#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the city they began to build standard five-story buildings of the all-Union series 447, but slightly adapted to northern conditions, mainly in terms of the foundation. The first houses were erected in the block between Leninsky prospect and Zavenyagin street.
They had an important role: to relieve the acute housing shortage in Norilsk, which was achieved due to the high speed of construction. Compared to the original Stalin-era buildings, which took a year or more to build, one Hrushchev-era building made of brick blocks took only five to six months. And since 1961 – when a series of houses made of concrete panels were introduced – even for four months. Thanks to this, it was possible to quickly move Norilsk residents from communal apartments and barracks to small, but separate apartments.
However, the joy of the first new settlers of Hrushchev-era apartments was overshadowed by the first problems associated with the implementation of a standard all-Union project in the conditions of the Far North.
At first, the Norilsk authorities tried to populate the Hrushchev-era houses according to rooms number, not families. That is, communal apartments were created again, but with worse conditions: in small walk-through rooms and with shared bathrooms.
In addition, wood-burning stoves were installed in the kitchens of the very first Hrushchev-era houses. But the ventilation was not adapted to them, and the residents of the upper floors got smoke in their flats.
Another problem was locally produced furniture, which was not suitable for small apartments. Fixed tables and wardrobes did not fit through the doors, they were carried through the windows and ate up precious footage in the rooms.
In the first Hrushchev-era buildings, the bathrooms were not heated, so in the bathrooms on the lower floors it was very cold. To take a shower, residents had to switch on the hot water tap much before.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told that they fought anthrax in Taimyr in 1931.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive