Surely, many who visited the residents of five-story houses noticed a small window located between the kitchen and the bathroom or the kitchen and the bathroom. Even far from all residents of Soviet buildings know the true purpose of such windows. AiF.ru decided to look into this issue and asked the architect for what purpose the architects designed window openings inside the apartment.
What are the versions?
Exists a large number of myths and various conjectures on this subject, tells architect Ruslan Kirnichansky. “The most odious, in my opinion, is in order to gas equipment in the event of an explosion, it did not damage the wall, but the shock wave went through the window. But in fact, the partition between the kitchen and the bathroom of the Khrushchev is thin, and not a single window will save it, ”says the specialist.
Which version is correct?
According to the architect, the only correct version, for which a window was needed between the bathroom and the kitchen, was to ensure plumbing safety standards. “According to the standards for insolation (light level), all rooms in residential apartments should receive sunlight for at least two hours a day,” explains Kirnichansky. - Five-story houses were developed in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century. At this time, the fight against tuberculosis was actively going on. In order to avoid the occurrence of tuberculosis bacillus, to prevent it from multiplying (as you know, it reproduces in a humid environment), a window was provided in the five-story buildings. So that the light from the window in the kitchen gets into the bathroom (in five-story buildings, bathrooms and lavatories were always combined in the first series), because sunlight disinfects the air and kills bacteria.
Why a window?
In those years, hoods already existed in apartment buildings, but the system was still of rather low quality, the architect explains. “Ventilation was provided, but it was impossible to disinfect the room. Therefore, engineers, designers, architects agreed that a window should be made between the kitchen and the bathroom. These windows did not open, they were blocked. But they had to give light,” says Kirnichansky.
Did it get the job done?
No, according to the specialist, the need for windows between the bathroom and the kitchen has disappeared. “From the point of view of efficiency, this window did not justify itself much: it was located quite high. Still, it was not the window that won the disease, but medicine, which stepped forward. In addition, forced fans appeared,” the architect notes. - In addition, the window created a large number of problems. It was a little uncomfortable to be able to watch what was going on in the bathroom from the kitchen. And people often liquidated these windows, painted them over with paint.
Are windows made like this now?
According to Kirnichansky, now the norms of insolation are advisory in nature. “If we look at the typical development of a Soviet microdistrict, we will not find practically a single apartment there where sunlight would not enter the apartments. Except for the first floors, which are overgrown with tall trees and shrubs. Now all SNiPs in terms of illumination level are advisory in nature. The builder can design a house so that sunlight enters it, and maybe so that it does not. People who know how important sunlight is to disinfect the air in our latitudes prefer to buy apartments from the sunny south or southwest side, ”adds the specialist.
Anton Pogorelsky, Alexandra Vladimirova, Olga Mamaeva
Why did the creators of five-story buildings invent a refrigerator under the windowsill, can the location of the houses protect residents from the wind and what are the similarities five-meter kitchens with a spaceship - in a big story about how Khrushchevs are arranged
Task: calculate the number and trajectory of body movements that a person makes when preparing food. Goal: to create a comfortable and ergonomic kitchen for daily use by one family. Solution: a 5 sq. m, in which the hostess can easily reach for any necessary thing.
Work on the creation of a new type of housing for the Soviet people was divided into approximately such sub-items. The result of engineering surveys was Khrushchev - five-story houses that at once solved the problem of lack of real estate in the cities of the USSR.
Despite the modesty of their appearance, the Soviet five-story buildings turned out to be a breakthrough - both in construction technology and in the level of comfort that residents received. We asked historians, architects and local historians to tell us what life was like in the five-story buildings of the Soviet era and how the creators of Khrushchev were ahead of their time.
Five-story buildings began to be massively built in the fifties of the last century - and a typical single-family kitchen became a new entity for Soviet housing construction. This entity has replaced shared kitchens in communal apartments, where residents of five or seven rooms cooked food at the same time in one room. In Khrushchev, the need for a large area simply disappeared: where there is no queue for gas stove, no extra square meters.
