How a Soviet architect built up HALF of London

In the 1930s, neighborhoods resembling Soviet apartment blocks, as well as architecture of the Soviet avant-garde, began appearing all over London. All thanks to the efforts of Berthold Lubetkin, an emigrant from the USSR.

Who was Berthold Lubetkin?

Lubetkin was born in 1901 in Tiflis (in the Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia). He studied at an art school in St. Petersburg and then at the famous ‘VKHUTEMAS’ in Moscow. This is deciphered as ‘Higher Art and Technical Studios’ and it was the forge of Soviet avant-garde. It was there that Lubetkin became acquainted with Constructivism, which would be evident in all his subsequent works.

In 1922, the young architect moved abroad – to Warsaw, Berlin and then Paris. He worked on organizing Soviet exhibitions overseas and, in addition, tried his hand at building alongside Western colleagues. The residential building at 25 Avenue de Versailles in Paris has clear Constructivist features.

Until 1931, Lubetkin thought he would return to Russia. He had not left for ideological reasons – on the contrary, it was the Bolshevik Revolution that helped the young man from a Jewish family achieve everything. He was a committed socialist. In 1931, he even took part in the competition for the construction of the Palace of Soviets, the main Soviet utopic project, which was eventually scrapped.

But, with Stalin's rise, avant-garde architecture, like the artistic movement itself, began to be condemned. Hence Lubetkin decided to go not to Moscow, but to London.

From a penguin pool to residential areas & hospitals

In England, Lubetkin founded the ‘Tecton’ company and began building custom residential houses, as well as designing neighborhoods and microdistricts with social housing.

Among them are the quite famous Highpoint I and II towers, which seem to have been transported across space and time from the outskirts of Moscow – yet they became objects of interest for wealthy avant-garde enthusiasts. 

In 1934, he designed the ‘Isokon’ residential building in Camden, a true example of Constructivism. Incidentally, later, paradoxically, Soviet foreign intelligence agents would take up residence there.

Lubetkin redesigned the entire Finsbury District and, in 1938, built the famous Finsbury Health Centre there. The glass blocks on the building's façade are a recognizable element of Soviet style, which can be found in many public buildings.

The project was also conceptually innovative: in Finsbury, all local residents received free medical care and the facility essentially revolutionized the British healthcare system.

One of the architect's most famous buildings in Britain became the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, built in 1934. This small pavilion with a pool, where penguins cheerfully slid along spiral ramps, was a real hit with the public.

Later, Lubetkin designed several more zoos in the Modernist style across England, for example, Dudley Zoo.

A communist in capitalist England

Even in emigration, Lubetkin remained a socialist and did not lose touch with his homeland: in England, he joined the Communist Party and, in 1942, the Soviet embassy in London commissioned him to create a monument to Lenin. It was erected on the spot where the leader of the Russian revolution had lived in exile. The monument did not survive to this day and was demolished at the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.

But, on that very site, Lubetkin built another residential complex – Lenin Court – this time commissioned by the British. However, it was later renamed Bevin Court in honor of a very anti-Soviet politician.

The building is notable for its stunning Constructivist-style staircase inside.

Construction was completed in 1954 and the building effectively became the architect's last major project.

The Cold War and Stalin's death pulled the rug out from under his feet. Lubetkin saw how socialist ideals in Britain and all over the world melted away, replaced by the triumph of capitalism, and even his buildings became symbols of luxury rather than practicality.

At the height of his fame, he withdrew from architecture and spent more than 40 years in voluntary obscurity. Lubetkin died in Bristol in 1990.