The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-10-01

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from all directions.
II was easy to see what had
happened. A fine Soviet building
fine by Soviet standards-stood op
Iposite me. Three floors up there
used to be a balcony. The balcony
had simply fallen off the front o.
the building.
One does not have to be an ex
pert to realize that most of ths
buildings are poorly CONSTRUCTED
and that almost the whole con
struetion industry is inefficient anC
antiquated. You can see this il
watching new buildings 90 up. Oh
you can walk up to an older build
ing and start guessing when 1t was
built. An American might guess
so years; the cornerstone win show
ii was erected eight or maybe /!
years ago. But il already look!
old. The work was poor. The build
ing Is dirty.
Some buildings in Moscow lool
years old even before they ar,
finished.
Most are built of brick. But Oh,
builders do not have facing brick
Instead they cover over the surfac,
with plaster.
The plaster sometimes start.
falling off before the building il
even finished. Even when II stayi
on it does not look good. It il
usually painted with some sort o
plaster paint-often in q paste
shade. This surface collects tn,
dirt. Within a few months it look
bad.
There are many brick building
which were intended to have |
plaster facing but never got II
They look even worse.
Soviet architectural design is no
generally good. Architects tend Il
lput a lot Of ornate decoration
lgingerbread--on buildings. Most o
this is poorly conceived, almost al
Iof it poorly executed.
Nevertheless, there has been con
siderable improvement In the quail
Iity of work in the postwar years
A good many steel frame struc
lures are going up. Many are usin,
reinforced concrete block for walls
New ceramic facing material
have been used heretofore. Their,
has been emphasis on simplicit,
Of design in the interests Of ecol
omy. The extensive use of con
struction machinery has loweres
building costs.
All these are healthy tendencie,
but the Russians have a long wa!
to 60. / lived in an apartment
house completed In 1851 with u
apartments for foreigners.
Much space was wasted. In oul
apartment a long corridor coult
have been used to enlarge th,
three small rooms. No central no
water system was provided. Tn,
gas and water pipes were partl.
exposed; so was some Of the wir
ing. The double windows wer
poorly fitted, and q draft cam
through them.
| There were no wall closets, nj
cessitating the purchase of exper
sive wardrobes. The children ha
no playground. There was n
laundry room. The heat in some {
the apartments was inadequat,
Sometimes the elevator did M
work. For weeks the ambassador
THE minister. the counselor, tn
first secretaries, the second sc,
Iretaries, the attaches, the seer,
Itary archiyists, the military a
ltaches and all the rest trouped u
to their work. When I left Mosco'
this elevator was still one Of til
more uncertain things In Mosco'
diplomatic life.
| Almost all new houses built OF
side cities are still log cabins, th
same as houses built in Russia 81
years ago. They are well built
THE sense that the pine logs al
carefully fitted. In between the lot
there is moss insulation. They al
good warm homes for the Russia
winter.
But they are small and just thin
Iof the waste of good wood in then
Each log cabin must have enout
Ito make three fairly large hom'
if the wood were sawed.
Why Is the Soviet building |
dustry so antiquated. inefficie
and costly to boot? For one thin
the government does not give q
building industry enough attentio
1T is not putting its best braii
land executives to work in I'll
field. Also, construction worke
iare among the worst paid In 9
country.
Is construction work on iidustl
lal enterprises as bad as that ,
Moscow housing? I suspect that
is not much better.
One OF Russia's greatest ours
always has been-and still is-la
of roads.
! The statistics on hard-surfae
highways are state secret. But
is possible to estimate that the Z
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