A great achievement of the Soviet construction technology in Siberia: The reinforced concrete cupola of the Novosibirsk Theatre
Author(s): |
Ivan Nevzgodin
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Medium: | conference paper |
Language(s): | English |
Conference: | 6th International Congress on Construction History (6ICCH 2018), July 9-13, 2018, Brussels, Belgium |
Published in: | Building Knowledge, Constructing Histories [2 vols.] |
Page(s): | 215-220 |
Year: | 2018 |
Abstract: | One of the most famous buildings in Siberia is the Opera and Ballet Theatre of Novosibirsk. For this Theatre Professor Peter Pasternak from Moscow designed and calculated a “perfect and grandiose” concrete dome. One of the problems for the Modern Movement in Siberia was the low level of the available technology. Thus Pasternak was very sceptical that it would be possible to have his construction realised by unskilled labourers from the backward province. Nevertheless, two young engineers realised this—for its time—outstanding construction. The intention to use the vault for planetarium-like cinema projections caused the application of a pure spherical form, which is disastrous for the acoustics of the covered space. Once the construction of the building was roughly finished, the Soviet authorities refused the idea of an avant-garde theatre and architecture. The building was redesigned for a traditional opera and ballet theatre with a neoclassical decoration |