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THE PALACE UF THI: .:sUVU:'I;)

The Main Auditorium: an audience of 15,000. Open-air platform: 50,000 people, �nd perfectly regulated acoustics. Small auditorium: 6,500 people. Huge crowds can move about at their case on tbe esplanade. Cars arc on a lower level; the parking lot is beneatb the auditoriums.

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l'I,,\N DES PILOTIS. ,\(;«;&. .. ,\fIX n"l'UmNl'S H:?_ ..

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1932. PROJECT FOR THE PALACE OF THE SOVJETS, IH MOSCOIV,

1928-1931

MOSCOW CLASSIFIED TRAFFIC SYSTEM The ground is devoted to movement: pedestrians. cars. Everytbing above tbe ground (the buildings) is devoted to stability.

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No similarity betwccn tho two. The ground beneath the buildings mus.t be freed, for r�au.br stream. .. ofc:1rs :lnd lakes ofpcdc:strians. The streams flow directly 10 ccrtaincntrnnc<!S; the pcJc::strbns arc widely scattered. This makC3 for a new economy of hyout.

The slreams of cars ca.n flow in sunken beds or along cIcvJ.tcd highways. St:lrting S meters abO\'C' the ground, buildings take on definite shnpe. Distribution of troffic h'JS lx:.:::n ::lchic\'cd lx:tow, on. the ground.

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Here, the dynainic functions: distribution of sorts of traffic. (pHotis on tbe ground level.)

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Here. the sUllie fur..clion is expressed by offices. club and auditorium. 1928. Palace of Light Industry (first called the CcntrosoYLls) in Moscow. Now built.

Master plan for the urbanization of the City of l\'ioscow. In 1931. Moscow officials sent mc; 3. questionnaire, admirably thought out,

about the city's reorganization. If only an cities would send out such question· naires! Thc:ir lot would be improved,

The theoretical drawings of the "Radiant City" were made in order to answer this questionnaire. They form u theory of urbanization for modem

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My "Answer to Moscow" caused an unc.xpcctcd reaction: its technical aspects were bailed in flattering terms. But the cornerstone of my work was freedom of the individual. and this was held against me. Doctrinal \'cbcmc:ncc prevented any worthwhile discussion. Capitalist'? bourgeois'! prolelarian? i\'1y only answer is a tcrmexprcssing my line of conductandmyingrJinedrc\'olution� ary attitude: Immarr. My profes;;ional duty, as arcbitect and city planner, is to achieve what is !tuman.

Charitable colleagues - Frenchmen. too. and farfrombcing "'Reds" -pro-­claimed to all who would listen or rc:ld, ·'that I wanted to destroy �-Ioscow.·· Whereas tbey themselves, if only they were called upon. WOUld, etc . • •

The! plate which appears opposite (last in the "Radiant City" series), is not a program for Moscow's destruction but on the contrary, for its construction. It shows zoning and axes of mO\'Cn1ent along which the city could gradualIy achieve a position of supple casc, expansion without difficulty. and so forth.. This plate shows a. specimen of urban biolo.gy.

APPUCATION TO MOSCOW

So far, only the International Congress for Modem Architecture, the C.I.A.M. (sec page 18) has required its members to seek the lines of vital com� municntion which can bring a City into efficient contact \vith its surrounding region. (A task which \ViII fall to the 5th Congress.)

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Palace of the Soviets in �'loscow (see pages 2S8�2S9). The administration building� on the: left, is independ­

ent of tho ground. Not only is the ground freed but, moreover? the expanse of open space beneath tbe building forms a. highly architectural frame for the landscape seen in the background.

On the right. impressive ramps lead the way to the open·air pJatfonn for 50,000 people.

By conlrost, 15.000 can reach the: main audito­rium from ground Je\'el. by means of a continuous inclined plane. becoming concave until it re:lches the seats. No stairv;ays, not even a single stcp can be tolerated in a public building - and certainly not

"monumental" staiJW3.Ys!