MINSK 2020 by QFancy

MINSK 2020

USTIN PUKALO

INDEX

FOREWORD

2-5

MINSK 2020

6-69

TRACTOR PLANT DISTRICT CHAPTER 1

Index. Minsk 2020

70-99

PRIVATE SECTORE CHAPTER 2

100-165

PANEL DISTRICT CHAPTER 3

FOREWORD MINSK 2020

Minsk is a city that has collected various architectural styles. This city is interesting to see and see a different attitude to culture in the same silhouettes, to capture the mood in the everyday life of the inhabitants of this city. This gives the unique look of that Minsk, which can be observed today. An important part of the city is its inhabitants, and each person paves his daily route, based on the occupation, his hobbies and needs.

preserve the attractive appearance of the facades of houses and buildings, the desire to give a modern look to streets and courtyards, as well as the efforts of residents to independently improve their environment. This is a manifestation of one’s own identity and changes in the quality of everyday species to improve the emotional standard of living.

When a person visits Minsk, he often travThe architecture of the 20th century is a els along large avenues. Whether it is the vanity fair, in which different modes, differ- city center, built up with magnificent buildent architects are trying to offer the largest ings, the attempt of which was to create “monument of all time”. their own classics, which collected two conflicting ideas, the creation of a new modern The city is the sum of the efforts of vari- state and the architecture of “antiquity”. The ous city organizations to renovate the city, other side of these avenues, a completely

Foreword. Minsk 2020

different period with the same ideology, but in a different vein and with other problems, is the massive construction of housing for different sectors of society in the city. Driving along these avenues, we can observe massive, monolithic panel houses with high floors, they scared and inspired greatness in the people of that time. The microcity project in the city was utopian.

in Minsk and for the whole country. Minsk has a great history, but today you can only fully observe the legacy of 30 - 40 years ago. Such a city we observe today. The city is growing every day.

New housing estates are being erected regularly to attract more of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population from small cities and towns to the city. Unlike European cities, Minsk has its Residential areas of Minsk often can not own unique look in its rigor and monumenboast of great diversity in architectural tality, these are echoes of past years that terms. However, this city is a good exam- created the DNA of modern architecture, ple of architectural experiments in the con- as well as residential areas. struction and construction of grandiose and large residential areas, which at one time impressed with impressiveness and hope for a bright future, both for one family living

TRACTOR PLANT DISTRICT CHAPTER 1

Tractor plant district. Minsk

TRACTOR PLANT DISTRICT Tractor Plant district area Other buildings

BALCONIES MINSK 2020

The balconies of such houses require separate attention, each in its own way is unique and inimitable. Here you can find balconies overgrown with ivy, balconies overflowing with flower pots, huge home-made wooden balconies, as well as pompous empire balconies. All balconies are of different sizes and shapes. Many forged bars on the balconies are painted by residents in different colors. There are balconies littered with old things.

A feature of the houses in the village was the presence of covered balconies-terraces, which were supposed to be like summer dining rooms for residents, although the houses look rather modest. Unfortunately, today there is only one house number 18 on Stakhanovskaya street, which has such an open balcony-terrace. Over time, the rest of the balconies were redone by residents to separate rooms.

Tractor plant district. Minsk

DOORS MINSK 2020

Almost all the entrance doors are replaced by gray metal doors and look very ridiculous against the background of houses rich in decorative elements. But still the old original doors remained, but there are only a few of them. They are already painted with more than one coat of paint in an unremarkable gray or are not painted at all, residents care about the condition of the house inside and behind their common entrance door.

Tractor plant district. Minsk

FENCES MINSK 2020

Tractor plant district. Minsk

COURTYARDS MINSK 2020

It is very interesting to watch the entrance of the courtyards. The entrance to the common spacious courtyard is fenced with an old fence. Most of the fences have survived to this day. They are painted, but some fences have already lost their remarkable appearance. Looking at the houses from the yard, it is clear that the residents paint and veneer part of the house on their own, as they can. As a result, on the same floor you can observe different cladding and color of different parts of the house, but this phenomenon is quite rare, since most of the residents are pensioners who can not afford repairs, both external and internal.

Over 70 years of its history, you can notice that the houses were repainted many times, some of them were even insulated and painted the loose putty in different bright colors. Such renovated houses look well-groomed, but completely lose their historical and authentic appearance. Some houses retain their decorative elements during repairs. But most homes expect a more unpleasant fate. Among the houses stood an old kindergarten along Chebotareva Street - a building that launched a massive demolition of historical monuments of post-war architecture in Minsk.

Tractor plant district. Minsk

A large number of front gardens, four fountains, squares, original buildings of kindergartens with patterns and colonnades were demolished in the courtyards. As a result, an office building was built on the site of the demolished square, and the construction of panel apartment buildings begins. By 2030, authorities plan to demolish more than 60 residential buildings in order to begin construction of mass housing in this territory. The uniqueness of Minsk goes as fast as the floors of new residential buildings in the capital â&#x20AC;&#x153;growâ&#x20AC;?. The project is relevant in that it captures Minsk and its unique elements in 2020, which awaits a sad fate, demolition or renovation, with which the original authentic Minsk ceases to have its value.

The district of the Tractor Plant does not have the most pleasant prospect. Old residential buildings are beginning to be actively demolished, residents are being resettled, and the district itself has reached the level of housing that is not the most attractive for buying because the appearance of the village is not very actively monitored, somewhere the asphalt is cracked, moss can be seen through cracks, the facades of houses crumble and become unsuitable for living in them. To replace the departing past, which is losing its historical appearance every day, come new buildings, houses of 9 floors - a typical building for the cities of Belarus.

