Sociocultural factors of change in the Soviet architectural paradigm in the early 1930s

The research focuses on the evolution of socio-cultural processes that led to a change in the trajectory of the development of domestic architecture by the mid-1930s. Scientific interest in the problems of the evolution of the architectural avant-garde and the genesis of Stalinist classicism, the presence of various points of view on the process of transforming the avant-garde into a «parade» architecture determines the relevance of this topic. The purpose of the study is to identify the pivotal factors and prerequisites that ensured the formation of the phenomenon of Stalinist architecture. The research is based on the system approach which implies the analysis and synthesis of the theoretical principles and real practice of architectural and town-planning activity in the studied period. Sociocultural factors that ensured a change in architectural and town-planning policy and drew a line under the Soviet avant-garde did not receive proper consideration either in the philosophical or cultural context. The study is based on published official materials, periodicals, as well as on the work of philosophers, historians and sociologists analyzing the process of evolution of domestic culture in the 1920s and 30s. The results of the study are the definition and systematization of the main factors of formation of a completely new model of organization of architectural and construction activities. The author concludes that the phenomenon of Stalinist architecture is a natural result of the preceding sociocultural evolution.