page_title: Vesnin brothers
section_title: Vesnin workflow
hierarchical_section_title: Vesnin brothers / Tangible constructivism (1927-1937) / Vesnin workflow
caption_attribution_description: 1927 department store in Moscow
context_page_description: The Vesnin brothers: Leonid Vesnin, Victor Vesnin and Alexander Vesnin were the leaders of Constructivist architecture, the dominant architectural school of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. Exact estimation of each brother's individual input to their collaborative works remains a matter of dispute and conjecture; nevertheless, historians noted the leading role of Alexander Vesnin in the early constructivist drafts by the Vesnin brothers between 1923 and 1925. Alexander also had the most prominent career outside of architecture, as a stage designer and abstract painter.
  The brothers’ earliest collaboration in architecture dates back to 1906; their first tangible building was completed in 1910. Between 1910 and 1916 the Moscow-based family firm designed and built a small number of public and private buildings in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, stylistically leaning towards neoclassicism. During the Russian Civil War Leonid and Victor concentrated on industrial projects and teaching while Alexander had a successful solo career as theatre stage designer.
context_section_description: Soviet critics "blended three richly different and highly complementary talents into one historical and professional personality." Memoirs published by Natalya Vesnina (Victor's widow), statements by the Vesnins' alumni and archive studies allowed different scholars to reconstruct each brother's input and work process. By 1927, the workflow of the firm, according to Khan-Magomedov, crystallized into clearly defined roles for each brother. Usually, Alexander provided the initial artistic concept and sketched the building exterior. Leonid managed functionality: floorplans and internal communications between functional parts of the building. Victor, who lived and worked separately from Alexander and Leonid, would come at a later stage as devil's advocate, pinpointing weaknesses of intermediate drafts. Neither Leonid nor Victor questioned Alexander's lead in defining overall exterior looks and composition. The brothers employed numerous student assistants and clearly preferred professional draftsmanship to sparks of genius; in fact, students who demonstrated their own creative ideas were quickly dismissed. To Vesnins' credit, they never incorporated such ideas in their projects.
caption: Department store in Presnensky District, 1927 (2008 photo)
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