-I

THE PALACE UF THI: .:sUVU:'I;) The Main Auditorium: an audience of 15,000. Open-air platform: 50,000 people, nd perfectly regulated acoustics. Small auditorium: 6,500 people. Huge crowds can move about at their case on . tbe esplanade. Cars arc on a lower level; the parking lot is beneatb the auditoriums.

l'I,,\N DES PILOTIS.

,\(;;&. .. ,\fIX n"l'UmNl'S

H:?_ .. & :-=--= ;=c-

-.-

11'--

1:1 r.1..111.,'T I C),'\'S

Jr -,J 1932. PROJECT FOR THE PALACE OF THE SOVJETS, IH MOSCOIV, No similarity betwccn tho two. The ground beneath the buildings mus.t be freed, for rau.br

,,

MOSCOW

1928-1931

CLASSIFIED TRAFFIC SYSTEM

289

arc widely scattered. This makC3 for a new economy of hyout.

stream. .. ofc:1rs :lnd lakes ofpcdc:strians. The streams flow directly 10 ccrtaincntrnnc<!S; the pcJc::strbns

The ground is devoted to movement: pedestrians. cars. Everytbing above tbe ground (the buildings) is devoted to stability.

The slreams of cars ca.n flow in sunken beds or along cIcvJ.tcd highways. St:lrting S meters abO\'C' the g rou nd, buildings take on definite shnpe. Distribution of troffic h'JS lx:.:::n ::lchic\'cd lx:tow, on. the ground.

Here. the sUllie fur..clion is expressed by offices. club and auditorium.

1928. Palace of Light Industry (first called the CcntrosoYLls) in Moscow. Now built.

----Here, the dynainic functions: distribution of sorts of traffic. (pHotis on tbe ground level.)

290

Master pl an for the urbanization of the City of l\'ioscow. In 1931. Moscow officials sent mc; 3. questionnaire, admirably thought out, about the city's reorganization. If only an cities would send out such question naires! Thc:ir lot would be improved, The theoretical drawings of the "Radiant City" were made in order to answer this questionnaire. They form u t heory . of urbanization for modem My "Answer to Moscow" caused
an

unc.xpcctcd reaction: its technical

aspects were bailed in flattering terms. But the cornerstone of my work was freedom of the individual. and this was held against me. Doctrinal \'cbcmc:ncc prevented any worthwhile discussion. Capitalist'? bourgeois'! prolelarian? i\'1y only answer is a tcrmexprcssing my line of conductand myingrJinedrc\'olution ary attitude: Immarr. My profes;;ional duty, as arcbitect and city planne r, is to achieve what is !tuman. Charitable colleagues - Frenchmen. too. and farfrombcing "'Reds" -pro- claimed to all who would listen or rc:ld, 'that I wanted to destroy -Ioscow. Whereas tbey themselves, if only they were called upon. WOUld, etc . The! plate which appears opposite (last in the "Radiant City" series), is not a program for Moscow's destruction but on the contrary, for its construction. It shows zoning and axes of mO\'Cn1ent along which the city could gradualIy achieve a position of supple casc, expansion without difficulty. and so forth.. This plate shows a. specimen of urban biolo.gy. So far, only the International Congress for Modem Architecture, the C.I.A.M. (sec page 18) has required its members to seek the lines of vital com municnt i on which can bring a City into efficient contact \vith its surrounding region. (A task which \ViII fall to the 5th Congress.)

APPUCATION

TO

MOSCOW

Palace of the Soviets in 'loscow (see pages 2S82S9).

The administration building on the: left, i s independ ent of tho ground. Not only is the ground freed but, moreover? the expanse of open space beneath tbe building forms
a.

highly architectural frame for the

landscape seen in the background. On the right. impressive ramps lead the way to the openair pJatfonn for 50,000 people. By conlrost, 15.000 can reach the: main audito rium from ground Je\'el. by means of a continuous inclined plane. becoming concave until it re:lches the seats. No stairv;ays, not even a single stcp
can

be

tolerated in a public building - and certainly not

"monumental" staiJW3.Ys!

291