Constructivism is a visiting card of Novosibirsk. It is the third city in Russia by the number of constructivism objects — more than 90, 50 of which are part of the world architectural heritage. These buildings are not just monuments of avant-garde architecture. They are the keepers of history, the visual embodiment of utopian Soviet ideas of the 1920s.

Highlights:

• House with a clock;

• House of Soviets;

• House plant NKVD and residential complex «Kuzbassugol». 

Price: 2500 RUB per a person

Duration: 3 hours

Type of excursion: walking

The tour is conducted only in Russian

Description:

In the 1920s, the basic principle of the young Soviet state, not only for politics but also for all spheres of life, was the breaking of old "bourgeois" traditions and the construction of new Soviet ones. A clear state line has not yet been developed, especially in matters of ideology and culture. This is the time when the most incredible utopian ideas of building a new society are born. The main task is the education of the Soviet man, his "reforging".

Constructivism in architecture just had to perform the task of constructing a new man. There are houses-communes with separate life, where the head of the family could live in one building, his wife in another, and their children in the third. This person should be ready at any time to give up everything and go to the other end of the country to raise virgin lands, lay rails in the taiga, mine ore in permafrost. He does not need many things, just a folding bed, a folding table and a suitcase. With all its layout and every architectural element, constructivist buildings remind and tell us about this large-scale Soviet experiment-perhaps one of the most daring social experiments in the history of mankind.

Together we will walk through the Central streets and squares of Novosibirsk, where many constructivist buildings have been preserved, try to imagine and understand how people lived in these amazing houses-communes, houses-factories. The guide will tell in detail about all elements of buildings-their symbolic, ideological and practical significance; share stories of people who created these houses, lived and worked in them; show objects of constructivism (such we will meet no less), which were later converted into Stalin's Empire. And if you are lucky to meet the modern inhabitants of houses, we will be able to hear firsthand how life is today in the former houses-communes, as well as look into the entrances of houses.

Included:

• Walk on the Red prospect and Serebrennikovskaya street which calling at «KGB of the quarter» and residential complex «Kuzbassugol»;

• Professional guide.