Repairing the Domestic State
Another step into the place of international greatness was providing superior standards of living for the capital city’s citizens, although the elite members of society made up the vast majority of residents in the two Sister housing apartments. The Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building and Kudrinskaya Square Building were structures intended to entice highly talented individuals throughout Moscow and the world to venture not only to visit but to engage in the Moscow culture and produce high quality work in science, politics, labor, or service for the country. Not an edifice for peasants or laborers but instead for white-collar workers, the apartment buildings symbolized the rewards for the highly educated and ambitious. The apartments were designed in such a way that allowed residents to essentially never go out of the building, only going to work outside of the building. Essentially a mall within an apartment complex, the buildings were geared towards the utilitarian output of work displayed by its esteemed residents. This idea of housing the working elite and keeping essentially isolated from the entire city was an intentional action geared towards maximizing the productivity of such individuals; this tweak was yet another fix in the ultimate Moscow plan of rivaling the best of Western metropolises.
Opened in 1954, the Kudrinskaya Square Building is not too different from its sister apartment building. Apartments were given to highly-skilled individuals ranging from engineers, astronauts, test pilots and aircraft designers, as well as actors and senior officials (2). The 1952 Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building’s guest were equally elite, many chose personally by Stalin for a place of residence within the building (1). This conglomerate of elite individuals would, in the mind of Stalin, promote increased creative output and a more centered comradery between individuals who likely worked alongside each other in the workforce. This concentration of intellect, creativity, and ambition began to rival many hubs of innovation around the world up until the decentralization of intellect into other parts of the city and outside in more recent decades after failed geopolitical gains.
Today, the Kudrinskaya Square Building stands as not even a shadow of its former glory. The shops and rooms throughout the building have deteriorated and, instead of elites occupying the apartment spaces, there is now a blend of both lower-payed and higher-paid individuals alike. This deterioration can offer some glimpse into the narrative of Moscow over the decades: an initially ambitious plan with hopes of invigorating the field which a project pertained to, only to be unexpanded throughout the years while progress stagnated. Kudrinskaya and Kotelnicheskaya are both in need of repairs after over half a century in use. The two residential buildings do not exhibit the same glamour to the citizens of the city that it once did, and the initial notion of providing high end luxury palaces for citizens is slowly dissipating. With a newfound exuberance and stream of responsible funds towards the buildings, the apartment complexes, much like the city that nestles them, can begin to regain a former glory lost over the test of time.
1) http://um.mos.ru/en/houses/highrise-apartment-building-at-kotelnecheskaya-embankment/
2) http://um.mos.ru/en/houses/kudrinskaya-square-high-rise/?sphrase_id=225213