Baikal Ray, linearity and the eastern turn

Abstract

In the historical perspective, Irkutsk has always been a city with high linearity. In the 1960s, a group of young architects made active attempts to give Irkutsk a high degree of linearity. Their projects echo the work of the Moscow NER group, the Archigram group, and Japanese metabolists. The most striking project to improve the linearity of Irkutsk was the “Baikal Ray” by V. Voronezhsky. In recent years, there has been an increase in interest in the projects of linear cities and regions created by the sixtiers. The article considers the conditions under which the restructuring of cities aimed at increasing the linearity is justified and beneficial. It is shown that in today’s context the “Baikal Ray” project becomes relevant again.

Keywords

• architecture
• urban studies
• history
• linear cities
• sixtiers
• Irkutsk