Historical Chronicle
1928 Architects Moisei Ginzburg and Nikolai Milinis start work on the design of the experimental Narkomfin complex
Early 1929 First version of the general plan of the Narkomfin complex prepared
2nd April 1929 On the orders of Mossovet (The Moscow City Council), the People's Commissariat of Finances are given a plot of land on Novinsky Boulevard for the construction of a House-Commune for the workers of the Commissariat of Finances and Rosgosstrakh (The State Insurance Institution).
25th May 1929 The Moscow Administration of Construction Drawings Control reviews the design of the experimental communal house for Narkomfin (the People's Commissariat of Finances)
June 1929 General plan of the territory produced with defined boundaries
Mid 1929 Second, corrected version of the general plan of the complex prepared
26th June 1929 Meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ Deputies at which it was stated that the work on Narkomfin is being conducted without an approved design and it is suggested that «MKKh (Moscow Communal Estate) to define the exact borders of the plot, assigned to Narkomfin, and reducing the marked boundaries, to hand over the remaining plot of 113-115 Novinsky Boulevard to the Scientific Institute of Fertilizers…»
4th July 1929 Reinforced concrete carcass and columns for the basement floor completed, with furnace-clinker blocks between the columns; the concrete mould and ferro-concrete reinforcement for the raising of the walls put into place for the apartment block; pit dug, concrete mould, and ferro-concrete reinforcement for the foundations and walls of the basement constructed for the utilities block; concrete for 20 per cent of the entire foundations poured.
12th July 1929 Construction work continues without approval from The Moscow Administration of Construction Drawings Control.
1st August 1929 Engineer Sergei Prokhorov fined 100 roubles for working without permission.
15th December 1929 The Moscow Regional Administration for Construction Control give permission to the People's Commissariat for Finances of the USSR for construction work on the building on Novinsky Boulevard.
3rd January 1930 Architect Ginzburg creates work plan for construction of Narkomfin.
By 18th February 1930 a «6 storey, partly 8 storey, partly with a non-residential basement, apartment block” is built. «The second floor of the building is open like a gallery. The building is roughly complete and now gets its finish»
Early 1930 The inclusion of another residential building on the plot, for the workers of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) of the USSR, necessitates a third general plan of the complex. Ginzburg worked with architect G. Zunblat on this project. (Their design for the Sovnarkom building was never realised).
Mid 1930 The apartment block is finished. Construction continued under the observation of a commission headed by Nikolai Milyutin, The Commissar of Finances. The utilities block and laundry block constructed without approved designs.
1932 The complex is completed according to Ginzburg's plans including the green zone around the buildings. With some additions this plan enters the geodesic survey of the Novinsky Boulevard area in 1939
1934 Ginzburg's book «Housing» is published. In the chapter dedicated to Narkomfin, Ginzburg publishes the third, unrealised version of the general plan.
End of 1930s Without taking Ginzburg's scheme's into account, a building for the workers of the Sovnarkom is built along the boundaries of the site assigned for Narkomfin.
1937-1938 The Garden Ring Road (Novinsky Boulevard) is widened, basically destroying the boulevard, and the trees are replanted in the courtyards lining the road including on Narkomfin's territory
1960s Neighbouring nineteenth century city mansion with its services (25-27 Novinsky Boulevard, buildings 5,7-7a and 8) placed under state protection as monument on the basis that Feodor Shaliapin lived in building 5 in 1910-1922. Narkomfin is not considered for monument status.
1987 The apartment block and communal block of Narkomfin are made objects of cultural heritage (Resolution No 647, 23rd March 1987).
1990 The Administration for the State Control of the Protection and Use of Monuments of History and Culture ordered a restoration plan for Narkomfin. Moisei Ginzburg's son, Vladimir Ginzburg is the scientific director of the project. The chief architect of restoration is A Studenikin.
1990s International campaign launched for the preservation of Narkomfin. Architectural historians and restorers working in heritage conservation organisations in Switzerland, Italy, England, the US and Germany offer their help in the restoration of the complex and together with their Russian colleagues petition the Moscow and Russian authorities.
2002 Building 12, the service block, listed to be considered as an object of cultural heritage. (Expert Commission No 142/86, 24th December 2002).
2003 Street was built to the north of the Narkomfin building, at a distance of 3 metres, to serve the new shopping centre that recently opened beside it.
2004 and 2006 Narkomfin is listed on the World Monuments Fund Watch List of 100 most threatened buildings throughout the world.
15th November 2005 The present borders of the Narkomfin complex's territory re-established according to its contemporary boundaries following the construction of the American Embassy's new building and a shopping centre on Novinsky Boulevard. Monument status of Narkomfin raised from «local» to «regional».
April 2006 At the international conference held in Moscow, «Heritage at Risk» Narkomfin is named one of the most endangered avant-garde buildings in Russia.
20th Century: Preservation of Cultural Heritage, published to accompany the conference features articles by Ekaterina Milyutina «A Fine Example of Russian Constructivism», and Alexei Ginzburg, «The Narkomfin Building: the History of Trying to Save a House» .
April 2006 MIAN companies begins to purchase empty apartments in Narkomfin with the aim of restoring the building.
26th September 2007 At a meeting of the Expert commission on objects of cultural heritage and territories in the Moscow Heritage Committee (Moskomnasledie), a conservation project for the object of cultural heritage – the Narkomfin Complex is considered and approved.
September 2007 MIAN companies creates the Narkomfin Foundation to oversee the restoration of the Narkomfin complex. Alexei Ginzburg, grandson of Moisei Ginzburg is chief architect of restoration. Two international conferences take place in Berlin and in New York at the Museum of Modern Art . The international preservation, cultural and academic community pledge to support efforts to restore Narkomfin as a single complex.