the constant din overhead is no pleasure. Now, underground is a different matter. That’s where we should start, in the near future, to build our city’s underground railway network. That, I think, will be the most rational, convenient and sanitary means of urban transportation.”

p Zholtovsky was delighted and marvelled at Lenin’s analytical mind and foresight, his capacity to consider a wide range of problems and his cultural scope.

p Lenin noticed Zholtovsky’s thoughtful expression and inquired: "You don’t agree with me, do you? I may be wrong, if so please tell me quite frankly. After all I am not a specialist.”

p “Why, Vladimir Ilyich? I have been listening to you very attentively and I consider all your suggestions to be extremely valuable.”

p Lenin then said to Zholtovsky in that specially confidential manner which he used when trying to drive home his point: "In order to ensure success we must always think of the workers and peasants, of their needs and interests. Ours is a workers’ and peasants’ state, and that too is something quite new. And if you will serve it with truth and loyalty, as you once put it, I assure you that the workers and peasants will acknowledge you as their own. At present, there are no architects among them; these will have to be educated and trained.”

p “We have already made a start,” said Zholtovsky. "In Moscow we have organised state art courses which are open to everyone. They are attended by a large number of workers and peasants and their children. As one of the lecturers, I am happy to say that they really thirst for knowledge, and are very resolute and responsive.”

p “That’s fine,” exclaimed Lenin. "The thing to understand is that once ignorance and illiteracy are overcome, the workers and peasants and their children will show 44 their mettle. I assure you that they readily respond to beauty. I know so many fine workers and peasants who have no education, but have keen minds, fine-strung systems, who are clever and are capable of persevering self-education and have achieved very notable results in the face of the poverty, the oppression and the lack of equal opportunity with the rich. What then can we expect of these pent-up forces and talents that have been striving to break loose for centuries? Just give them time. Both you and I are quite advanced in years, but even we shall witness the emergence of the new, Soviet intelligentsia.”

p “I’m sure we shall,” said Zholtovsky. "I intend to live long as my forefathers did. And I insist that you, too, should live at least a hundred years.”

p Lenin smiled, wagging his finger. "That’s overdoing it, I’m afraid. But, in general, we Bolsheviks are immortal. You must admit that that’s something even your forefathers had not managed to achieve.” "Yes, that’s true.”

p “There you are. But you, as their successor who has thrown his lot in with the Bolsheviks, will be remembered by posterity—for you are heading towards immortality, particularly since the work you are doing can be easily classed as immortal.”

p Lenin again looked at Zholtovsky; he seemed to be sizing the man up, but not in a way that could arouse resentment. "Architecture is a high art, one of the loftiest and at the same time vitally indispensable. That is indisputable. But like all real beauty, architecture should look to the very best of models. But don’t forget that real beauty has always been, is and will continue to be an antipode of the philistine idea of beauty. Beware, therefore, of its infiltration: it has a knack of doing this by taking on various superficially attractive forms.”

45

p On parting Lenin told Zholtovsky, in a more resolute tone: "Strive by all means to attain beauty, but steer clear philistinism!”

p Zholtovsky felt the full strength of Lenin’s antipathy for petty-bourgeois standards and always remembered his words.

p Lenin gave Zholtovsky an assignment to design and build the All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition on what was formerly a dumping ground on the Moskva’s bank.

p Lenin again reminded him of green tracts: the pavilions were to be steeped in vegetation, and the longterm scheme was that it should subsequently stretch out along the entire bank from Vorobyovy Hills to the Kremlin.

p For the first time in all his 25-year career, Zholtovsky faced such a grand task of complex planning, construction and engineering. With the Exhibition scheduled to open in the spring of 1923, there was very little time indeed.

p Together with his assistants Zholtovsky worked tirelessly on the project of the young Soviet Republic’s first architectural ensemble, which later became the basis for the sprawling All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition.

p Zholtovsky himself built the main gate, the six-sided pavilion, and the theatre and several major pavilions.

p The Exhibition as a whole formed a single panorama consisting of large sections, each with its pavilions in consecutive arrangement. Despite its diverse and highly picturesque architectural forms, it constituted an integral whole which gravitated towards the Moskva along a heavy lateral axis running the length of the bank.