Typically, the size of kitchens in five-story buildings varied between 5-7 square meters. m. This area housed a suite, a table with chairs and a refrigerator - and under the window there was still room for a special refrigerator cabinet, which was cooled from the street with a hole in the wall. If desired, the hole could be closed with a brick. This cabinet is a genuine innovation that appeared in Khrushchev.
In winter, it was indispensable for storing perishable products: in the fifties and sixties of the last century, electric refrigerators were not yet widespread, and therefore the ability to store food in a convenient and functional compartment was a breakthrough.
“Soviet design was characterized by the search for ergonomic solutions: the lack of space in Khrushchev houses was brightened up with architectural finds,” explains CEO studio IND Architects Amir Idiatulin, who explores the influence of Khrushchev on the modern vision of design and design methods. “For example, the famous window in the wall between the bathroom and the kitchen not only served as natural light, but also served for safety: in the event of a gas explosion, a shock wave, according to calculations, should have knocked out only the glass instead of the whole wall.”
Products
To store food in the wall - before the advent of Khrushchev, this seemed impossible. Refrigerators in five-story buildings, the phrase "put under the window" was introduced
Of course, the ergonomics of kitchens was not limited to a window sill or a window to the bathroom. “Smartness and functionality came first,” explains the CEO architectural company"Severin-project" Alexander Balabin, who uses the achievements of the Khrushchev builders in his daily work. - Before the start of construction, an analysis of the behavior of future residents was carried out. As a result, kitchen sizes and kitchen furniture were calculated based on the analysis of the movements of the hostess preparing a typical ration of dishes.
It seems incredible, but back in the middle of the last century, Soviet engineers calculated mathematically how a person preparing food moves - and created an environment as friendly as possible to such a “cook”. With a similar level of elaboration, specialists approached the layout of compartments in spaceships: minimum of emotions, maximum of efficiency. In the middle of the last century, this ergonomics was highly valued: it never occurred to Soviet citizens who moved from barracks and communal apartments to criticize Khrushchev for “small” kitchens.
Soviet experts analyzed not only the peculiarities of cooking, but also whether it would be convenient for other residents in the kitchen. “Calculations have shown that in order to get up from the table, a person of normal build needs a distance of at least 40 cm between the wall and the table,” Balabin adds.
Apartment
Along with the kitchens in the Khrushchevs, entire apartments have also shrunk. The place of five- and six-room apartments with enfilades, typical for stalins and pre-revolutionary houses, was occupied by “odnushki” and “dvushki” with an area of 30-40 square meters. m. Simultaneously with the decrease in the total area, the provision of real estate for a single family has sharply increased. If earlier the family had about 15 square meters. m - that is, one room in a communal apartment - then in Khrushchev one household already corresponded to a separate apartment.
Historians and sociologists called the changes that took place a household revolution, the result of which was a population explosion. Many families at once received a separate living space - and ceased to depend on their neighbors. The Soviet birth boom occurred in the fifties and sixties of the last century - the time of active settlement of Khrushchevs.
There are also three- and even four-room apartments in five-story buildings: in the ideal world of a Soviet citizen, everyone should have had enough living space. It is no coincidence that the Khrushchevs became the first item in the program to provide apartments for all residents of the USSR: at a time when the country was being built up with five-story buildings, the party proclaimed its goal to completely get rid of communal apartments by the year 2000.
With the advent of Khrushchev, the design of the Soviet furniture and items life has reached a new level. Interiors have become functional, affordable and stylish at the same time.
The layouts of apartments in Soviet five-story buildings often exceed in terms of comfort the layouts of modern new buildings, Alexander Tomashenko, a partner at the AI-architects architectural studio, who designs apartments in both Khrushchev and new buildings, is convinced. “In modern comfort-class residential complexes, the picture will be depressing,” Tomashenko believes. - In some cases, the square meters spent on the corridors reach 35% of the total area of the apartment. The corridors of the Khrushchevs were mostly cramped and narrow, but the usable area of the apartments was used as efficiently as possible. Many types of Khrushchev houses have built-in wardrobes and pantries. Far from all modern houses storage space or any built-in solutions are thought out.
