Narkomfin Building

2002, 2004 and 2006 World Monuments Watch

Hailed as an icon of modern architecture, the Narkomfin building was designed by Moisei Ginzburg and Ignatii Milinis in 1928. The building was commissioned to house employees of the National Finance Ministry, known as the Narkomfin. The Constructivist style reflects the new technologies, styles, and approaches that were developing at the time.

Exemplifying a national experiment with socialist ideals of communal living, the building symbolizes the transition from family housing to collective living communities that occurred in the early years of the Soviet republic. Originally, the architects planned for an extensive complex, with two residential blocks, a school, and a hostel; only the Narkomfin building itself, a laundry, and a facilities building were constructed. Certain concepts revealed in the original master plan show the influence of the Constructivist style of the architectural field beyond Russia. For example, the duplex living units, which are accessed at their midpoints by glazed corridors, call to mind aspects of Le Corbusier’s seminal Unité d’Habitation (1947-1952).

The Narkomfin building was included on the World Monuments Watch in 2002, 2004, and 2006. From the time of its first nomination, the building displayed significant deterioration and a semi-ruinous condition. The survival of the building was of acute concern to local residents as well as international architects and conservationists, yet no significant moves toward preservation were made.

Since the Watch

Continuing structural decay and insensitive repairs that were reportedly being performed by tenants had drastically impacted the building. A weakened economy, development pressures, and mixed ownership of the units in the building—shared among private owners, the city government, and a majority-owning developer—made comprehensive restoration difficult, and demolition an ongoing threat. A statement released in June of 2016 by the Moscow Department for Competition Policy, which oversees municipal investments, indicated that a public auction will result in the sale of the government-owned portion of the building, with the starting bid listed at approximately $1.5 million. An investment compnay purchased the building with restoration in mind, partly funded by a multi-million dollar loan.

In April 2018 it was announced that architect Alexey Ginzburg—grandson of original architect, Moisei Ginzburg—would lead the restoration project, keeping with the vision originally intended by the elder Ginzburg.