#kyiv polytechnic institute

[vintage-ukraine]

Students of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on their way to classes, 1910s

[marykk1990]

My next post in support of Ukraine is:

Next site, the Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University in Zhytomyr, Zhytomyr Oblast. It was founded in 1920 as Volyn Polytechnic. It closed around 1930, but in 1960, it reopened as General Technical Institute of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Then, in 1994, it changed to Zhytomyr Engineering and Technical Institute and was recognized as a higher education institution in 2002. It received its current name in 2003. It has the following faculties. Information and Computer Technology, Economics and Management, Mining and Ecology, Accounting and Finance, and Public Administration and Law. There's also several different departments that go from the Dept of Applied Mechanics and Computer-Integrated Technologies to the Dept of Physics and Higher Mathematics.

#StandWithUkraine

#СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦🌻

Here's another pic of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Olena Zelenska. Mentally sending them and all Ukrainians extra strength and my hopes for a complete Ukrainian victory as soon as possible.

#СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦🌻

[harri-etvane]

From President's meeting with the university community of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute [x]

[reactor-four-official]

Victor Bryukhanov, the former director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Born in Soviet Uzbekistan to Russian parents, Bryukhanov had studied electrical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Tashkent.

He was chosen by the USSR’s Minister of Energy to construct the Ukrainian SSR’s first nuclear power station in late 1969. Chosen more for his loyalty to the Communist Party and ability to (on paper) get things done, the Director was nevertheless a dedicated and competent engineer.

He quite literally raised the Chernobyl plant from nothing, staring in early 1970. The area where the plant came to be was initially dense forest in Northern Ukraine, nowhere near any industrial base that could be used to construct the monstrous structures of the plant. He was eventually able to construct not only the first two reactors of the plant, but also concrete plants, roads, bridges, power lines, and an entire city to house 50,000 people, initially almost entirely by himself.

It was not easy. Construction materials provided by the planned economy of the Soviet Union were shoddy, workmen sloppy, and overall equipment and personnel were both lacking. The pressure of both the Ministry of Energy and the Communist Party to bring the plant online was unrelenting. It was so intense that he even attempted to resign his post in 1972, despite the prestige that would come with success. His resignation was quite literally torn up and thrown away, and he reluctantly went back to work.

In 1977, the plant finally came online. Over the next few years, Bryukhanov would make it the poster child of the Soviet nuclear industry. The first two units were joined by two additional ones, completed in 1984. The Director enjoyed immense prestige and personal accolades from both the USSR and the Communist Party. Two more reactors were planned, which would have made Chernobyl the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of both electrical generation capacity and number of reactors.

Unfortunately for Bryukhanov, the good times were not to last. The explosion on April 26th, 1986 destroyed not only the fourth reactor but also the prestige of the power plant and its Director. The Director was one of the five men tried by the USSR for causing the accident, and he was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in a prison camp in the Donetsk region. He was not even awake when the accident occurred.

Released early on good behavior in 1991, the Director got a job at the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the ongoing liquidation efforts in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. He worked there for twenty years, until poor health forced him to retire. He died on the 12th of October, 2021, in Kyiv.

[guerrerense]

On a reserve pathway por Vladimir Kud Por Flickr: Kiev Polytechnic Institute, founded on 31 August 1898. Kyiv. Ukraine.

[head-post]

Revenge for language: Murdered far-right public leader Farion might not have assessed risks in Azov clash

Former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada MP Iryna Farion has been buried in Lviv on Monday, Ukrainian media reported.

“Iryna Farion was buried in Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv,” numerous posts in Ukrainian social networks reported. Farion’s daughter said at the funeral:

“Today all of us were killed for the language – in the person of my mum.”

People chanted the phrase “language matters,” urging Russians to leave Lviv.

In addition, a banner with the inscription “Iryna Farion is a modern guide of the Ukrainian nation” was brought to the funeral, which puts the former MP on a par with Taras Shevchenko and Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian media added.

Hatred of all Russian speakers

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened a criminal case against former Rada deputy Iryna Farion in November 2023 over her recent remarks that she did not perceive Russian-speaking AFU military personnel and did not consider them Ukrainians.