Indeed, corridors in Khrushchev were not needed: the main emphasis was on rooms and kitchens, and the entrance hall remained a purely auxiliary area for passage between the main rooms. In separate series of five-story buildings, a window was made in the wall of the kitchen for serving dishes to the living-dining room, recalls Alexander Balabin. According to him, when calculating the size of the rooms, the possibility of reasonable savings in time and effort for cleaning was also taken into account.
Interior
“In Soviet cities, five-story houses formed not just residential areas, but a full-fledged closed structure where people lived, united by the same interests. If the intelligentsia was located in the center, where there were professorial houses, houses of artists and directors, then the Khrushchevs in the sleeping areas united the working class, ”says Alexander Korolev Architects, head of the architectural studio Alexander Korolev Architects.
Render: Alexander Korolev Architects
At the request of RBC-Nedvizhimost, Korolev's studio studied and recreated the typical interior of an apartment in Khrushchev in the late fifties of the last century. In the course of his work, the designer discovered a significant similarity between the standard interiors of 60-year-old apartments and modern collections of famous furniture brands.
“Original chairs for those years with wooden armrests today are very relevant and cost impressive money. In stores like IKEA, the collection of the last season borrows a lot from those times, Korolev is convinced. - Do not forget about massive cabinets with mezzanines, which not only performed their direct function, but also provided space zoning, playing the role of partitions. Carpets worked for soundproofing and were an element of luxury. Until now, the Khrushchev style is used in various interiors as spectacular retro details."
Render: Alexander Korolev Architects
The main advantage of Khrushchev architecture is the neutrality of such houses, said the architects interviewed by the editors of RBC Real Estate. “The appearance of these buildings was very ascetic, but this simplicity had its own charm,” says local historian Denis Romodin. “The architecture of the Khrushchev houses does not visually press,” Vadim Kirillov, managing partner of the Artel holding, confirms. “Such areas have comfortable, loose buildings, spacious yards, as well as an abundance of trees and flower beds near the houses.”
“They said about these houses that they organize the space around their inhabitants: such architecture is simple and neutral,” Afisha quotes Anna Bronovitskaya, an architectural historian and teacher at the Moscow Architectural School (MARCH), who specializes in houses of the modernist era. - It is important to remember that such neutral buildings exist only together with the landscape and trees - as a background. For such architecture to remain relevant, the landscape needs to be maintained.”
The very existence of a five-story building with separate apartments is a full-fledged statement on the topic of how a free person should live in the Soviet Union. No halls and useless vestibules: from the stairwell, a person immediately got into the apartment.
Staircases were also calculated from the point of view of the basic needs of the population - from the need to meet a neighbor to transport furniture and other large items. “There is a well-known standard for organizing access spaces, when the possibility of carrying out a coffin by two citizens of average build was taken into account when designing stairs,” recalls Alexander Balabin.
Mezzanines for storing things are an essential attribute of the Soviet Khrushchev. You can put pickle jars, family archives and even skis there.
Almost all my life is connected with Khrushchevs. I lived in different cities and regions, but the five-story buildings remained unchanged - even in Moscow. I bought my current apartment in the summer of 2002. This is a "kopeck piece" in Koptev on the fourth floor. By the time I bought the apartment, I had lived in Moscow for two years. At that time, all prices were measured in dollars: the rent cost $150 a month, the purchase cost me $37.5 thousand.
Most of all I liked the place: near the forest and the lake, the area is quiet and green. Modern Koptevo is a low-rise building, so there are not too many people here. The metro, however, is far away, but when I bought an apartment, my work was 20 minutes away by tram, so the remoteness of the subway did not bother me. At that moment, new buildings were too expensive, so I did not even consider the option with the primary market. Khrushchev absolutely suited me.
Compared to many other five-story buildings, my house is excellent. The ceilings are slightly higher than in standard Khrushchevs, the sound insulation is good. When I first came here, I liked everything. For the first few months I lived without furniture, sleeping on one mattress. Made small redecorating There wasn't enough money for anything else. Perhaps because of this, the apartment seemed very large to me - there is enough space for one.
