Though never built, Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International (1919-20) is among the most powerful images of the Russian Revolution. In 1971, architect and exhibition designer Michael Brawne asked Jeremy Dixon to construct a model of the proposed 400-metre-high tower for the ‘Art in Revolution’ exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. Exactly 40 years later, curator MaryAnne Stevens requested a new version for the ‘Building the Revolution’ exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. The first reconstruction had been made in timber, but the RA wanted a more robust steel structure.
While the 1970s exhibit was based on models, drawings and calculations, the advent of computer modelling meant it was now possible to create a virtual model from which the tower could be accurately constructed. Chris Milan undertook this challenging task, modelling the structure and producing beautiful line drawings and a spectacular montage view across the ice-covered Neva river.
The process used the knowledge of the inclined cone of 20 radials, determined for the 1970s model, but working backwards. Chris first created the spirals and then established the relationship to the other members by means of projections. The three-dimensional model could then be examined from any angle, allowing a fabricator to work from this single source.
There are many ways in which one can interpret the enduring imagery of the Tatlin Tower. It is a building with an iconographic purpose. The double spiral is intended to represent the resolution of world conflict, the main ‘arm’ points to the pole star and the revolutions of the solids are meant to relate to the movement of the stars. It can also be seen as a giant striding figure, like a skeleton with bodily organs suspended within.
This interpretation could even be extended to the all-powerful presence of the Bolsheviks. The arm of the tower could represent the ‘hammer’ and the spirals the ‘sickle’ of the Soviet flag.
In 1914 Tatlin had visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and dined at the first-floor ‘Russian’ restaurant, a visit that provoked the thought that if France had such a symbol of its revolution, why not create a bigger and better one for the new Soviet Union.
After the Royal Academy exhibition, the tower was dismantled and stored for a number of years. Eventually the pieces were given to the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, which funded a proper reassembly, including protection to the steel and, for the first time, good lighting. The re-made Tatlin Tower is to remain as a permanent addition to the UEA sculpture park.