An Experimental Project of a Microdistrict in Chelyabinsk in the Context of Urban Planning Searches of the Second Half of the 1950s – Early 1960s

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the project of an experimental microdistrict for the city of Chelyabinsk, developed in 1958 at the Academy of Construction and Architecture of the USSR. The project is considered in the context of the new housing policy and the formation of principles of planning and development of the Soviet microdistrict in the second half of the 1950s. The microdistrict in Chelyabinsk is presented as one of the first examples of the use of "free" planning with a picturesque organization of space. The principles of functional zoning, landscaping, and organization of a public service network are shown. The article emphasizes that the project is especially interesting for its "experimental" part - a special advanced site with mixed multi-story development designed for families of different compositions was provided in the microdistrict. The article pays special attention to the role of foreign experience in the formation of new methods of planning and development of microdistricts.