46

p Here Zholtovsky’s favourite building material, wood, was brought out in a new and prominent light. He did not clothe it in plaster, marble or other “garments”, and this brought out the strongly national Russian character of all the structures.

p It is at this period that he wrote down in his note-book some of his remarkable ideas on architecture: "What are the axioms and commandments governing the classical form of the architectural idiom?”

p “They are above all realism and proximity to nature. No wonder ’imitation of nature’ was the central concept of aesthetics in antiquity which did not imply, however, any naturalistic reproduction of appearances but the creation of an artistic image.”

p Zholtovsky envisaged the Exhibition as an integral part of the city’s landscape. He did not know then that in time this area would become one of the city’s most popular spots—the Gorky Recreation Park—and that the structures, pavilions, squares and green spaces would all fit into the park very nicely.

p Zholtovsky, engrossed in his cares in connection with the task of Moscow’s redevelopment, wondered: "What makes a city’s skyline interesting, impressive and memorable? It is the element of surprise! You walk along a green street and suddenly a building floats into view through an opening or you find yourself in a square. But if both sides of a street are lined with identical fagades, the eye soon tires and ceases to register the architecture.”

p Zholtovsky was guided by these principles in projecting the first large development scheme in Moscow and all over the country. The Exhibition marked the beginning of the capital’s redevelopment in which a whole district was not just renewed but built anew. Monuments also found a fitting place and application here: the sculpture in wood by Konenkov and the bas-reliefs by Shadr (Ivanov).

47

p Zholtovsky knew that Lenin had been gravely ill for a long time.

p Since their first meeting five years earlier, Zholtovsky’s entire life had undergone a great change. Throughout this period he was so actively involved in many activities and various creative undertakings that he found no time for looking back. It seemed that Lenin’s will had been guiding his activities invisibly all these years: he would barely complete one task when another, a still more majestic one, would present itself.

p By then, the reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theatre and the adjoining square had been completed; he was almost done with Okhotny Ryad’s ungainly stalls, was working on the project of the U.S.S.R. State Bank and altogether immersed in his main preoccupation—the major assignment of his life—the new Moscow plan.

p Even in his formative years, when it was so easy to tread the beaten path, Zholtovsky had found the strength and courage not only to reject but even to ignore the precepts and demands of his teachers at the Academy of Arts.

p In the period of decline and neglect of the splendid Russian architecture, he suddenly rose up above the rest and took a bold stand for Russian classicism, giving it a new meaning in his structures.

p Even greater courage was required of him in the turbulent years of the Civil War, the general confusion, the various fads and “isms”, the passion for modernism among anarchic intellectuals and ignoramuses, who imagined that the revolution should literally "destroy the old world" with the whole of its cultural legacy.

p Zholtovsky’s foresight, his deep sense of loyalty to his people, and to art, enabled him to keep his footing in that turbid tide. He managed to keep his head above water. To do so, however, he had to break for good with his old milieu, draw inspiration from the lofty aims of 48 the revolution, and resolutely side with the proletariat. Lenin’s care and ready attention in things, big and small, undoubtedly played a highly significant role in all this. Here is a case in point.

p One day, Lenin asked Zholtovsky to call on him. That very day, however, someone in the Moscow Soviet had issued orders to evict the architect from his flat. Zholtovsky was thrown off balance, angered and offered a gratuitous insult. In that state he came to the Kremlin.

p Lenin did not know what had happened. He was in a radiant mood, his lively eyes full of sparkle: general Frunze’s army had just driven the Whites from the Urals, and Lenin, standing by the tiled stove half-covered by a large map, was engaged in pinning little red flags onto it with obvious pleasure.

p Zholtovsky was also glad to hear the good news. Lenin as usual got straight to the point. He told Zholtovsky that he had just received some books on architecture from Berlin and wanted to examine them with him.