“Now, when I return from some European country, I often think where big apartment I live. We recently went to an exhibition in Paris, where we rented a place through Airbnb. Not only did the rent cost some crazy money, but the apartment turned out to be very cramped - the kitchen was literally in the hallway. After a trip to London, the feeling was the same: in our Khrushchev - space!
Yes, Khrushchev houses have their drawbacks: the kitchens are small, the planning decisions are not the most successful. At the same time, even in more modern houses it is easy to find apartments with smaller kitchens. We live together with a girl and calmly disperse - both in the kitchen and in the rooms. We also have a pantry where most of the things are stored. It is very comfortable.
When I first moved in, the neighbors said that the house would soon be demolished. 15 years have passed - as you can see, the house is in place. I feel comfortable in my apartment, I want to come back here. But the unkempt entrance, the environment, this creaky Iron door, which is painted with shabby brown paint, sometimes makes me think that I still want to live in good home. And then the mood changes - and I think: "What's wrong here?" One or two is good here. It is more difficult with a child - there is no elevator, the rooms are adjacent.
When I moved here, I was sure that this was my only purchase of an apartment and I was moving in forever - it took several years to pay off the debts that I got into because of the apartment. Nevertheless, after nine or ten years, I began to think about moving. I bought an apartment in a new building in Kurkino. They built a house, I began to come to that apartment, but I didn’t like something. Then I realized: even with closed windows at two o'clock in the morning it is too noisy there. Nearby is Novokurkinskoe highway, which is always busy. To hear each other in the yard, it was necessary to shout. I ended up selling that house.
Surely each of us, when visiting, noticed that in some houses there are small windows between the kitchen and the bathroom (or a combined bathroom). Maybe some even live in such apartments.
So why are they needed, these windows, if every house has electricity? Editorial "AWESOME" I decided to look into the issue and now share with you the knowledge gained.
According to one version, such windows are prescribed by building codes for houses in which water is heated using a gas column. In the event of an explosion, this should protect the walls from destruction. If the speaker is in the bathroom, the blast wave should, in theory, knock out the window, sparing the load-bearing walls.
However, geysers appeared relatively recently, already in the days of the USSR, and the windows between the bathroom and the kitchen were still in the houses under the tsar. Suffice it to recall Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog, which described in detail how Sharikov communicated with the professor through a similar window from a flooded bathroom.
It turns out that the windows in the bathroom performed several functions at once, the most important of which was saving light. The fact is that electricity began to appear in homes only at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. If the household needed to drop into the bathroom for a minute to wash their hands, light candles, or kerosene lamp it was very uncomfortable. And the window allowed to see where the washstand and soap were located.
In addition, these windows provided better ventilation. They could be opened and quickly ventilate the room, saving it from excess moisture. In addition, the window helped to make sure everything was fine with the child in the bathroom, or to get into a locked room if the person in it became ill.
This is how the origin of the windows between the bathroom and the kitchen is explained. If you liked this information, share it with your friends!
About some architectural implementations in construction apartment buildings of the Soviet era, there are real legends and anecdotes. After all, many of us still cannot understand why they made a window from the bathroom into the kitchen, why the doors must certainly open into the apartment, why did they come up with a niche under the window in the kitchen, and for the proletariat they laid a real parquet floor? Why in this way and not otherwise, and is there any logic in such unusual construction standards?
1. Why did they make a window between the bathroom and the kitchen in Khrushchev?
Even the elderly, who have lived for decades in apartments with such a layout, still do not understand why it is needed. Such an unusual design rudiment has acquired many versions and legends. For many years, it was believed that the most “reasonable” version was that the gas equipment available in the apartment in the event of an explosion could not damage the wall, and the shock wave will simply blow out the window. But, such an explanation has no real basis, and thin wall could not withstand a powerful explosion of gas.
Naturally, jokes about spying on swimmers we do not take into account.
And here is the version related to elementary energy savings, is more realistic and has proven to be effective. Indeed, in the daytime, when entering the bathroom to wash your hands, it is not at all necessary to turn on the light. And in the evening, when the light is on in the kitchen, there is enough of it in the bathroom.
