Moscow’s Red Square

In 1931, an international competition was organised in Moscow for the Palace of the Soviets. Fate played a cruel hand in the judging procedure and eventual abandonment of the project. Otherwise, Moscow could have had a rare masterpiece by the legendary Le Corbusier or Walter Gropius.

Government buildings in Soviet Russia in the 1920s and 1930s were pompous and neo-classicist. Truly contemporary buildings were rare and it was hoped that such competitions would infuse new directions in modern architecture in the USSR. Unfortunately, God had other designs in mind for the communist state.

The competition for the Palace of the Soviets was first conceived in the early 1920s and it was to be the seat of the Supreme Soviet, symbolising the power of the people. Lenin was personally involved in the competition as the building was slated to be a monument for the new city and a new Russia.

A competition was organised in 1923 and was won by Nicolai Trotzky. However, after Lenin’s death in 1924, the project was shelved because of lack of funds.

A new competition was organised in 1931 and it was clearly a battle between two contrasting styles — the traditionalists favouring a more ornate design and the avant-garde, who preferred a contemporary look. The building’s name had also changed from the Workers’ Place to Palace of the Soviets. Significantly, the power of the state had become more important than its people. A megalomaniac design brief was prepared regardless of the costs. Moscow was to be built to rival New York and Chicago in its grandeur, ignoring the fact that turn-of-the-century city consisted mostly of wooden buildings.

The competition received 272 designs, including entries by Le Corbusier, Mendelsohn and Gropius. Unfortunately, the jury, which included Maxim Gorky, did not like the designs submitted by the great masters. The two main prizes were awarded to Ivan Zholtovsky and Hector Hamilton from the US. None of the designs was considered “worthy” of execution.

By this time, the organisers had become more practical and the design brief was revised. The building no longer required an entrance to enable 25,000 people to pass at the same time. No particular style was specified but architects were asked to create a marriage between the modern and the traditional.

Boris Iofan was finally selected as the architect. Iofan was still developing the design in 1941 when the Second World War broke out and the project was officially cancelled in 1954. Among the rejected entries in the first round, Le Corbusier, Gropius and Alexander Vesnin’s entries were outstanding.

From the early twentieth century, architecture was used by rulers and administrators to symbolise power, freedom and victory. In most cases, the quest for quality design was lost. It continues even today in most developing countries where elected leaders have taken it upon themselves to be city builders.