Ilia Golosov’s Work of the 1930s and the Soviet Version of Art Deco

Abstract

This article considers the work of Ilia Golosov (and the Fourth Workshop of Moscow City Council or Soviet) on the design of facades in the context of Art Deco. The article compares Soviet practice with the international scene during the 1920s and 1930s, noting an atmosphere of architectural competition among countries, and the similarity in the stylistic solutions created in both East and West. An analysis of Soviet architecture in the context of the pre-Revolutionary era allows one to locate the origins of facade-design methods of the 1930s and their transformation within the new environment.