People who are fond of design have found a very original explanation: given the rules for the design of small areas, it is the window that, in the best possible way, can add visual space to a tiny bathroom and bathroom combined. This is quite logical, but Soviet architects certainly did not think about this (given the norms of living space per capita!).
However, digging into sanitary standards construction, operating in the 50-60s of the last century (it was during that period that such a project was actively implemented), an answer was found to this question. As it turned out, according to the standards for the level of illumination (insolation), all residential premises should receive sunlight for at least two hours a day.
This rule was introduced to fight tuberculosis, because Koch's wand actively developed precisely in a warm and humid place, and the sun's rays were supposed to disinfect the air and kill harmful bacteria. Although the ventilation in the old buildings was imperfect, it could not cope with these bacteria in any way.
But the window did not help either, because it is located very high, which means that there was no way for the sun's rays to get into the bathroom with such a healing mission. Since medicine did an excellent job of destroying the tubercle bacillus, the windows from the kitchen to the bathroom disappeared from the projects of apartment buildings.
2. Why did the doors in "Khrushchev" always open inward?
All apartment buildings of the Soviet era were built only according to the standards and GOSTs, which were forbidden to violate. Especially when it comes to fire safety. Naturally, for many decades in philistine circles there were absurd legends about this. One of them perfectly reveals people's fear of the NKVD or KGB. According to her version to make it easier for representatives of these formidable organizations to penetrate the homes of Soviet citizens and came up with this rule. However, no door or any other barrier could stop these services for sure.
The answer to this question was also found in the building codes, which state that in order to fire safety Entrance door in the living room should open only inwards. After all, such a door is easier to crack for firefighters in the event of a fire in the apartment, and if an emergency situation arises with mass evacuation, then the doors of all apartments could open simultaneously without any obstacles, without blocking each other.
Over time, when nine-story houses appeared and areas in front of the apartments became much large sizes, which means that the doors of neighboring apartments could not block each other in any way, this norm has become advisory in nature.
Each of us wondered why exactly 9-storey buildings prevail in our cities. Not 10 for example, for a round count or 11? As it turned out, the answer is absolutely simple and it lies in the same place - in fire regulations and rules and in budgetary savings. In view of the fact that the standard mechanized ladder of a fire truck is 28 meters, the rescue team will not be able to climb higher. The arithmetic is very simple, whatever one may say, in case of any danger to people trapped in the apartment, firefighters or rescuers from the outside will be able to reach a maximum of 9 floors.
But what about high-rise candles that reach 15 and above floors, you ask? Here for such structures (starting from the 10th floor and above) in architectural projects and building codes have their own rules. So, for example, smoke-free stairs should be installed in each skyscraper, having three types of construction, which were previously described in the materials on the site.
Not only did the creation of such fire escape stairs and special evacuation routes not look very aesthetically pleasing afterwards, but also significantly increased the cost of housing. And this is not the only economically disadvantageous feature of high-rise construction.
There is another norm for such high-rise buildings: mandatory installation two elevators- Passenger and freight. Such unacceptable extravagance was allowed only in exceptional cases, so our cities simply abound with 9-storey buildings.
4. Why were the edges of the steps of flights of stairs painted with paint in the Soviet era?
This rule seems almost meaningless and ridiculous, so there are many answers to this question. Some people think it's crooked painters don't know how to paint walls accurately and everything that is filled with paint below is then simply trimmed. But then a reasonable question arises, why do this on the other side?
Many people think that side of the wall gets dirty from the touch of shoes and to avoid this, paint over it along with the steps. But what about the other side?
There were originals who remember the servility of subordinates who laid carpets before the arrival of dignitaries. After all, who knows where they will want to look next time. And so the edges are already painted (suddenly the path turns out to be narrow), and it will certainly close the center.
Naive people believe that Housing office workers are worried about the aesthetic appearance of flights of stairs, because sad grey colour evokes melancholy, which is why they decorate the steps in this way.
Practical people tend to think that painted corners and edges flight of stairs make cleaning easier, because all the cracks are filled with paint, so dust and dirt will be easier to wash.
We did not find any regulatory documents on this issue, so everyone is free to choose the option that suits him best.
