Soviet architectural group, active in Moscow from 1925 to 1930. It was founded by MOISEY GINZBURG and Aleksandr Vesnin (see VESNIN) and it attracted many of Moscow’s Modernist architects by arguing for architecture’s pivotal role in creating the new Soviet society. OSA’s activities passed through several distinct phases in response to changing political circumstances and engaged the public on several fronts: these included an exhibition of contemporary architecture in 1927; architectural conferences in 1928 and 1929; and the bi-monthly journal Sovremennaya arkhitektura, which appeared from 1926 to 1930. Disavowing aesthetic and formal considerations, OSA made functional and technical matters pre-eminent. Starting with general reflections about the USSR, OSA architects then analysed the State’s building requirements in terms of cost, user profile and building types. The group endorsed a view of architecture as an integral part of the State apparatus, with a role in transforming society, for example by evolving new building types, such as the Workers’ Club, and with responsibilities, for example in containing costs by adopting prefabrication methods. Their approach to design was disciplined, with the design process itself being reduced to four distinct phases: the building programme’s spatial organization and technical requirements; the volumetric implications of these factors; their physical implementation; and the consolidation of the previous three steps into architectural coherence and unity. This rigorous design method helped OSA to forge its own identity and to create a legacy of designs challenging the best work of other European and Soviet avant-garde groups. The most characteristic designs by architects associated with the group include: the Vesnin brothers’ unexecuted projects for the Palace of Labour (1922–3), Moscow, and the Leningrad Pravda Building (1924; for illustration see VESNIN), Moscow; Grigory Barkhin’s Izvestiya Building (1925–7), Moscow; Ginzburg’s unexecuted project for the Orgametals Headquarters (1926–7); Il’ya Golosov’s Zuyev Club (1927–9; for illustration see GOLOSOV), Moscow; and Ivan Leonidov’s unexecuted projects for the Lenin Institute (1927) and the Ministry of Heavy Industry (1933–4; see LEONIDOV, IVAN), both Moscow. All of these designs, however, owed as much to the talents of their respective authors as to OSA’s design method.

• OSA (Association of Contemporary Architects)
  • Constructivism, §2(ii): Russian, 1922 onwards
  • Moscow, §II, 3: Art life and organization, after 1917
  • Russia, §III, 3(i): Architecture, 1917–c 1945
  • members
    • Vkhutemas
    • Barshch, Mikhail (Osipovich)
      • Barshch, Mikhail
    • Ginzburg, Moysey (Yakovlevich)
      • Ginzburg, Moisey, §2: Constructivism, 1925–32
    • Golosov, Il'ya (Aleksandrovich)
      • Golosov: (2) Il’ya Golosov
    • Golosov, Pantaleymon (Aleksandrovich)
      • Golosov: (1) Pantaleymon Golosov
    • Gol'ts, Georgy (Pavlovich)
      • Gol’ts, Georgy
    • Leonidov, Ivan (Il'ich)
      • Leonidov, Ivan, §1: Early career, to 1930
    • Milyutin, Nikolay (Aleksandrovich)
      • Milyutin, Nikolay
    • Nikolsky, Aleksandr (Sergeyevich)
      • Nikolsky, Aleksandr
    • Orlov, Georgy (Mikhaylovich)
      • Orlov, Georgy
    • Vesnin, Aleksandr (Aleksandrovich)
      • Vesnin, §2: Later work, from 1924