The agency also noted that Farion published a screenshot of a message from a student from Crimea on social media without hiding his personal data, which became “the basis for his persecution by Russian special services.”

In an interview with Ukrainian journalists on November 5, Farion, referring to Russian-speaking military personnel in the Ukrainian army, said:

“I can’t call them Ukrainians if they don’t speak Ukrainian. So let them call themselves Russians, that’s all. What’s stopping them? They are such great patriots, show your patriotism.”

Students of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lviv Polytechnic National University, where Farion is an associate professor of the Ukrainian language department, demanded her dismissal.

The university, commenting on the situation, noted that it is not responsible for the statements of employees and students outside the university. It said in a statement:

“Every warrior defending our land, regardless of religion or language of communication, deserves the highest respect and appreciation. And this is the unbreakable position of the university.”

The language ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said in his Telegram channel that he had appealed to the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other authorities in connection with “a video material that broadcasts negative statements and accusations against servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who communicate in the languages of national minorities.” He called such statements “harassment,” adding, “discrimination and discrediting anyone in Ukraine is prohibited.”

Iryna Farion has repeatedly spoken out against the use of the Russian language in Ukraine. In 2013, as a Rada deputy from the Svoboda party, she proposed getting rid of the term “Great Patriotic War,” and previously told children in kindergarten that their names – Natasha, Vova, Misha, Masha – did not sound Ukrainian.

Farion demanded in 2019 that current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky be sent to prison because he addressed his constituents in Russian. In her opinion, in this way Zelensky “raped the language in front of the whole country” and those people who defended Ukraine.

Moreover, Farion called on Kyiv to dispose of Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine who refuse to speak the state language. She said:

“For such (Russian speakers) it is necessary to create a fine battalion. To immediately send them to the zero position or for them to dig trenches for our holy soldiers. Such people deserve only one thing – complete and absolute disposal.”

Farion has also repeatedly called her native Lviv a “city of saboteurs” because it has too many people who speak Russian.

Conflict with Azov

Social media exploded with outrage after former Rada MP’s statement about Azov fighters in November 2023. She said that she did not consider Azov fighters who allowed themselves to speak Russian to be Ukrainians. Farion addressed the fighters during an interview with the Ukrainian media:

“Do you guys know what discipline in the army is? If there is no discipline in the army, there is no army – it’s a rabble then. I can’t call them Ukrainians if they don’t speak Ukrainian. Let them call themselves Russians. Why are they so baffled? Why did it have to be Ukrainian? They are such great patriots, show your patriotism – learn the language of Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko.”

Many Ukrainians were outraged by her statement, in particular, the trend “military answers to Farion” was popular in “Tiktok,” where the military did not hesitate in expressions, smearing the politician. The AFU soldiers said in one of the videos:

“Farion is mad! Every time I listen to her, I get the impression that she escaped from a mental hospital”

Social media users suggested that Farion could replace Azov in the trenches and said that she could make even the worst day worse simply by the very fact of her existence. And on the social network X they were calling on the SBU to deal with the former MP.

Earlier, the US Congress banned the Pentagon from supplying portable surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine, as well as training and supplying the Azov battalion. Parliamentarians called it a “disgusting Nazi formation.”

The amendments were a reaction to a number of publications in the American press, in which shocked journalists wrote about the openly fascist views of both the leadership and fighters of Azov.

39 members of Congress, led by Chairman of the Committee on Counterterrorism Max Rose, sent an appeal to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanding an explanation as to why the battalion has not yet been included in the relevant lists.

In the letter, Rose noted that Azov, “long known for its ultra-nationalist ideology,” was recruiting and training American citizens with racist views. The congressman recalled that Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people at a mosque in New Zealand in March 2019, might have trained in the battalion. He was repeatedly photographed with the symbols of Azov.

Azov members proudly wear chevrons with a modified swastika in the centre, the wolfsangel, translated from German as “wolf hook.” In Nazi Germany, this image was assigned to the 2nd SS Panzer Division “Das Reich.”

