Plastic houses USSR innovations that could fundamentally change the lives of Soviet citizens

  • Dec 26, 2019
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Experimental plastic house, built in the Soviet Union in 1961.
Experimental plastic house, built in the Soviet Union in 1961.

Contemporary architects are increasingly offering to use unconventional materials to replace the brick, wood and concrete. Some of these trends are called innovative, but in practice it turns out that they have long since known. Thus, in the Soviet Union half a century ago have successfully built the house out of plastic.

Illustration with the image of the plastic house.
Illustration with the image of the plastic house.

Back in 1961, when rapid urbanization has forced the government to begin a massive campaign to ensure people with housing, along with a few "Khrushchev," and other options considered dwellings. Some of them are considered to be incredibly innovative for its time. In St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) on the street appeared Torzhskovskoy single-family house, which was made of plastic ...

Plastic house built in Leningrad in 1961.
Plastic house built in Leningrad in 1961.

Thanks to Khrushchev's "thaw", the half-open the Iron Curtain allowed scientists to learn from the experience of other countries and try to play something on the Western model. One of these experiments was the plastic house. It was designed by the architect and engineer Alexei Shcherbenko Leonid Lewinsky. The idea of ​​such individual housing borrowed from the French.

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Parameters of plastic at home.
Parameters of plastic at home.

The test sample was a two-story structure. Ground area of ​​6 square meters and 2.2 meters in height, made of glass blocks, serving a room for engineering systems and other communications. The second tier built of reinforced plastic 14 cm thick. Heat-shielding properties of the walls were very high. Instead of the usual glass in the window frames were inserted plexiglass. Wallpaper replaced PVC film.

House plan.
House plan.

The living area is 49 square meters, is hosting a living room / bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and closet.

This plastic house and have not found the hosts. He served as a pilot facility. For three years, scientists have observed the condition of the plastic walls and windows in varying weather conditions. The final report of the developers came to the conclusion that the experiment was a success.

The scheme of the building of the plastic tubing.
The scheme of the building of the plastic tubing.

But, despite the inexpensive costs and other positive aspects, the plastic house and has not launched into serial production. Party officials decided that a separate house will bring in a Soviet human spirit of individualism.

Plastic 5-storey house, built in Moscow.
Plastic 5-storey house, built in Moscow.

Another attempt to build a house out of plastic was made in Moscow. Five-story building, lined with plastic panels, erected in the north of the capital in the 4th Vjatskom lane. In the late 1980s, the house was dismantled.

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