What Could Have Been: Tatlin’s Tower
Welcome to the Tretyakov Gallery! Here, we will be looking at a specific item: the scale model of Tatlin’s Tower.
While it was never built, this tower is a must see as it is the first, and arguably the most well known, piece of Constructivist architecture even though it never made it past the planning and proposal phases. The tower would have been made with what were deemed “modern real life materials,” that is glass, iron, wire, and wood, lending to the name “Constructivism.” 1
The tower was supposed to be a monument which would have served as the headquarters for the world communist government, or “The Third International,” in St. Petersburg, even though the idea for the tower began right here in Moscow in 1920. However, as visions for world communism and a world-wide proletariat revolution diffused, plans for the tower likewise fizzled out.
Nevertheless, the tower was a symbol for the new Russia, and for the governmental and political prospects, goals, and power of the upcoming nation. Models of the tower continued to be present in May Day celebrations as late as 1925, and the design and ideas behind it opened the door for Constructivist architecture that likewise advanced the vision of the new modernizing country. The materials of steel and glass and Tatlin’s plan to have the latest technology installed, including radio antenna’s and intense lighting and projectors, made it also a symbol of Russia’s new and upcoming technological and industrial might. The steel and glass would also allow for visibility and openness, symbolizing that the tower was a building for the people, and that the government that would be operating inside would be accessible and visible to all.
In sum, Tatlin’s tower was a forward looking building, both politically and technologically. It was a tower to assert Russia’s dominance to the world. Even the height would have been symbolic of Russia’s supremacy over capitalism and the west, since it would have been exactly 400 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower, which Tatlin drew inspiration from. This deliberate move, and the plan for the tower itself, was a clear assertion by Tatlin and Russia as a whole to advance themselves dominantly over the western capitalist world, and flaunt the upcoming power's technological and industrial prowess, along with its emerging political dominance and communist superiority. This design and Tatlin's work set the stage for the Constructivist trend to follow.
Now looking at the tangible fallout of this Constructivist style, we will turn to look at the OSA style as we venture to the Mostorg Department store.
1. Croizier, Ralph, Tatlin's Tower: The Monument to the Future that Never Was. World History Connected 11.1 (2014): 60 pars. 23 Oct. 2016. http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/11.1/forum_croizier.html.
"TATLIN, VLADIMIR EVGRAFOVICH." The State Tretyakov Gallery. The State Tretyakov Gallery, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016. http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/collection/_show/author/_id/148