Read more HERE

[spacenutspod]

The latest crew chosen by NASA to venture on a simulated trip to Mars inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left are Sergii Iakymov, Erin Anderson, Brandon Kent, and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless.Credit: C7M3 Crew NASA selected a new team of four research volunteers to participate in a simulated mission to Mars within HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Brandon Kent, and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless will begin their simulated trek to Mars on Friday, Aug. 9. The volunteer crew members will stay inside the 650-square-foot habitat for 45 days, exiting Monday, Sept. 23 after a simulated “return” to Earth. Jason Staggs and Anderson Wilder will serve as alternate crew members. The HERA missions offer scientific insights into how people react to the type of isolation, confinement, work and life demands, and remote conditions astronauts might experience during deep space missions. The facility supports more frequent, shorter-duration simulations in the same building as CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Analog). This crew is the third group of volunteers to participate in a simulated Mars mission in HERA this year. The most recent crew completed its HERA mission on June 24. In total, there will be four analog missions in this series. During this summer’s simulation, participants will perform a mix of science and operational tasks, including harvesting plants from a hydroponic garden, growing shrimp, deploying a small, cube-shaped satellite (CubeSat) to simulate gathering virtual data for analysis, “walking” on the surface of Mars using virtual reality goggles, and flying simulated drones on the simulated Mars surface. The team members also will encounter increasingly longer communication delays with Mission Control throughout their mission, culminating in five-minute lags as they “near” Mars. Astronauts traveling to Mars may experience communications delays of up to 20 minutes. NASA’s Human Research Program will conduct 18 human health experiments during each of the 2024 HERA missions. Collectively, the studies explore how a Mars-like journey may affect the crew members’ mental and physical health. The work also will allow scientists to test certain procedures and equipment designed to keep astronauts safe and healthy on deep space missions. Primary Crew Erin Anderson Erin Anderson is a structural engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. Her work focuses on manufacturing and building composite structures — using materials engineered to optimize strength, stiffness, and density — that fly in air and space. Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. After graduating, she worked as a structural engineer for Boeing on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) in Huntsville, Alabama. She moved to New Orleans to support the assembly of the first core stage of the SLS at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Anderson received a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2020. She started her current job in 2021, continuing her research on carbon fiber composites. In her free time, Anderson enjoys playing rugby, doting on her dog, Sesame, and learning how to ride paddleboard at local beaches. Sergii Iakymov Sergii Iakymov is an aerospace engineer with more than 15 years of experience in research and design, manufacturing, quality control, and project management. Iakymov currently serves as the director of the Mars Desert Research Station, a private, Utah-based research facility that serves as an operational and geological Mars analog. Iakymov received a bachelor’s degree in Aviation and Cosmonautics and a master’s in Aircraft Control Systems from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine. His graduate research focused on the motion of satellites equipped with pitch flywheels and magnetic coils. Iakymov was born in Germany, raised in Ukraine, and currently splits his time between southern Utah and Chino Hills, California. His hobbies include traveling, running, hiking, scuba diving, photography, and reading. Brandon Kent Brandon Kent is a medical director in the pharmaceutical industry, supporting ongoing global efforts to develop new therapies across cancer types. Kent received a bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He earned his doctorate in Biomedicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, where his work primarily focused on how genetic factors regulate early embryonic development and cancer development. Following graduate school, Kent moved into scientific and medical communications consulting in oncology, primarily focusing on clinical trial data disclosures, scientific exchange, and medical education initiatives. Kent and his wife have two daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his daughters, flying private aircraft, hiking, staying physically fit, and reading. He lives in Kinnelon, New Jersey. Sarah Elizabeth McCandless Sarah Elizabeth McCandless is a navigation engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. McCandless’ job involves tracking the location and predicting the future trajectory of spacecraft, including the Mars Perseverance rover, Artemis I, Psyche, and Europa Clipper. McCandless received a bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and a master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, focused on orbital mechanics. McCandless is originally from Fairway, Kansas, and remains an avid fan of sports teams from her alma mater and hometown. She is active in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) outreach and education and enjoys camping, running, traveling with friends and family, and piloting Cessna 172s. She lives in Pasadena, California. Alternate Crew Jason Staggs Jason Staggs is a cybersecurity researcher and adjunct professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa. His research focuses on systems security engineering, infrastructure protection, and resilient autonomous systems. Staggs is an editor for the International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection and the Critical Infrastructure Protection book series. Staggs supported scientific research expeditions with the National Science Foundation at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. He also previously served as a space engineer and medical officer while working as an analog astronaut in the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) atop the Mauna Loa volcano. Staggs received his bachelor’s degree in Information Assurance and Forensics at Oklahoma State University and master’s and doctorate degrees in Computer Science from the University of Tulsa. During his postdoctoral studies at Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, he investigated electric vehicle charging station vulnerabilities. In his spare time, Staggs enjoys hiking, building radio systems, communicating with ham radio operators in remote locations, and volunteering as a solar system ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory — sharing his passion for astronomy, oceanography, and space exploration with his community. Anderson Wilder Anderson Wilder is a Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne graduate student working on his doctorate in psychology. His research focuses on team resiliency and human-machine interactions. Wilder also works in the campus neuroscience lab, investigating how spaceflight contributes to astronaut neurobehavioral changes. Wilder previously served as an executive officer and engineer for an analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. There, he performed studies related to crew social dynamics, plant growth, and geology. Wilder received bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and Psychology from Ohio State University in Columbus. He also received a master’s degree in Space Studies from International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and is completing a second master’s in Cognitive Experimental Psychology from Cleveland State University in Ohio. Outside of school, Wilder works as a parabolic flight coach, teaching people how to experience reduced-gravity environments. He also enjoys chess, reading, video games, skydiving, and scuba diving. On a recent dive, he explored a submerged section of the Great Wall of China. ____ NASA’s Human Research Program NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s quest to innovate ways to keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Explore More 2 min read Exploring the Moon: Episode Previews Article 3 days ago 6 min read Voyagers of Mars: The First CHAPEA Crew’s Yearlong Journey  Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read From Polar Peaks to Celestial Heights: Christy Hansen’s Unique Path to Leading NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program  Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Living in Space Artemis Human Research Program Space Station Research and Technology

