Cvartals, the soviet housing models

Cvartals were a socialist model of urban units of dwellings organized around community spaces, with low-rise buildings and a very strong presence of community facilities (schools, kindergartens, cinemas). The idea of the cvartal started out following the Viennese Hofs example, as well as Fourier’s ideal of social palace. This soviet cvartal embodies the stalinist organism, consisting of urban units aligned to the street, enclosing one or more courtyards, made of collective housing with an architecture with a classical and monumental character. Compared to the Vienesse Hofs, however, they were far less experimental.