Houses of the Future Leningrad: Pilot's House by Kazimir Malevich, drawing, 1924

Houses of the Future Leningrad: Pilot's House

Kazimir Malevich

Year
1924
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
12 1/4 x 17 3/8" (31.1 x 43.9 cm)
Museum
Other

About This Artwork

Houses of the Future Leningrad: Pilot's House is a conceptual drawing created by Kazimir Malevich in 1924. Executed in pencil on paper, this work exemplifies the post-Suprematist phase of the Russian avant-garde, where the artist turned his abstract geometric principles toward practical, utopian architectural design. The precision required for architectural visualization is evident in the detailed draftsmanship, characteristic of Malevich’s output during this specific Russian period. This piece represents an integral part of the artist's vision for revolutionary societal living structures built for the modern citizen.

During the 1920s, Malevich dedicated significant energy to defining the structures of the future Soviet state, moving beyond the pure abstraction of his earlier canvases. While many of these housing prototypes, often referred to as Arkhitektons, remained theoretical models, the drawing Houses of the Future Leningrad: Pilot's House outlines a functional residential block intended for the new urban landscape of Leningrad. The structure fuses elemental geometric forms-rectangles, cubes, and cylindrical sections-to create a monumental yet modular dwelling. The sharp perspectival lines suggest the elevation of the building above the traditional street level, reflecting the era’s enthusiasm for revolutionary, space-conscious design. The conceptual power of this design ensures that high-quality prints and references to the piece remain important sources for architectural historians studying early Soviet modernism.

This important drawing is part of a series detailing standardized units for collective living. Malevich often envisioned these structures as embodying the collective spirit of the new regime, moving away from individualized bourgeois housing. The date 1924 places the work squarely within the period of high utopianism in Soviet art and architecture. Today, this key drawing is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where it serves as a critical document of the intersection between Suprematist theory and functional architectural planning in the immediate aftermath of the 1917 Revolution. Although the work is protected, conceptual studies such as this often influence designers utilizing architectural resources available through public domain collections.

Cultural & Historical Context

Classification
Drawing
Culture
Russian
Period
1924

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