[cyberbenb]

From Kyiv to Moscow: Luhansk-born engineer pioneers Russian military drone design

Luhansk native and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute graduate, Alexander Makhnev, serves as the chief designer at the Russian bureau “Stratim”, which develops drones for the Russian military, reports the Rus Source : www.uawire.org/from-kyiv…

[christinamac1]

Promising the Impossible: Blinken’s Out of Tune Performance in Kyiv

On May 14, in his address to the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Blinken described what could only be reasoned as a vast mirage…….. This astonishingly irresponsible statement makes Washington’s security agenda clear and Kyiv’s fate bleak: Ukraine is to become a pro-US, anti-Russian bastion, with an open cheque book at the ready. The gong of deceit and delusion must.. go to…

[decordreamscom]

Author of the project "Shukai!" Yuliya Bevzenko presented her 40th bronze mini-sculpture “Kyiv Warehouse”, dedicated to all kiyans, who lived, live and live near the city. Skladanka, wine puzzle, symbolizes the unity of Kiev. Fragments of the “Kyiv warehouse” are molded by kiyani, as well as those for whom the capital of Ukraine has become a house. “Five years we tell the bagmen and guests of the capital about our history. However, at the same time, the history of Kiev is written in leather bags. That “Kyivska skladanka” is a present for the Ukrainians. Tim, who has lived here for generations, and Tim, who has moved here. Tim, who has come from Kiev through the war, it is obovʼkovo to turn around. Tim, who, having captured Kiev, continues to defend it. As a sign that Kiev is building up with us, you can squeeze your finger to the top of the mini-sculpture,” explains Yulia Bevzenko, founder of the “Shukay!” project. "Kiev warehouse" created by the sculptor Yuri Bilyavsky. The minisculpture was installed at 12, Desyatynniy Street. It was commissioned to place a QR code from it, which leads to the Shukay! website, for more information about the minisculpture and the project. The Institute of Vertebrology and Rehabilitation became a patron of the Ministry of Sculpture. "Shook!" – project of Kiev manager Yuliya Bevzenko, foundations of 2018. Vіn rozpovidaє about the history of Kiev in bronze minisculptures. Among them, zokrema, "Kyivska Hryvnia" on Volodymyrskyi, "Kyivska Palma" on Nazarivska, "Face of Kiev" on Verkhniy Val, "Lantsyugovy Mist" on Mykoli Mikhnovsky Boulevard, "Kyivska Shahi" near Shevchenko Park, "Geli copter of Sikorsky" on Yaroslavovoe Valu, "Kyivska Kava" on Velykyi Zhytomyrska, "Tsukroviy Buryachok" on the facade of the first building of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, "Dancers on the Teatralnyy", "Ghost of Kyiv", "Palyanitsya", "Kyiv Fountain", "Kyiv Cycling Track" and others .