PRIVATE SECTORE CHAPTER 2

Private sectore. Minsk

PRIVATE SECTORE Private sectore districts Other buildings

HOUSES MINSK 2020

Over the past half century, Minsk has grown at a gigantic rate. Unfit for housing or abandoned buildings are being actively demolished; for a long time, Minsk has been built up with microdistricts with typical high-rise buildings for the settlement of an increasing number of residents of the country. In the postwar period, Minsk was surrounded by a large number of villages and villages. It was the border of the city and at one point mass development went beyond the borders of the city and the authorities began to resettle the inhabitants of the villages for the sake of mass construction and actively demolished the old villages, whose names formed the basis of the names of streets and neighborhoods. Today you can observe the remains of those villages whose territory has not yet been built up with large residential complexes. Such residential areas have been called the private sector.

Private sectore. Minsk

FENCES MINSK 2020

Walking through the various private sectors of the city, you will notice that life in such places is different. There are still houses here that could have been built before the war, decorated with carved wood by the owners of the house, as well as multi-colored facades of these small village huts with no less colorful window frames and shutters decorating the windows. Old residents of the city live here, single pensioners, whose relatives come to the village â&#x20AC;&#x153;neighboringâ&#x20AC;? from their sleeping area. There are also new private houses, sometimes in 2 floors, well-groomed and comfortable. Walking along the street, you can see that each fence, each wicket is decorated in its own way, it is very difficult to find an ordinary dark groomed house, unless it is abandoned.

Private sectore. Minsk

In the city, every piece of land is very valuable for developers in Minsk. The constant trend for prefabricated houses is mutilating Minsk more and more every day. The private sector of Minsk is always in a big risk zone. Already today you can observe how next to the rustic old, but very neat house is a new building with 16 floors, which becomes a constant reminder for residents that their house is expected to be demolished.

The dark side of the private sectors of Minsk is the constant struggle for land. If the authorities need to draw a metro line, begin large-scale construction, then residents are actively evicted and their â&#x20AC;&#x153;outdatedâ&#x20AC;? housing is demolished. Asphalting of streets reached the private building of Minsk only 12-15 years ago.

Unfortunately, houses built in the postwar period that have unique handmade decorative elements that deserve attention and preservation As practice shows, there is not a single story do not matter from the economic point of view in which the owner of a private home won a dis- of the city of Minsk. pute in opposition to the city authorities.

PANEL DISTRICT CHAPTER 3

Panel district. Minsk

101

102

Panel district. Minsk

PANEL DISTRICT Private sectore districts Other buildings

103

BALCONIES MINSK 2020

Inside, such places differ much more than outside. Looking outside, one gets the impression that people with good income cannot live in such houses. One has only to go inside and a completely different sensation already appears, on most floors, residents look after the territory of the corridor and vestibule. Each apartment has its own door, made of different materials, is decorated differently, the rugs near the doors are different for each apartment, this even applies to a call to the apartment. All this reflects the identity of the landlord. Not always the staircase is occupied by young people and the homeless. Designer Petr Bankov arranged a space for a fire escape under his workshop to create and post his posters, as there was enough space and the walls were not occupied with anything.

Panel district. Minsk

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106

Panel district. Minsk

107

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Panel district. Minsk

109

Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

WALLS MINSK 2020

Practice has shown that a person who lives in such a technically minimalistic space is trying in every possible way to inhabit, modify and adapt it for himself. A good example of this is the graffiti culture that originated in the poor neighborhoods of New York in the 60s. Their young inhabitants made illegal drawing of their names and invented pseudonyms a unique artistic method of declaring themselves. In such conditions, vandalism becomes an absolutely natural modification of space. In the part of the city, more complemented by decorative elements, people did not need vandalism and a similar manifestation of their personality. However, over time, the culture of graffiti gradually began to actively penetrate all the cities of Europe through the media, ruthlessly conquer its territory and leave its mark on historic buildings.

Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

119

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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126

Panel district. Minsk

127

DOORS MINSK 2020

Houses with huge porches, wide elevators, fire escapes. However, the apartments themselves are not so large and comfortable. Their scale, limited color gamut, low ceilings - all this has a direct impact on the self-identification of residents and forms their consciousness. 9 or 20 residential floors, on each floor an average of 4 apartments, therefore, more than 40 apartments in the entrance. A lot of families live in such houses, and there is practically no social community. Sometimes very polite greet familiar faces. In the cold season, separate fire escapes become places for young people to hang out and spend the night for the homeless if they are not driven away by residents.

Panel district. Minsk

129

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Panel district. Minsk

131

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Panel district. Minsk

133

Panel district. Minsk

135

136

Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

139

140

Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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146

Panel district. Minsk

147

Panel district. Minsk

149

COURTYARDS MINSK 2020

The definition of “sleeping area” has formed an idea of the area not only with a large number of residential apartment buildings, but an area with an impressive functional area, usually meadows and vacant lots, which initially have the function of empty and undeveloped space so that the windows of tall houses get sunny light in the afternoon. Residents do not spend time in such a large territory. The district administration decided to rebuild such wastelands for areas for walking and training with dogs, this idea turned out to be successful, as the owners of the animals had a space on which it was possible to establish contact with the same owners of dogs who live in the same house or in the neighborhood. Sometimes parking lots appear in the wasteland, as there is a problem with a large number of cars in the yard.

Panel district. Minsk

151

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Panel district. Minsk

153

Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

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Panel district. Minsk

Residents do not spend time in such a large territory. The district administration decided to rebuild such wastelands for areas for walking and training with dogs, this idea turned out to be successful, as the owners of the animals had a space on which it was possible to establish contact with the same owners of dogs who live in the same house or in the neighborhood.

The streets of such areas are not equipped with space for cultural activities and the exchange of knowledge on the streets, there are only playgrounds and benches along the porches. This greatly affects the creation of social community between residents.

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