Where Cars and Buses feel at Home. Bakhmetevsky and other Garages
29.10.20—31.01.21
Project of a service station and a garage for 130 Ford vehicles, 1932
Mosselprom motor depot, workshops. 1928 - 1929.
The exhibition Where Cars and Buses feel at Home tells the history of Moscow through the car engine roar and bold architectural decisions. The 1920-30s garages became symbols of the Avant-Garde architecture inspired by the industrial aesthetics.
You are probably familiar with the most famous garage designer — Konstantin Melnikov, the architect. He was the one to build the Bakhmetevsky garage that houses today the Jewish Museum.
VSNKh garage project. 1931.Perspective, floor plans.
Moselprom Autobaz, workshops. 1928 - 1929.
Innovative architects, with their buildings as manifests, young car enthusiasts, and first drivers with their foreign Renaults and Soviet ZIS shaped the image of the time — daring and dynamic, interweaving together art and technology, love and politics.
The display at The Jewish Museum is divided into three themed sections allowing to dive deep into the first decades of the Soviet motorization and to enjoy the beauty of the early garage architecture. You will see real retro cars, Avant-Garde garage projects (from the grandiose Palace of Cars to the Constructivist Gosplan Headlight-Garage); the display includes also photos of the old Moscow by Alexander Rodchenko and Boris Ignatovitch and stories about cars related by Mayakovsky and Lilia Brik, Viktor Shklovsky and others.
Garage architecture is not only a curious subject but also a refined piece of art. Want to make sure? Try our new game. Imagine yourself an Avant-Garde architect and build the five most well-known Moscow garages. You only have four lives, the good old Tetris mechanics and the quickness of the hand to win the game.
VISIT
Due to the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition is temporarily closed.
Dear friends! According to the Moscow Mayor decree, the exhibition Where Cars and Buses feel at Home is shut down temporarily. We do hope that the virus will be contained soon and we will see you again. Previously bought entrance tickets will be refunded automatically. However, the shuttering of the museum space does not mean that you will no longer have access to the exhibition Where Cars and Buses feel at Home. The public program will continue online, soon an audio guide and guided video tours will be launched.