Artistic and Production Experience in Interior Design at the Mukhina School in the 1950s

This article is devoted to the little-studied problem of the post-war reconstruction of Leningrad in the context of the socio-cultural transformation of the architectural environment and public interiors. It focuses on the artistic and production experience of creating decoration and furniture equipment for the historical interiors of the Baron Stieglitz Central School of Technical Drawing — the Leningrad Higher School of Art and Industry named after V.I. Mukhina, — the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry named after A.L. Stieglitz in the 1950s as part of the educational process. The relevance of the study is caused by the need to identify the relationship between the curricula of higher education of different years and industrial activities based on historical examples. Of particular importance is the search for effective interaction between higher education institutions and enterprises of the real sector of the economy to solve the problem of import substitution. The article considers artistic and design solutions for the decoration and equipment of the rest room in the Leningrad Higher School of Art and Industry named after V.I. Mukhina (Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial University) in accordance with the socio-cultural context of the first decade after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The shapes and decoration of the pieces of furniture for the lounge were created in the school’s experimental research workshops as industrial prototypes. They reflect the traditions of Russian classicism of the first quarter of the 19th century, features of the Art Deco style, and artistic techniques of the Stalinist Empire style. For the first time, information about the interior designers and manufacturers of industrial prototypes for this set — painters, architects, cabinetmakers, and students of the Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial University’s department of master craftsmen — is introduced into scientific circulation. The study also presents photographs from the academy’s archive and graphic art from the methodological collection of the Department of Monumental and Decorative Painting. The findings can be applied in museum and university practice, as well as in educational activities.

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