Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage [SEP] architect
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage
Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of applying avant-garde architectural methods to an industrial facility. Neglected for decades and nearly condemned to demolition, it was restored in 2007–2008 and reopened in September 2008 as a gallery of modern art.
Original design.
In 1925, Melnikov travelled to Paris, supervising construction of
store 110 trucks; unlike Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, these had to be parked conventionally, using reverse gear. Each tip of the horseshoe has a V-shaped protrusion with entry and exit gates set at an angle to the street line; this was supposed to simplify entry and exit from a narrow street.
This garage is still used as such, and houses Moscow's Fourth Bus Park. However, since modern articulated buses are longer than 1920s trucks, present-day parking arrangement differs from Melnikov's efficient layout.