p He couldn’t very well refuse, especially since Lenin had mentioned the books before. Nevertheless, Zholtovsky apologised and suggested that they do it some other time.

p “But why?" Lenin asked in surprise. Then he noticed that Zholtovsky had something on his mind. The architect had to tell him of the call by the grim commission executing the directive on "getting the surplus living space out of the bourgeoisie" and its order "to clear out of the flat within 24 hours".

p Never had Zholtovsky seen Lenin so furious—his entire demeanour changed and he seemed ready to fight. Lenin wanted to know the details: who had come to the flat and who had signed the eviction order.

p He then called a secretary and at once dictated an instruction to the Moscow Soviet.

49

p Zholtovsky noted that its tenor was highly correct; it was not sent in the name of the Head of Government but only from the chief of the managing department of the Council of People’s Commissars. The note was in the form of a request to cancel the eviction order.

p Lenin had finished his dictating, smiled and added as an after-thought: "Add this post-scriptum: if necessary, this request will be supported by Comrade Lenin.”

Zholtovsky was handed the instruction, with which the Moscow Soviet complied.

p Zholtovsky did not feel his age, and had probably never before been so active and happily preoccupied in his life.

p The building of the Exhibition convinced him that it was only the beginning of grand schemes, that with Lenin at the helm he was capable of tackling even the most fantastic undertakings.

p Zholtovsky was very much alarmed over Lenin’s illness. He wanted him to see the Exhibition with his own eyes, but Lenin had long been bed-ridden and saw no one.

p Then one sunny October day, Lenin suddenly arrived at the Exhibition. As Zholtovsky learned later, Lenin had come to Moscow from Gorki against his doctors’ orders.

p He was pale and unusually pensive. As his car stopped at the various pavilions, he would study the sculptures by Konenkov and Shadr, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. Later, he drove along the bank with his cap off to enjoy the fresh air.

Zholtovsky never saw Lenin again. In his mind and heart, however, Zholtovsky often communed with him, recalling their conversations, and elaborating ideas whose seeds had been planted by Lenin.

50

p There was so much he wanted to discuss with Lenin! He missed Lenin’s valuable advice on plans for the future. He remembered the big assignment Lenin had given him, the general plan for Moscow’s redevelopment.

p “There’s enough work there for more than a lifetime,” he recalled Lenin’s words. That was very true, but it had all seemed so much easier when Lenin was alive, for then Zholtovsky always had the benefit of his advice and guidance, his requests and instructions. They had helped him visualise every plan in a broad, bright and realistic aspect and this had always inspired him. His respect for and confidence in Lenin were unparalleled.

p Zholtovsky designed the residential blocks along the Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya Avenue and they determined Moscow’s new aspect for many years.

p He built the splendid building of the City Soviet in Sochi, an impressive combination of grandeur and lightness, and perfect proportions.

p He designed and built theatres, administrative buildings and new blocks of flats, and every structure reflected something of his own inimitable architectural style.

p Always opposed to drabness, monotony and what he called "barrack architecture”, Zholtovsky all his life struggled against distortion of architectural form. Looking at the buildings designed by some thoughtless architects today, one wonders how Zholtovsky would have assessed them. We don’t suppose he would have endorsed all of them.

p Those who worked with him, imitated his style of work: lack of haste and thoroughness.

p “Architecture is not to be trifled with,” he would say, when examining the project of a constructivist. " Thoughtlessness in this matter may have a bad effect on the taste of generations and create inconveniences. Who said it was easier to pull down a building than to build one? But it is a pity to destroy a building—isn’t it? Ungainly though it is it could stand for hundreds of years. We can 51 be sure that Lenin would not praise us for such a project.”

p Zholtovsky often turned to Lenin in his thoughts. He cherished this inner relationship through the years of his long life.

p With Lenin in his heart, he went on building tirelessly, with faith in immortality.

p An upright, inflexible man, he lived a really long life, almost a century.

p Boris Kostyukovsky

52

THE PEN
AS A BAYONET

53 54

Lenin, October 1918