Strange Examples of Soviet Design (2011)

More like: "8 completely ordinary examples of late 70s, early 80s design". From what I remember stuff looked like that back then.

There is nothing particularly "Soviet" about these examples. Doesn't mean that Soviet Design didn't have its idiosyncrasies, but the examples presented here are completely unsuitable to show that. For example the "Boiling Wand" was ubiquitous in Western Europe in the 80s. The "Aesthetics Journal" shown in the article is - apart from the Cyrillic lettering - Swiss Design par excellence.

If you like this article, I suggest checking out the book it is based on:

Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design

edited by Michael Idov.

The book is rather small and consists of just pictures of products or designs along with a few paragraphs explaining their context, use, production, etc. The boiling wand is not the oddest example.

I found the book fascinating as a mechanical engineer, because it just shows how much a designer's constraints often affect the final product (good, fast, cheap --- pick two, as they say). Soviet society was defined by scarcity, and many of the designs were highly influenced by scarcity one way or another. They were quite adverse to disposable products, like paper cups, etc. The designs had to be reasonably permanent to not waste resources (at least in theory). There are many examples of this in the book: the communal soda fountains with a single shared cup, the portable and collapsible cups, and fish net shopping bags (avosha). In each of these situations, Western designers picked disposable solutions: soda cans, paper cups, and plastic bags. Such choices were considered wasteful to the Soviets. Note that the last two designs (collapsible cups and net bags) could be pocketed and carried around and used at a moment's notice. This is an important design consideration when living under severe shortages, since you may only have a short time to get certain products when they suddenly become available. The book does note, however, that plastic bags did become increasingly available in the 1980s, but that people tended to wash them and hang them on clothes lines for reuse (they did not understand they were supposed to be disposable).

It's weird that half of every description is dedicated to a different version of "despite knowing how much the Soviets sucked"

I remember some of these. Morskoi Boi was not the best arcade game I played, but I remember it. I also distinctly remember a magnet-driving game, but I don't remember it looking like that.

My dad used to have some magazines - I have no idea what they were, but I remember loving flipping through them and looking at their vaguely sci-fi/science illustrations. I don't know when I can go back and visit, but I'll have to ask him about them, and see if he still has them. If he's as much of a pack rat as I am, they'll likely be tucked away on a shelf somewhere.

The Radiotochka (Radiodot) is interesting in that Soviet and Soviet block governments installed radio where the signal was transmitted over mains wires. This was cheap to manufacture, regional or even municipal transmissions were easy to make (for example beekeepers could be informed when pesticides are going to be used) and you can only listen to approved radio stations (No Radio Free Europe for example). In workplaces messages from management could also be transmitted, similar utility was also found in barracks. This tech used in the West for sure, but totalitarian regimes found endless utility for it. Surely, it is also the inspiration for 1984s telescreens (in that they couldn't be turned off and they were always suspect of being surveillance devices)

It seems there is an interesting history behind that "Tembr 3" Radio (emergency broadcast? A telescreen without a screen?) but it is almost impossible to find detailed information about it, at least in English.

The boiling wand is pretty useful in developing countries. I used to use them myself back in the day and some folks used to cook food with it in dorms!

I guess the article is an attempt to introduce the mysterious Idov. Who is Idov? Probably a strange soviet design.

Why flagged?