The present of the past

       My blogpost is not going to be about the horrors of a war or about fierce fighting. I’m not going to tell you about sth that threatened world peace or caused civil unrests. I will not tell you about the person who declared a war or brought about peace. In fact, the thing which is going to be presented came in useful for many people living during those times. And this phenomenon is called Khrushchyovka. Why exactly Khrushchyovka – you’ll ask. Well, this is a part of 20th century history which exists till nowadays and we face with it every single time we visit our grandmas and grandpas as this kind of apartment had a huge effect on them (well, at least this thing affected my family in particular). Khrushchyovka is an unofficial name of type of low-cost, concrete-paneled or brick three- to five-storied apartment building which was developed in the USSR during the early 1960s, that sprang from Nikita Khrushchev who directed the Soviet government.  During 1947–1951 there was a severe housing shortage which caused a great anxiety among citizens. In fact, the situation was a perfect recipe for disaster. But soviet architects made useful contributions and evaluated various technologies attempting to reduce costs and completion time. During January 1950 an architects' convention, supervised by Khrushchev, declared low-cost, quick technologies the objective of Soviet architects. During 1954–1961, engineer Vitaly Lagutenko, chief planner of Moscow caused a sensation and designed and tested the mass-scale, industrialized construction process, relying on concrete panel plants and a quick assembly schedule. 64,000 units of this type were built in Moscow from 1961 to 1968 and brought about peculiar changes into people’s everyday lives.
       Planners regarded elevators as too costly and as too time-consuming to build, and Soviet health/safety standards specified five stories as the maximum height of a building without an elevator. The panel buildings called 'Khrushchyovka' are found in great numbers all over the former Soviet Union and still have a lot of influence on people living in the 21st century. They were originally considered to be temporary housing until the housing shortage could be alleviated by mature Communism. Khrushchev predicted the achievement of Communism in 20 years (by the 1980s). Later, Leonid Brezhnev promised each family an apartment "with a separate room for each person plus one room extra", but many people continue to live in Khrushchyovkas today. And as we see now for communists “temporary” means “forever”. Nevertheless, I consider K-s to be remarkable achievement as it brought about positive changes into the society.