5. What is the function of the niche in the kitchen under the windowsill?
Now we do not understand what it is like to live without a refrigerator. But during the mass settlement of people from barracks and overcrowded communal apartments to their own apartments, this invariable attribute of every present apartment was completely inaccessible. And in order to provide a place for storing vegetables, conservation or other perishable products even in the cold season, the architects came up with a kind of refrigerator.
In order to organize this kind of cold storeroom in apartment building in the kitchen under the windowsill, outer wall they made it twice as thin (fortunately, the thickness allowed!), And in the resulting niche, shelves were installed and a door was hung. That's all, a simple refrigerator was ready, and every Soviet family, moving into a brand new "Khrushchev", received it absolutely free of charge and was incredibly happy with all the benefits that were created for them in the apartment.
6. Why was parquet used almost everywhere in Soviet apartments for flooring?
From time immemorial, only very wealthy people could afford parquet floors, and then suddenly, during the mass construction of high-rise buildings for ordinary hard workers, as floor covering living rooms used exclusively parquet. Was the government really trying to instill a sense of beauty in everyone without exception? And where does such luxury come from in the country of the Soviets or the generosity of the leadership?!
As it turned out, everything is much more prosaic. At the first stages of total construction the country simply did not have the appropriate capacities that would provide cheaper material, such a great event. Indeed, thanks to the parquet enterprises, which were nationalized after the revolution, at first it was possible to meet the growing needs in the construction segment. Then they completely reduced the cost of this process, they began to create ready-made parquet slabs (panel parquet) and simply lay them on the resin. And the material was not used from noble tree species, but the one that is cheaper. In recent years construction works in order to save money, parquet slabs were made from industrial waste, which significantly affected the quality of the flooring (naturally, for the worse).
Strange as it may sound, but in the Soviet Union, along with the mass creation of "Khrushchev" was carried out truly innovative that could radically change the entire construction industry and even the life of Soviet citizens.
As conceived by the architects, many houses from the times of the USSR have windows in the bathrooms. Some tenants closed up an unnecessary hole during the renovation, but questions about its purpose still remain. Let's return to this topic and find out why they made a window in the bathrooms?
There are many myths and versions that not only residents, but also architects are still arguing over. Now we will analyze the most popular of them.
The main version is based on the fact that when houses were just being designed, the feed hot water was not centralized. People used individual flow type gas heaters. Before taking a shower, the water heater had to be set on fire, which is why the knockout opening, or window, appeared. In the event of a blast wave, the window would minimize the consequences of the accident by taking the brunt of the blow. In addition, when using gas, the ratio of windows to the area of \u200b\u200bthe kitchen must be observed.
Another version says that windows in houses appeared in order to save electricity. The high power of the bulbs was an unaffordable luxury, so during the day they often washed in natural light, and in the evening there was enough light from the kitchen to take a shower.
Those who had a window in the toilet, not the bathroom, also expressed a version: “During the night trips to the toilet - a very convenient thing. So that the light does not blind sleepy eyes, turn it on in the kitchen.
Another quite logical option is the following: the windows were designed in accordance with SNiP (Building Norms and Rules). In the event of a power outage, emergency lighting ensured safe evacuation from the building. And when the doors are locked, leave closed space could be through the glass window.
Some suggest that the window was made for sanitary and hygienic reasons. Linen in the USSR was dried not only on balconies, but also in bathrooms. In houses where the configuration of the window allowed it to be opened, it is generally accepted that the holes in the wall were created to better ventilation to prevent mold and quick drying clothes.
Let's talk about one more version, which seems absurd to many. During the design of apartments (1950-1960), tuberculosis became a real scourge. This infection does not tolerate sunlight well, spreading in dark and damp rooms. There is an opinion that windows were invented in order to prevent tuberculosis. sunlight, entering through the window, could destroy bacteria and microorganisms in a closed room.
Did you have such a window in your apartment? Do your grandmothers and mothers remember what it is for? It seems that even Soviet residents argued about the true purpose of the windows between the bathroom and the kitchen. Fearing peeping, the windows were often hung and painted over.