[vintage-ukraine]

Polytechnic Institute Metro Station in Kyiv, 1969

[russianlanguageday]

Russian language winners - Global Youth Forum on "Many Languages, One World" 2016.

10 winners of the Russian language multilingual essay contest organized by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), Department of Public Information (DPI), and ELS Educational Services Inc. met at UN Headquarters. They presented their essays on the role of multilingualism in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The winners are: Ms. Cristina Crăciun, Hochschule Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Romania Ms. Yelyzaveta Dovhinka, National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy", Ukraine Mr. Sheroz Juraev, Bologna University, Tajikistan Mr. Ihor Kasianov, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Ukraine Ms. Diana Khasawneh, Yarmouk University, Jordan Mr. Sardor Khusanov, Tashkent Chemical-Technological Institute, Uzbekistan Ms. Kim Ngan Le*, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Vietnam (not present) Mr. Oleksandr Petrenko, Odessa National Medical University, Ukraine Mr. Adrian Savcenco, State University of Moldova, Moldova Ms. Mahinbonu Toshmatova*, Khujand State University named after academician B. Gafurov, Tajikistan (not present).

The United Nations Academic Impact

[marykk1990]

My next post in support of Ukraine is:

Next site, Chernihiv Polytechnic National University (Національний університет Чернігівська політехніка) in Chernihiv, Chernihiv Oblast. It was founded in 1960 as a facility of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In 1991, it was established as the Chernihiv Technological Institute and in 1999, it became the Chernihiv State Technological University. Over the years, it has had other additions, such as Chernihiv State Institute of Law, Social Technologies, and Labor in 2011 & the Chernihiv State Institute of Economics and Management in 2014. It received the title of National in 2013 & was known as the Chernihiv National University of Technology up until 2019, when it received its current name of National University Chernihiv Polytechnic.

#StandWithUkraine

#СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦🌻

Here's another, more recent, pic of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Olena Zelenska. I'm mentally sending all the extra strength I can to these two people and to all Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and sovereignty.

#СлаваУкраїні

#Героямслава 🇺🇦

[humidplant]

To add on to this post; On the first day of the Kyiv worker's uprising, the Council of Worker's Disputes had published their own self proclaimed manifesto. Proclaiming the following:

"Citizens of the Shuliavska republic protest for the abolition of absolute monarchy, for the freedom of speech and assembly, for social services, for amnesty of political prisoners, for a national emancipation of Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews, and other nationalities of the Russian Empire, for the immediate end to the Jewish pogroms, which embarrasses our people." (Source. Wiki)

There was also a demand for a basic list of a workers rights i.e normal working conditions, gov. protection, better healthcare. Near the end, there was conflicts between Bolshevists and Mensheviks in the council and committees of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Which had caused the uprising to dim down, sadly.

Though I'd like to add that between 1899-1917 there was student movements that I am not knowledgeable about right now, though I've found an article.

Photo of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic institute

On This Day In History

December 11th, 1905: A workers' uprising in Kyiv, Ukraine (then a part of the Russian Empire) establishes the Shuliavka Republic.

