Paradigm of the Temporary Society

The Soviet concept of accommodation consisted of three main rules:

It needed to be built Fast.
It needed to be built Simply.
It needed to be built Cheaply.

It was a quick fix solution. Temporary until the economy was stable enough to provide a higher quality and level of accommodation solutions in the capitol of the Soviet Union and other major cities. So the solution designed by Soviet engineers was a very simple construction of apartment buildings, consisting of concrete slabs stacked on top of each other. For a temporary solution, it was quite good and kept rain and snow off peoples heads for many years. Which turned into decades, which turned into half a century. The majority of these buildings, still stand today, and still have people living in them. Elsewhere, this building would have been declared condemned and would have been torn down. In Moscow, you can rent an apartment in such a building for around $500USD a month.

The stable economy never came. And thus, the temporary solutions still stand today. Eyesores of the Moscow skyline, grey, depressing buildings of various shapes and sizes but all built on the three main rules of Soviet Accommodation.

Around a lot of outer-metro stations are shops. In fact, not just outside metro stations, but along the streets, on street corners. These are the Kiosks that Moscow has come to love. They are everywhere, and sell everything from cigarettes and beer, to telephone cards, and lingerie. I was in awe of these kiosks from day one. What was it doing on the street? Why are the built like this?? The fact of the matter is that every one of these Kiosks can be picked up, loaded on the back of a truck, and moved to somewhere else with ten minutes notice. And then another 10 minutes later, another Kiosk can be in its place. This says a lot for the climate of business in Russia. Enjoy it while it lasts. Because everyone knows its not going to.

If its one thing that the Russians have learnt from the Japanese, its that fast turnover of cars is good for the economy. After 2-3 years, it is near impossible, or simply not “Financially Viable” to re-insure a car in Japan. So Japanese manufacturers make a lot of money when the Japanese people update their cars every year. GAZ, VAZ, IZH and the rest of the Russian manufacturers took note. Unfortunately because insurance was impossible to mess with in Russia, because most people could only afford the State insurance anyway. So in order to emulate the Japanese situation to get Russians updating their Volga’s and Zhiguli’s every 3 years, the manufacturers devised a plan whereby their cars would never live to see 3 years reliable service. The build quality of Russian cars is quite sub-standard. In fact, they don’t really meet western standards. Its remarkable that the Lada Niva even made it to Australia. (Nowadays, Chevrolet makes the Niva although still in Russia) The Zhiguli has been made for over 20 years. As mentioned in a previous post, its similar to a Datsun 1600 in appearance. Its still being made today and looks exactly the same as it did in 1970’s albeit a new grill and headlight assembly. Everynight in Domodevovskaya, there is some Russian, underneath his Zhiguli with the rear axle pulled off, fixing something. Every night, without fail. There is an entire culture here of home, or should I say, “Street Mechanics.” If there wasn’t then no one would be driving around Russian Cars. The Scrap metal merchants would be very rich.

<< To be continued….. >>