{"id":19936,"date":"2025-06-13T10:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T14:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expo67.museum\/2025\/06\/de-lexpo-67-a-la-russie-de-poutine-lincroyable-parcours-du-pavillon-sovietique\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T23:17:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T03:17:16","slug":"from-expo-67-to-putins-russia-the-incredible-journey-of-the-soviet-pavilion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expo67.museum\/en\/2025\/06\/from-expo-67-to-putins-russia-the-incredible-journey-of-the-soviet-pavilion\/","title":{"rendered":"From Expo 67 to Putin\u2019s Russia: The Incredible Journey of the Soviet Pavilion"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The USSR Pavilion captures the imagination with its imposing stature and futuristic design. A striking symbol of socialist progress, it stands as a manifesto of steel and glass, projecting the Soviet Union\u2019s power in direct contrast to its American rival. Its skyward-reaching architecture evokes space exploration and technological dominance during the height of the Cold War. More than 12 million visitors passed through its doors, making it one of the most visited pavilions at the fair, even surpassing the American dome.\n\nBut its story didn\u2019t end on the shores of the St. Lawrence. After the event, the entire structure was dismantled and shipped to Moscow, where it was carefully rebuilt. This relocation stands as a remarkable example of active preservation of a World Expo pavilion, repurposed in service of Soviet power and now situated in a constantly shifting geopolitical context.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The pavilion was designed by Mikhail Posokhin, architect of the Kremlin and author of the Kremlin State Palace (1961), with the assistance of Ashot Mndoyants, Boris Tkhor, and engineer A. Kondratiev. Its architectural language blends monumentality, sharp lines, and symbolic effects. The building\u2019s tapered form, dominated by a metallic canopy soaring skyward, evokes both space exploration and the ideology of progress. This feature is said to have been inspired by an original idea from Konstantin Melnikov, a leading figure of the Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cSince we had no knowledge of what the other pavilions would look like, we decided to express in our pavilion\u2019s architecture a sense of dynamism, a drive to move forward, a sense of flight.\u201d\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMikha\u00efl Posokhine 1<\/a><\/sup><\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tUSSR \u2014 Flyer \u201cThe Soviet Union, the Soviet Pavilion, the Soviet character. The Shortest guidebook to the USSR\u201d\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tUSSR \u2014 Flyer \u201cTo the visitors of the Soviet Pavilion\u201d\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tUSSR \u2014 Flyer \u201cUnion sovi\u00e9tique, Pavillon Sovi\u00e9tique, Caract\u00e8re sovi\u00e9tique. Le plus bref guide \u00e0 travers l\u2019URSS.\u201d\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tUSSR \u2014 Leaflet \u201cSoviet Pavilion\u2014expo 67\u201d\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Inside, the pavilion featured three thematic levels: on the lower floor, marine worlds and energy; in the middle, industry, agriculture, and production technologies; at the top, space exploration, showcased through satellites, simulators, lunar imagery, and a model of the Tu-144. Together, they presented an ambitious USSR, firmly oriented toward the future.<\/p>\n

Rudolf Kliks, responsible for artistic direction, is portrayed in some accounts as an intriguing figure, possibly linked to Soviet trade circles in New York, with a background that may have intersected with industrial espionage. The design and development of the Soviet pavilion were the subject of an in-depth investigation by French historian Fabien Bellat 2<\/a><\/sup>, a specialist in Soviet architecture. Bellat was interviewed by Le Devoir <\/i>in 2012 3<\/a><\/sup>. In the article, Bellat details Posokhin\u2019s role and Melnikov\u2019s influence on the pavilion\u2019s design. He also describes the technological rivalry between the blocs as a driving force behind the pavilion\u2019s scenography and highlights the logistical absurdity of shipping the building \u2014 \u201cplaced in a boat twice\u201d \u2014 back to Moscow.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Pavillon n\u00ba70 \u00ab Moscou \u00bb en 1973. Photo : Auteur inconnu. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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One of the most surprising aspects highlighted by historian Fabien Bellat is the exceptional cost of the Soviet pavilion, estimated at 15 million dollars, far exceeding the 9 million invested in the American dome. Several components were manufactured by the Italian firm Feal, based in Lyon, although most of the materials were Soviet-made. This hybrid strategy, combined with the cost of dismantling and shipping the structure twice by sea to Moscow, significantly increased an already hefty bill. Despite being a temporary installation, the pavilion was conceived from the outset as a long-term asset.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A Second Life in Moscow<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Transported by ship, temporarily stored, then reassembled between 1968 and 1975 at VDNKh Park in Moscow, a vast permanent exhibition site, the pavilion was renamed \u201cPavilion 70,\u201d then \u201cPavilion Moscow.\u201d It initially served as a temporary exhibition space in support of Soviet propaganda.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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