The Shuliavka Republic was a self-declared, self-governing entity in the Shuliavka neighborhood by factory workers and students. It lasted for four days before being put down by mass arrests and pressure from a 2,000-strong army force.

[architectuul]

Autobus Park №7: Kyiv’s Abandoned Transport Circus

Kyiv might be Europe’s single greatest city for late-twentieth century Modernist architecture. It boasts many wild, eclectic, and vividly imaginative examples of the style, built during the height of Soviet monument-mania. Though amongst its steel and concrete marvels of Soviet-era architecture, one of Kyiv’s most striking modern buildings has, in recent years, also become one of the city’s most problematic ruins. Autobus Park №7  – once the pride of the Ukrainian transport industry – exists today as a decaying morgue for almost a thousand abandoned buses.

Autobus Park №7 today. | Photo © Darmon Richter

The design challenge of the Autobus Park №7 was to create an efficient depot capable of housing and maintaining a fleet of some 500 buses, in an urban environment where building space was limited. Had the building been constructed like a warehouse, or a factory, using a square plan and a regular pillar-based solution for supporting the roof, it was estimated that the total size of the building would have needed to be at least 4,000 square metres. However, an ingenious solution was proposed instead.

Under construction (1972), promotional photographs (1970s) and technical sketches (1979). | Photo via Khabarovsk Polytechnic Institute.

The chief engineers on the project, V. A. Kozlov and S. I. Smorgon, were responsible for the idea of using a cable-suspended roof. They took their inspiration from circus buildings – the cylindrical concrete-and-steel constructions which were by this time a ubiquitous feature in cities throughout the Soviet Union. By designing the building on a circular plan, and suspending concrete roof panels on cables strung between a central support pillar and the outer walls, it was found that both space and construction costs could be significantly reduced. Moreover, this design, with its organic, circular shape, lent itself more to what was then considered a modern and humanistic work environment for employees – while its form, reminiscent of circuses and Palaces of Culture, presented the bus depot not as a bland, functional box, but rather a community venue.

Kyiv’s Autobus Park №7 during its heyday with the tall building on the left accommodating administrative offices and staff canteens. | Photo via Exutopia

Left: Workers outside Kyiv Autobus Park №7 in 1977;  right: A new fleet of buses ready for service, 1975. | Photo via Exutopia

Kozlov and Smorgon built a 1:10 scale model to test their idea. The central support pillar would be 18 metres high, a tower of reinforced concrete with a diameter of 8 metres, consisting of 0.3-metre thick concrete walls around an inner support of solid steel with a cross-section of 0.32 x 0.22 metres. Attached to the top of this pillar, were 84 radial cables – steel ropes with a diameter of 65 millimetres. Each of these cables was able to support a weight of up to 350 tons, and the roof would be constructed on top of them: a suspended tent dome, created from concrete plates, and with a total diameter of 160 metres.

On its completion in 1973, the building was considered an engineering marvel – its hanging roof was one of the largest ever constructed, and this system of support reduced the building’s necessary size from 40,000 square metres (the estimate for a pillar-supported roof) to a footprint of just 23,000 square metres. 

Details of the relief on the front of building showing staff, passengers, vehicles, and the logos of various automotive brands. | Photo © Darmon Richter

As much as possible, the design aimed to take advantage of natural light. The concrete plates of the roof were fitted with portholes, most of which were concentrated close around the main support tower. In the outer wall, upright glass cylinders were installed between concrete panels, serving as sturdy support pillars that both insulated the building against the cold outside, and allowed refracted light to shine into the wings of the building. This solution proved particularly robust, and most of these glass pillars have survived intact since the early 1970s until this day. Between them, these design choices resulted in an interior space and working area that enjoyed bright sunlight during the day, thus minimising the additional cost of electrical lighting.

Attached to the 18m central support pillar, a metal staircase leads up to an observation platform. | Photo © Darmon Richter

Once operational, Autobus Park №7 was the largest vehicle depot in the Soviet Union – and it was rumoured, potentially the largest anywhere in the world. It served as more than just a garage, though. It was the base of operations for the entire fleet of buses serving the capital, including city buses, intercity buses, and also those working international routes, to Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia. The building was fully air-conditioned, it featured a four-gate vehicle wash, and a mechanised repair bay fitted with conveyor belt systems. The building had a staff of 1,500 workers, and featured workers’ canteens, as well as a computing centre too ��� where teams calculated staff salaries and work shifts, as well as designing and optimising bus routes.

