The Slovo Building

The Slovo (in Ukrainian language word “slovo” means “word”) was built for the Writers Union on 9 Kultury Street, upon the project of architect M.I Dashkevych. The project was developed and implemented in 1927–1930 by the Ukrainian Civil Construction Institute (Ukrhrazhdanstroi) on the means of the writers, members of the "Slovo" housing cooperative. The Slovo  was constructed in the last third of the 1920s, the most eventful years in architectural life. Those were the last years of the period when Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine (from 1917 to 1934). By the end of the 1920s, Kharkiv increased its importance not only as an administrative and educational but also as a national economic center, causing significant population growth. The number of residents increased from 285, 000 in 1920 to 423, 000 in 1927, thus the housing problem of the city aggravated. The Slovo building has a special place in the architecture of that period. It can also be attributed to the residential buildings for the “communist elite”, but a special contingent of residents and the fact that it was built on the writers’ money makes the house unique. Although the building was called the “writers’ house”, representatives of other creative professions (painters, sculptors, etc.) lived in it as well.  The building is C-shaped. The house is five-storey high; it has five entrances, 66 apartments, each three or four-room. According to the project, the entire building had to be equipped with electric elevators, but it was not implemented immediately; electric elevators were installed later and only in some entrance hallways. At the same time, the tanning bed and showers above the fifth floor were made.  The structural concept of the house is rather conventional. The Slovo building has longitudinal and traverse load-bearing walls of brocks. “The forms of the building are holding an intermediate position between modernism and constructivism.” It can be seen in the section of the staircase that inter-floor overlapping of all floors is made of reinforced concrete on metal beams (while only the basement floor was most often made of reinforced concrete at that time for the reasons of economy). The clear opening height of the house floors is rather high, 3.28 m. At a time when the Slovo was built, new housing construction was clearly differentiated according to social and professional status, reflecting the social stratification of the forming Soviet society. The appearance and comfort of the dwelling, proximity to the downtown were directly dependent on the status of its residents. The architectural design of the writers’ house represented the high social status of its residents. The apartments included a spacious drawing-room, from which separate entrances lead to each of three or four rooms; spacious kitchen, separate bathroom with a bath and a toilet, tanning beds with showers on the roof, and finally the projected electric elevators. During construction, the initial project was slightly amended in relation to the number of windows in the rooms and the location of the room dividers. And after completion of construction, elevators were installed, although not in all entrances. In 1934, when the capital was transferred to Kyiv, Kharkiv development slowed down, and the construction activity notably declined. The hierarchy and clan structure of the society were further reflecting the architectural solutions of residential complexes, both before World War II and 20 years after it, until the mid-60s. The period when Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian SSR, boosted greatly the city development. Many of the most important architectural complexes were built, including a large number of residential buildings, with the Word House among them, build for Kharkiv writers.  Kateryna Didenko