Brezhnevka

In Varketili district of Tbilisi, Georgia, the mainstay of the apartment buildings are Brezhnevka buildings

A brezhnevka (Russian: Брежневка) is a concrete apartment building that was built in the Soviet Union from 1960–1980 under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev, after whom the building type is named. The brezhnevka was preceded by the Khrushchevka.

History

The brezhnevka originated because of a desire for an update to the khrushchevka. As the needs of the population increased, so did the need to build updated housing. There are now about 40 versions of the brezhnevka.

Design

The exterior

Unlike the five-story khrushchevka that preceded them, brezhnevkas contained nine to seventeen stories. They were usually made of concrete panels, however some were made out of brick. The roofs were flat and coated with bitumen. A drain was also installed on the roof.

The interior

The number of rooms in a brezhnevka apartment numbers from one to four. The height of the ceiling reaches 2.7 meters. Kitchens are 6.8 to 7.4 square meters. In the early version of the brezhnevka, the bathroom and toilet were combined. In later versions, the bathroom and toilet became separate rooms.

Other characteristics

Elevators were installed in the buildings, and buildings with fourteen floors had freight elevators as well as passenger elevators. Trash chutes were also installed in brezhnevki. The staircases were wider than those of earlier Soviet apartments.

Criticisms of the brezhnevka

• The seams between the panels are prone to separation.
• The buildings have poor insulation.
• Bathrooms are small.
• Low quality sound insulation.

Gallery

• 
  An example of a nine-storied brezhnevka, 1975.
• 
  Three tall brezhnevki with a long brezhnevka in the distance, 1975.
• 
  Brezhnevki in Liepaja, Latvia, 2003.
• 
  Brezhnevki in Nizhny Novgorod, 2008.