In the 1920s, the movement spread to free women from the “bondage” of taking care of the home and war was declared against “stoves” and “smoky kitchens”. In response to a social order from the Soviet government and relying on the experience of small public dining halls, architects designed kitchen factories with dining halls for thousands of visitors. It was presumed that people would bring their families there not just to have dinner, but also to kick back. In Sverdlovsk, the first factory kitchen appeared in 1928, designed by Valery Paramonov in the unified production complex with a bread factory built two years prior. The complex, L-shaped building was located near the city centre at the intersection of Melkovskaya and Sverdlov Streets, and its awkward, ledged shape was required due to the landscape. The production of this huge food combine amounted to 10,000 dinners; meanwhile, 3,000 people “consumed” the food in the hall while other people walked around with thermos jugs or as semi-products in other dining halls. “The central section featured 2 floors, with a floor for reading and lounging, a lobby, and a desk room on the first floor and a production facility in the rear section. The dining hall was designed with a capacity for 5,000 people. At the entrance, you have the chance to hand over your coat and sweater and wash our hands. You take the staircase up to the dining hall. 2 halls are located there, a large dining hall and a small one, i.e. the snack bar only. These were the general design principles of the Sverdlovsk factory kitchen”, Yekaterina Maksimova described, an architect engineer at Narpit Association, which stood at the outset of the “factory kitchens designs”.
