SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY: The Art Newspaper
Two Moscow-based architectural heritage activists have renovated a Soviet avant-garde apartment and are now renting it on Airbnb. In the property listing, Alexander Dudnev and Konstantin Gudkov describe the apartment as a “time machine” to the Stalin era: “Located in a historical constructivist building, carefully restored and fully equipped with authentic and reconstructed furniture, lights and tableware, it will transfer you to 1930s utopia.”
Part of a 1932 complex built for the People’s Commissariat of Railways, the 35m sq. one-bedroom flat has a minuscule kitchen and bathroom, with a shower installed later since it was initially dismissed as an unnecessary luxury. Designed by the architect Ivan Nikolaev, who is best known for his design of a Moscow textile institute dormitory, the building is almost monastic and provided purely functional communal housing. So far the apartment has received positive reviews on Airbnb for its aura and cleanliness. It has drawn both fans of the avant-garde and of football, with the first guests visiting for the FIFA 2018 World Cup. …Read More
Pictured: Alexander Dudnev and Konstantin Gudkov commissioned Less design studio to recreate avant-garde furniture for the flat, including Nikolai Suetin’s famous Suprematist chair and table setPhoto: Sergei Kasyuk