Pavilion No. 35 Tobacco at the VDNKh

Pavilion No. 35 'Tobacco' at the VDNKh (Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) in Moscow is a landmark exhibition pavilion built in 1954 by architect Vyacheslav Kondratyev on commission from the Ministry of Food Industry of the USSR. It is located in the landscape park of VDNKh near the Kamensky Pond. The pavilion is a federal cultural heritage site of Russia. The building is architecturally distinctive: its plan is an irregular octagon, and its facade combines motifs of Eastern architecture, Gothic, and Russian national building traditions. A gallery with slender columns surrounds the facade, giving it the appearance of a gazebo. The tier above the gallery is decorated with kokoshniks with blind windows, and the building is topped by a dome with a spire that originally bore the emblem of 'Glavtabak'. The facade is ornamented with patterns depicting tobacco leaves and flowers, and finished with tiles of various colors. Originally the pavilion housed an exposition dedicated to the tobacco industry of the USSR, as well as a model tobacco products shop created on the order of the Ministry of Food Industry. In the 1990s the exposition and shop were abolished and the building housed a representative office of the Governor of Saratov Oblast. From 2014 to 2017 a tasting hall and cafe operated in the building. In 2021 VDNKh began searching for an investor for the right to long-term lease of the pavilion. By 2022 it was planned to complete a comprehensive scientific restoration of the pavilion, with a restaurant to be placed in the building. The pavilion is part of the VDNKh exhibition complex, a major public and cultural venue in Moscow. Its history reflects the evolution of Soviet industrial exhibition architecture and the post-Soviet repurposing of exhibition spaces.

Pavilion No. 35 'Tobacco' at the VDNKh was built in 1954 by architect Vyacheslav Kondratyev, commissioned by the Ministry of Food Industry of the USSR. It is located in the landscape park of VDNKh near the Kamensky Pond. The first pavilion with this name was built at the pre-war exhibition in 1939, but was subsequently dismantled and rebuilt on a new site by the same architect in a form close to the original. The pavilion's distinguishing feature is its unusual architectural design, which strongly sets it apart from other pavilions of the exhibition. In plan the pavilion is an irregular octagon, and the external decoration of its facade combines motifs of Eastern architecture, Gothic, and Russian national building traditions. The facade is surrounded by a gallery with slender columns and resembles a gazebo. The next tier of the facade above the gallery is decorated with kokoshniks with blind windows, and the building is completed by a dome with a spire, which was originally crowned with the emblem of 'Glavtabak'. The facade is decorated with patterns depicting tobacco leaves and flowers. Tiles of various colors were used in the facade finishing. Initially the pavilion housed an exposition dedicated to the tobacco industry of the USSR, as well as a model tobacco products shop created on the order of the Ministry of Food Industry. In the 1990s the exposition and shop were abolished and a representative office of the Governor of Saratov Oblast was placed there. From 2014 to 2017 a tasting hall and cafe operated in the building. In 2021 VDNKh began searching for an investor for the right to long-term lease of the pavilion. By 2022 it was planned to complete the comprehensive scientific restoration of the pavilion, with a restaurant to be placed in the building. The pavilion is an object of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance.

• 2022

  Planned completion of comprehensive scientific restoration; restaurant to be placed in the building

• 2021

  VDNKh began searching for an investor for long-term lease of the pavilion

• 2017

  Tasting hall and cafe ceased operating

• 2014

  Tasting hall and cafe began operating in the building

• 1990

  Exposition and shop abolished; building housed representative office of the Governor of Saratov Oblast

• 1959

  Pavilion renamed from 'Glavtabak' to 'Tobacco'

• 1954

  Pavilion No. 35 'Tobacco' built by architect Vyacheslav Kondratyev

• 1939

  First pavilion with the name 'Tobacco' built at the pre-war exhibition

A historic Soviet-era exhibition pavilion dedicated to the tobacco industry, now a federal cultural heritage site within the VDNKh complex.

• Tobacco industry exposition

  Exposition dedicated to the tobacco industry of the USSR, originally housed in the pavilion.

• Model tobacco products shop

  A model tobacco products shop created on the order of the Ministry of Food Industry.

• Tasting hall and cafe

  Operated in the building from 2014 to 2017.

1. 1Pavilion No. 35 Tobacco at the VDNKh on Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Павильон № 35 «Табак» на ВДНХ — Wikipedia (Russian)ru.wikipedia.org
3. 3Pavilion 'Tobacco' on the VDNKh websitevdnh.ru