[en] The paper is a study of house-building cooperatives in the Lithuanian SSR as a field of architectural experimentation in planning, design and construction of mass housing during the late Soviet period (1960s–1980s). The house-building co-operatives were re-introduced in the USSR in 1962 as a substitute for the cessation of private single-family houses in large cities. Politically and economically, house-building co-operatives were seen as a solution to the difficult situation posed by the well-known Soviet apartment shortage because co-operative apartment arrangements meant that residents contributed their own funds to the process of building their homes, thereby avoiding the waiting list. The important change that housing co-operatives offered was the possibility for better-to-do citizens to obtain housing luxuries that were previously available only to the privileged party nomenclatura. From an urban planning perspective such a concentration of previously single houses into multi-apartment buildings was meant to minimise the municipal land taken up for housing and reduce the cost of engineering infrastructure. At the same time the introduction of co-operative housing resulted in more varied residential building designs (including more comfortable apartment layouts and better selection of materials), engaging in the process departments of experimental design at the State Design Institutes. In this paper a hypothesis is proposed that the development of co-operative housing stimulated architectural experimentation for groups concerning both privileged residents (because the process of co-operative housing accelerated the concentration of more affluent urban dwellers) and architects, who wished to express more varied residential planning ideas.The paper is a study of house-building cooperatives in the Lithuanian SSR as a field of architectural experimentation in the planning, design, and construction of mass housing during the late Soviet period (1960s–80s). House-building co-operatives were re-introduced in the USSR in 1962 as a substitute for the stoppage of private single-family dwellings in large cities. Politically and economically, house-building co-operatives were seen as a solution to the difficult situation posed by the apartment shortage. The co-operative apartment arrangements meant that residents contributed their own funds to the process of building their homes, thereby avoiding the waiting list. The important change that housing co-operatives offered was the possibility for better-off citizens to obtain housing luxuries that were previously available only to privileged communist party elite. From an urban planning perspective, concentrating zones previously allotted to single-family dwellings into multi-apartment buildings was a means of minimizing the municipal land taken up by housing and reducing the cost of engineering infrastructure. At the same time, the introduction of co-operative housing resulted in more varied residential building designs (including more comfortable apartment layouts and better selection of materials). The departments of experimental design at the State Design Institutes were engaged in the process. In this paper, we suggest the hypothesis that the development of co-operative housing stimulated architectural experimentation for two groups of people: privileged residents (because the process of co-operative housing accelerated the concentration of more affluent urban dwellers), and architects, eager to implement more varied residential planning ideas.

[es] El presente artículo estudia las cooperativas de construcción de viviendas en la RSS de Lituania como terreno de experimentación en arquitectura y particularmente en la planeación, el diseño y la construcción de viviendas colectivas durante las últimas décadas del periodo soviético (1960-1980). Las cooperativas de construcción de viviendas se introdujeron en la Unión Soviética en 1962 para sustituir, en las grandes ciudades, las viviendas individuales de construcción privada. Desde un punto de vista político y económico, las cooperativas de construcción de viviendas se consideraron una solución a la delicada situación provocada por la bien conocida escasez de apartamentos soviéticos. Los apartamentos cooperativos suponían que los residentes aportaran fondos propios para la construcción de sus hogares, evitando de esta manera las largas listas de espera. El gran cambio introducido por estas viviendas cooperativas residió en el hecho de que los ciudadanos con mayores recursos económicos pudieron acceder a viviendas más lujosas que antes solo estaban reservadas a los miembros privilegiados de la nomenclatura. Desde una perspectiva urbanística, el paso de las viviendas individuales a una mayor concentración en edificios de apartamentos tuvo como efecto una disminución del suelo municipal destinado a la vivienda y por tanto una reducción del coste de la infraestructura de ingeniería. Paralelamente, la introducción de las viviendas cooperativas aportó una mayor variedad en el diseño arquitectónico (en particular, apartamentos con más comodidades y materiales de mayor calidad), incluyendo en este proceso a los departamentos de diseño experimental de los institutos de diseño estatales. El artículo defiende la hipótesis de que el desarrollo de las viviendas cooperativas estimuló la experimentación arquitectónica para dos colectivos: los residentes más favorecidos (dado que el proceso aceleró la afluencia y la concentración de pobladores urbanos) y los arquitectos (que querían expresar ideas más variadas en la planificación de las viviendas).