‘KHRUSHCHYOVKA’ K-7 BUILDING ANALYSIS

Problems with the designs

Due to the rapid construction, many K-7s were poorly constructed, leading to cold temperatures from the lack of insulation. This was something that plagued all Khrushchyovka’s until a redesign in the 1970’s and a move away from the k-7 buildings. Cost saving measures implemented also resulted in thin walls, floors and ceilings, leading sound to travel between flat reducing any sense of privacy. Bathrooms also backed onto small kitchens, often only 6m2. This is also compounded by a lack of lounge space, making the flats very crowded if they were home to a family.

The design lifetime was originally meant to be no longer than 25 years, but with the last K-7’s being built in the 1980s, some of these buildings are reaching almost double there expected life span. Moscow has been adamant about the removal of the K-7’s since 1994, and as of 2015, most of the 1,700 planned demolitions had taken place, with a further 8,000 being earmarked for demolition; in keeping with the original design philosophy, they are being replaced with more modern mass housing projects. They are still prevalent through much of Russia and the former Soviet Union in countries with poorer economic status, ever increasing in disrepair.

In the 1970’s and 80s’s and updated style of Khrushchyovka was developed; with an increased height and larger internal apartment space and kitchens, they became more popular than their earlier counterparts. Because of the increased height, these building also included lifts, making them more favourable among disabled residents. To differentiate between the two styles, the later buildings were referred to as Brezhnevkas, after the then leader of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev.

Lagutenko’s Legacy

Homes’ to increase their live-ability.

Lagutenko graduated from the Ministry of Transport Engineers in 1931, and shifted his focus onto the construction of bomb shelters during the second world war. In 1947, he began working on industrial panelled housing, the precursors to his K-7 designs, which he worked on with architect Mikhail Posokhin. Vitaly Lagutenko lives on through his infamous K-7 buildings, still present throughout much of the former Soviet Union. He continued his work on prefabricated concrete structures until his death in 1968.