Sadly, the glory days of Autobus Park №7 would be short-lived. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, many of the fleet’s international routes were discontinued. Services were gradually reduced through the 1990s, into the 2000s, while meanwhile, the building was increasingly used to store wrecked vehicles awaiting repair or decommissioning. The reduction of domestic bus routes in 2005 was a further blow, and eventually, in 2015, the autopark closed its doors for good – the building slipping into disrepair, as the once-proud circus was steadily transformed into a scrapyard.

Since it was officially closed in 2015, almost 1,000 buses have been stored inside the abandoned building. | Photo © Darmon Richter

Today, Autobus Park №7 in Kyiv seems to be locked in a downward spiral of decay. The building itself is nothing short of an engineering marvel, an extraordinary work of architecture that supporters have suggested could be adapted now into a museum, or even a film studio. In April 2018 a petition was registered on the website of Kyiv City Council, calling for the building’s preservation – but it only received 321 votes, a long way short of its target of 10,000 signatures. Even had it been successful though, good intentions don’t count for much without action and intent on the part of Kyiv City Council; where currently, any talks of potential preservation are being blocked at a bureaucratic level.

For 25 years the building has been owned by the company Kyivpastrans (‘Kyiv Passenger Transportation), whose deputy general director, Sergey Litvinov, has said that Autobus Park №7 poses an imminent risk of collapse, and, given the cost and scale of such a project, would be almost impossible to save. Meanwhile, other former transport depots around the city have already been bulldozed to make room for new residential blocks and shopping centres. Many property developers would jump at the chance of getting their hands on this 23,000-square metre plot – and from the perspective of the current owners, it is probably a more attractive financial proposition. The building is neither listed nor protected, so were it empty, there would be nothing to stop the owners from knocking it down overnight.

This rooftop capsule offered a panoramic view of the 180-metre diameter suspended roof of Autobus Park №7. | Photo © Darmon Richter

However, for the time being all parties are locked into a kind of stalemate over the building’s contents. The estimated 903 rusting vehicles stored inside (including LAZ, Volvo, Ikarus, and various other brands of urban and long-distance buses) pose a major administrative problem. These buses cannot easily be removed, or scrapped, as technically they are yet to be decommissioned from service. A new regulation that was introduced into Ukrainian law in 2013 complicated the bureaucratic procedure and created a backlog; so that all of the vehicles inside Autobus Park №7 today are – officially, on paper – still in service and awaiting audit. As such they cannot legally be taken apart for scrap, and right now, there’s nowhere else to store them in the city but here.

The vehicles have still not been officially decommissioned under Ukrainian law – which means they cannot be scrapped until the necessary paperwork is processed. | Photo © Darmon Richter

So for now, it’s a waiting game. If Kyivpastrans and Kyiv City Council are able to solve the bureaucratic headache of their vehicle decommissioning procedure, remove the abandoned buses, and then find the will, not to mention the funding, to undertake the colossal project of preserving Autobus Park №7 (while turning down more lucrative offers from property developers in the process), then perhaps the building might yet be saved. But in the meanwhile, the circus roof is sagging, and young trees are already sprouting from cracks in the concrete.

It may just be that this building, an engineering marvel of the Soviet period, having failed to find its place in a post-Soviet world, is doomed to go the same way as the regime that built it.

--

by Darmon Richter 

[adapted with permission from an article at Ex Utopia]

Sources: Smena Magazine (1974) Issue No.19 Khabarovsk Polytechnic Institute (1979) Reinforced Concrete Space Structures (lecture notes, p.24-26), M. P. Danilovsky Hmarochos (2018) Why are Storage Facilities for Faulty Kyivpastrans Buses Being Set Up in Kyiv? Kiev Vlast (2019) Kyiv City Council Decided to Solve the Riddle of Bus Depot №7