House of Culture
The House of Culture at VDNH is the place for concerts, theatre performances and master classes. The House of Culture lists choirs, sound recording studios and other creative enterprises among its residents. Yoga classes are also taught here.
An institution with more than six decades of history behind it, the VDNH House of Culture has retained its interior decor intact and its core mission unchanged. It is today one of the chief leisure management service providers on VDNH grounds.
Status
Certified cultural heritage site
Year built, architect
The House of Culture was built in 1954. Architects: Lev Avdotyin, Yuri Korneyev, V.I. Kopyrin.
Historical Background
As part of the postwar rejuvenation vision for the Exhibition, a model kolkhoz square was appointed close to the northern gate. The House of Culture, a paragon of 1940s and 1950s Soviet architecture, became the centrepiece of the square. Boasting an eloquent portico reminiscent of Andrea Palladio's Italian villas, the House of Culture soon staked out its claim as VSKhV's cultural centre of gravity and one of its prime expo venues.
The exposition on display in the House of Culture accumulated all the best educational practices Soviet collective farms had to offer. Other facilities in the House of Culture included a library listing more than 3,000 volumes, two training labs—for animal husbandry and crop farming—a number of clubs and studios and even an in-house radio station. The House of Culture hosted lectures, creative talks, folk shows, meetings with kolkhoz celebrities and film screenings in its 360-seat auditorium. The House of Culture welcomed children to expansive festivals and matinees during New Year's holidays.
Name changes
Before 1959: Kolkhoz House of Culture.