ZiL — preservation vs profit in Moscow

A friend recently drew my attention to the Vesnin brothers’ Likachev Palace of Culture in Moscow. The area is called ZiL, it was built between 1930 and 1936 in the Constructivist style for the workers who made trucks and tractors in Russia’s largest factory complex. It was a “city within a city” which had its own cafeterias, barber shop, bus line and fire department. At one point, 100,000 workers toiled here to put together trucks that could be found at almost every collective farm, as well as deluxe armoured limousines that carried the Soviet leadership.

The ZiL (“Zavod Imeni Likhachyova”) car plant was conceived of as the First Car Plant in 1916 by the Russian merchant house “Kuznetsov, Ryabushinskiye & Co.” After the 1917 Russian Revolution it was nationalised.

During its most productive years it produced hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year. It also produced fridges, bikes and even church bells.

During Soviet times, one of the most popular truck models, the ZiL-130, could be seen in almost every village and on every construction site.

The factories have long been a derelict industrial area but the Palace of Culture survives — although it’s a bit shabby around the edges.

Apparently there are reconstruction plans afoot and the whole neighbourhood will be redeveloped into…