New Materials on the History of the Moscow Division of the All-Union Architectural and Scientific Society (1930–1932)

Abstract

The article focuses on the little-studied history of the creation and activities of the Moscow Division of the All-Union Architectural and Scientific Society (MOVANO). In studies on the history of Soviet architecture, it is usually considered as one of the attempts to unite architects before the creation of the Union of Soviet Architects in 1932. The materials identified during the preparation of this article, including publications and documents that had previously remained out of the field of view of architectural historians, allowed us to reconstruct the general course of events that led to the creation of MOVANO and trace its further fate. In particular, it was established that the creation of MOVANO was part of a large-scale campaign launched at the end of 1929 to create scientific and technical societies (NTO) under various industrial professional unions. The architectural community had nothing to do with this campaign, but became involved in it due to the fact that during the period of accelerated industrialization architectural activity entered the sphere of technical disciplines. That is why the article focuses not only on the difficult and controversial history of MOVANO as a separate association, but also on the transformations that took place in the organization of the NTO, in the fate of the
construction workers' union, under which MOVANO was created, etc. The article pays special attention to the relationship between individual architectural societies that operated in Moscow before the creation of MOVANO and joined it de jure in 1930. Special attention is also paid to the circumstances that led to the creation of the Union of Soviet Architects in 1932, not on the basis of MOVANO, but as a new organization to which MOVANO was forced to join.