NOVOSIBIRSK’S INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT “WORLDS OF EL LISSITZKY“

The competition presents an exhibition of the finalist architects from all over the world. The twelve-member jury, which selected the finalists of this first round from over 200 projects from 43 countries, included Sergey Lissitzky, Mikhail Chemiakin, Yuri Avvakumov, Vyacheslav Mizin, Anna Tereshkova, Charles Esche, Irina Korobina, Alexander Lissov, Amir G. Kabiri, Nicolas V. Iljine and John Milner. El Lissitzky was a Russian-born artist, designer, typographer, photographer and architect who designed many exhibitions and propaganda for the Soviet Union in the early 20th century. His elaboration of the ideas of the Suprematist art movement was very influential in the development of the Bauhaus and the Constructivist art movements. His stylistic characteristics and experimentation with production techniques developed in the 1920s and 1930s have been an influence on graphic designers since.

In his early years he developed a style of painting in which he used abstract geometric shapes, which he referred to as “prouns,” to define the spatial relationships of his compositions. The shapes were developed in a 3-dimensional space, that often contained varying perspectives, which was a direct contrast to the ideas of Suprematist theories which stressed the simplification of shapes and the use of 2D space only. He moved around in the 1920s and spent time in both Germany as a cultural representative of Russia and, after he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, Switzerland in a Swiss sanatorium. But this never stopped him from working as he continued to produce propaganda posters, books, buildings and exhibitions for the Soviet Union. In 1932 when Stalin demanded that artists conform to much stricter guidelines or be blacklisted, Lissitzky managed to retain his position as Head of Exhibitions. In 1941 his tuberculosis overcame him and led to his death.