Barracks as the Main Type of Mass Housing in the Soviet Industrial Towns Constructed During the First Five-Year Plans

• Main Authors: Meerovich, Mark, Bulgakova, Elena
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences 2019
• Subjects: barracks; Sotsgorod; industrialization; Soviet policy of urbanization; бараки; соцгород; индустриализация; советская расселенческая политика; taiga
• Online Access: https://www.projectbaikal.com/index.php/pb/article/view/1478; https://doi.org/10.7480/projectbaikal.60.1478

In the period of Soviet industrialization (1920-1940s), Sotsgorod new developments were often erected from scratch – in steppe, taiga or the desert. Their workforce recruitment was impossible without large-scale housing. Barracks were the first truly mass housing to be built in Sozgorod new developments in the industrialization period. They were a mass phenomenon providing a roof for about 80-90% of the population of industrial settlements. Комплектование трудовыми ресурсами соцгородов-новостроек первых пятилеток (1920–1940-е гг.), часто возводившихся на пустом месте – в степи, тайге или пустыне – было невозможно без массового строительства жилищ. Первым подлинно массовым жилищем, возводимым в соцгородах-новостройках первой пятилетки, являлись бараки. Бараки были массовым явлением; они обеспечивали крышей над головой около 80–85% населения промышленных новостроек.