“I am Amazed by Everything I See”: Trips of British Architects to the USSR. On the Question of the perception of Soviet Architecture and the Features of Communication between English and Soviet Architects in 1920–1930s

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the problem of communication between Soviet and British architects in the period of 1920–1930s, which is very poorly studied in Russian and British historiography. The subject is thoroughly considered in two ways simultaneously. The author examines the political and socio-economic circumstances of such business trips in England. The main focus is on the professional goals and objectives of these visits, and on the reception and interpretation of Soviet architectural and urban planning practices by British architects. The second aspect to which attention is paid are the main points of the program for displaying Soviet architecture, which was organized by the host country. Since a number of visits to the USSR by foreign architects took place in the early 1930s, the nature of mutual interest in the creative experience of Soviet and English colleagues has been changing over the decades. The main objective of the work was an attempt to consider, to a first approximation, the initial stage of this relationship (late 1920s — 1930s) and the most important forms of communication between English and Soviet architects. The article analyses events organized by VOKS, Inturist, Soviet trade representatives, Society for Cultural Relations between the People of the British Commonwealth, and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. The work used materials from the Russian and British archives, including previously unpublished records of Berthold Lubetkin and Erno Goldfinger.