
How Soviet Kitchens Became Hotbeds Of Dissent And Culture - GuiA
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/27/314961287/how-soviet-kitchens-became-hotbeds-of-dissent-and-culture
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anovikov
Except that it's not Khruschev's apartments. The building which interior we
see on the photo is obviously not new, and Khruschev was in power for only 8
years, 1956-1964. So it couldn't be in that poor state in 'early 60s', those
blocks have been brand new back then, or most of them, not even built yet.

'Khruschevkis' have been built since ca. 1959 through in fact, late 1970s (and
very little, mainly in Moscow, were built before Khruschev was ousted), and
they actually had thin walls through which you can hear. Most people in
Khruschev's era lived in wooden temporary buildings (many of them stand till
now, completely uninhabitable) built right after the war, or dormitories, or
communal apartments (which were build in Stalin era and were normally very
well built, except a family got a single room in 6-8 room apartment). Very
few, upper class people could get a whole apartment of that kind. These
indeed, had thick walls, high ceilings, were well-designed and still form a
highly sought after part of real estate in Russian cities (while not many were
built).

And yes, Khruschevkis were a good thing because they, as primitive and
oversimplified as they were, were the only way for most families to move to
the city from countryside, or to get their private housing for the first time.

~~~
dzhiurgis
Turns out there is a wikipedia page for it:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka)

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isalmon
>> "They were horribly built; you could hear your neighbor"

Pretty much every single apartment complex in the US I lived in (MA and CA).

~~~
olegious
Actually my experience growing up in the USSR was completely different- you
couldn't hear your neighbors because the walls were so thick (and not just our
apartment, but all apartments that I remember), that was one of the surprising
things about moving the US- hearing your neighbors through the walls.

~~~
tolyk
You have probably been lucky to live in either Stalinkas or buildings built
before the revolution. Buildings built before the revolution were mostly
constructed for nobility therefore of a very good quality. Building build
during the Stalin era(stalinkas) were also of the superior quality(and still
are highly valued at Russia's housing market). Stalin's idea was that working
class is a new nobility and therefore should live as the nobility. However
construction rates were so slow, that by the time Kruschev came to power
people were still living in wooden barracks sharing them between multiple
families. Kruschevkas were never intended to be permanent housing, but rather
temporary solution for the housing problem. It was intended to replace them
with better quality housing once all Soviets had roof over their head. Which
unfortunately never happened

~~~
aleyan
"They were called khrushchevkas — five-story buildings made of prefabricated
concrete panels. "They were horribly built; you could hear your neighbor,"
says Edward Shenderovich, an entrepreneur and Russian poet. The apartments had
small toilets, very low ceilings and very small kitchens." <\- from the
article.

I grew up in a 5 story prefabricated concrete Krushevka in Moscow. This is my
experience:

    
    
      [ ] you could hear your neighbor
      [ ] very small toilets
      [ ] very small kitchens
      [X] small toilets
      [X] low ceilings
      [X] small kitchens
    

Kitchens and bathrooms were small, but not much smaller from what I encounter
in some NYC apartments. I feel use of the word "very" was inaccurate in the
article.

Krushevkas may have been derided as ugly pox upon the cities, but at rubles to
bubliks they got people out of communal apartments. Many families were able to
live in their own spaces for the first time.

~~~
rdtsc
Same here. Lived in both an older 40s and 50s 5 stories building. Small narrow
hallways and windows. Build mostly from ridiculous over-sized and thick
bricks. But very sturdy. Don't remember hearing neighbors unless they raised
an extreme ruckus (usually getting drunk and yelling at each other or kids
stumping screaming while playing).

Then lived a newer (built in the early 90s concrete block 9 story building).
Much nicer, big windows, larger rooms. Wall not as thick but still very sturdy
and don't remember hearing my neighbours same as above. Windows were letting
cold air through in the winter and elevator kept breaking often but sound
proofing was find and no cracks or structural issues that I remember.

~~~
huhtenberg
Genuine khrushevkas were made exclusively out of prefab concrete _slabs_. Each
wall was one slab, the ceiling was one or two slabs per room and the sound
isolation issue was less due to the thickness of the slabs and more due to
poor fitting of the slabs or bad sealing of the joints.

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dominotw
It is suprising how little is known about private life before khrushchev era.

I am currently reading a book called the Whisperers[1] which chronicles what
really went on "behind the scenes" in Stalin's russia

[http://www.amazon.com/Whisperers-Private-Life-Stalins-
Russia...](http://www.amazon.com/Whisperers-Private-Life-Stalins-Russia-
ebook/dp/B009E7GVLW/)

~~~
arethuza
Really good book. However, it's perhaps the only book I couldn't finish
because I found it so upsetting.

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alex_doom
I love that they turned used xrays into bootleg vinyl recordings. Disrupt! :P

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firstOrder
> In a country with little or no place to gather for the free expression of
> ideas and no place to talk politics without fear of repression

Edward Snowden revealed that the USA was monitoring its citizens and storing
that data in a way that far outstrips anything the KGB was ever capable of.
Should he fear repression? He should, the government wants to lock him up and
throw away the key for revealing this, just like they did to Manning for what
he revealed. Actually, NPR spends most of its time bashing Snowden.

They seem gaga for dissidence in some foreign country, in a government that
hasn't existed for over two decades though.

~~~
mseebach
Without defending the NSA excesses, the difference is in the repression, not
the monitoring. There is little evidence that the NSA monitoring was used for
repression of citizens, and even less evidence of the sort of repression that
was rampant in the Soviet bloc.

~~~
olifante
nice blindfolds you have there. Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, the largest prison
population by far among rich countries, institutionalized rape, drone
executions without a shred of legal process, militarized police and you're
still making excuses for what was not so long ago the beacon of modern
civilization and democracy.

~~~
p1esk
Now compare things you mentioned with a social climate where the entire
country is one big prison, North Korea style.

Can't imagine life like that? Yeah, I thought so.

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guard-of-terra
With not much other public spaces, where else will you go? There were a few
counter-culture places in Moscow and Leningrad for the select, and kitchens
for everyone else.

Still, it is impressive how viral some culture was. With nothing more than
tape recorders and word-of-mouth, some soviet rock bands still had millions of
listeners and could easily fill a stadium for a gig (and indeed did a bit
later, when it became possible). Same for books and poetry.

This internet-level virability is no longer seen. Today you can't do much on
the word-of-mouth - cultural space is too crowded.

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Uhhrrr
Reminds me of Txoko's, the cooking clubs which were basically the only place
Basques could congregate under Franco:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txoko#History](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txoko#History)

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turingbook
Nobody else feels that recording music on exposed x-ray film is very cool?

~~~
fit2rule
I think its totally cool, and I've been trying to work out how to do it myself
for the last 10 minutes .. if anyone has any tips about this, I'd love to
know. There's a few lung xray's waiting for my industrial tracks in the drawer
.. ;)

~~~
farva
You'll need a recording gramophone like this one:
[http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/164f/](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/164f/)

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webmanoffesto
I teach English in a technical college, mainly to construction majors. I'm
surprised but happy that I've come across great construction-related articles
via Hacker News. the New Bay Bridge, in California (unsafe, late, and over
budget); the CitiCorp Center in Manhattan (was in danger of collapsing); and
this one.

