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After the 1917
revolution, thanks to a number of talented architects, such as the
Vesnin brothers and Boris Iofan, modernistic buildings started to be
built in Moscow. Their design was guided by the new ideology of
constructivism whose main principles were rationalism, feasibility,
functionality, and economic efficiency. Clear-cut graphic design,
simple geometric forms and a lack of decoration characterize
buildings done in the constructivist style. A typical example of
this period was the so-called “House on the Embankment” in Moscow —
a residential complex for high-ranking Soviet officials.
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However,
during this time numerous historically significant buildings were
destroyed, including the magnificent Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
erected in Moscow in the 19th century to
commemorate the war with Napoleon. (The Cathedral was rebuilt in the
1990s and provides a typical example of the so-called
Russian-Byzantine style.)
In the late
1940s-early 1950s the Moscow skyline was accentuated by seven
skyscrapers (including the 33-story high Moscow University tower)
erected in what now is being referred to as Stalin’s rococo style
(“wedding cake” structures favored by Stalin).
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