In 1931 a new General Development Plan was approved for Orsk. A group of western European architects associated with the Bauhaus movement were engaged to create the Plan. They were invited by the Government to help speed up the process of resolving problems in the area of city planning, and worked in Gorstroiproekt Studio No. 3 The Dutch architect Mart Stam was appointed to lead the group. Other members included the German architects Lotte Beese, Konrad Puschel, Philipp Toltziner and Heinz Abraham, as well as the Swiss architect Hans Schmidt and the Hungarian architect Tibor Weiner. After the departure of Mart Stam in 1934, Hans Schmidt joined the project.
The actual construction began before the General Plan was officially approved. In 1933 work began on the construction of District No. 8. Located north west of the central square, it was designed to house workers of the Locomotive Factory. This district, between Prospekt Mira, Moskovsky Street, Prospekt Lenina and Stanislavsky Street, later became known as Sotsgorod, or Socialist City. At the beginning of the construction process the European architects came to Orsk, confirmed the Plan and stayed until 1937 to oversee the building work.
District No. 8 was intended as a model development. It was 17 hectares in area, and was intended to house 5 000 persons, with an allowance of 7.5 to 9 square meters per person. In addition to apartment blocks, children’s nurseries, a kindergarten, school, canteen, club, cafe and grocery shop were designed to be constructed in District No. 8. The functional approach was applied to the design of individual buildings as well as the general layout of the district. The design of the buildings on Muzikalny Pereulok can be seen as prototypes of the apartment blocks Mart Stam designed for the Hellerhof district in Frankfurt.
This photograph shows part of the district: in the foreground, on the left, is the three-storey apartment block at 12 Muzikalny Pereulok, constructed in 1937. The photograph was taken from one of the balconies of this building. The photographer was Pyotr Kurnosov, a schoolboy who studied photography at School No. 8.
In the foreground on the right is another three-storey apartment block, 10 Muzikalny Pereulok, constructed in 1936 to a design by Heinz Abraham. One distinctive feature of this building are the recessed loggias on the facade, and the windows in the entrance area, with a glassed-in triangular overhang, providing extra insulation.
In the background can be seen the south wall of the nursery, with room for 120 children. It is now used as an ambulance station. The appearance of this building has changed considerably, and it is now almost unrecognizable.
Sotsgorod was planned as a city of the future, in which the builders of Socialism would be able to live in comfortable conditions without having to worry about housing problems or how to make ends meet. In reality, however, many of the residents of Sotsgorod were former peasants, and continued to keep farm animals, as can be seen in the photograph.
District No. 8 was the only part of Orsk’s 1935 General Development Plan to be actually constructed. In the 1930s there was an area of waste ground to the south and west of District No. 8, and to the north work began on the construction of District No. 10. To the east of the District, in the low-lying land by the River Elshanka, was a branch of Labor Colony No. 3 - the inmates worked on the construction of the District.
The actual construction began before the General Plan was officially approved. In 1933 work began on the construction of District No. 8. Located north west of the central square, it was designed to house workers of the Locomotive Factory. This district, between Prospekt Mira, Moskovsky Street, Prospekt Lenina and Stanislavsky Street, later became known as Sotsgorod, or Socialist City. At the beginning of the construction process the European architects came to Orsk, confirmed the Plan and stayed until 1937 to oversee the building work.
District No. 8 was intended as a model development. It was 17 hectares in area, and was intended to house 5 000 persons, with an allowance of 7.5 to 9 square meters per person. In addition to apartment blocks, children’s nurseries, a kindergarten, school, canteen, club, cafe and grocery shop were designed to be constructed in District No. 8. The functional approach was applied to the design of individual buildings as well as the general layout of the district. The design of the buildings on Muzikalny Pereulok can be seen as prototypes of the apartment blocks Mart Stam designed for the Hellerhof district in Frankfurt.
This photograph shows part of the district: in the foreground, on the left, is the three-storey apartment block at 12 Muzikalny Pereulok, constructed in 1937. The photograph was taken from one of the balconies of this building. The photographer was Pyotr Kurnosov, a schoolboy who studied photography at School No. 8.
In the foreground on the right is another three-storey apartment block, 10 Muzikalny Pereulok, constructed in 1936 to a design by Heinz Abraham. One distinctive feature of this building are the recessed loggias on the facade, and the windows in the entrance area, with a glassed-in triangular overhang, providing extra insulation.
In the background can be seen the south wall of the nursery, with room for 120 children. It is now used as an ambulance station. The appearance of this building has changed considerably, and it is now almost unrecognizable.
Sotsgorod was planned as a city of the future, in which the builders of Socialism would be able to live in comfortable conditions without having to worry about housing problems or how to make ends meet. In reality, however, many of the residents of Sotsgorod were former peasants, and continued to keep farm animals, as can be seen in the photograph.
District No. 8 was the only part of Orsk’s 1935 General Development Plan to be actually constructed. In the 1930s there was an area of waste ground to the south and west of District No. 8, and to the north work began on the construction of District No. 10. To the east of the District, in the low-lying land by the River Elshanka, was a branch of Labor Colony No. 3 - the inmates worked on the construction of the District.
