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The form development in the Kazan State Circus
architecture
Evgeny Orlov1
Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, Yaroslavskoe shosse, 26, Moscow, 129337, Russia
Abstract. The Kazan State Circus was built in 1965-1967, its shape was
very unusual for that time and resembled a disk. Many researchers
considered that the creators of the Kazan Circus borrowed its forms
directly from the works of foreign architects of the modernist era, such as
P.L. Nervi or O. Niemeyer. However, with a detailed comparison, it can be
concluded that such a statement only partially corresponds to reality. The
main purpose of this work is to search for the initial forms that became the
basis for the design of the Kazan Circus building. This article presents the
idea of the influence of the cult of unidentified flying objects (UFOs),
which arose from the late 40s of the 20th century in the USA, including
with the filing of George Adamski, who allegedly saw UFOs in the form of
a disk in the sky several times. The article also examines the influence of
Eastern philosophical and religious trends of the Buddhism and Hinduism
on the architectural forms of the Kazan circus. The shaping of the Kazan
Circus was subsequently used by other architects in the construction of
various objects, for example, the Krasnodar Circus (Russia) and Astana
Circus (Kazakhstan).
Keywords: architecture, Buddhism, circus buildings, form-finding,
Hinduism, Kazan, unidentified flying object (UFO)
1
Introduction
In 1967, the Kazan State Circus was built in Kazan at Millennium Square, 2 (Figure 1). The
creators of this structure were architect G.M. Pichuev, engineers O.I. Berim, E.Y. Brudny
from the design company Tatgrazhdanproekt.
The very shape of the building of the Kazan State Circus was hugely unusual at that
time and strongly resembled two dinner plates superimposed on each other with convex
sides outwards (disk). For such an interesting creative approach, the architectures of the
building were awarded gold and bronze medals of Exhibition of Achievements of National
Economy (VDNH) in 1971.
At that time, Soviet architectural modernism dominated in USSR, the origins of which
began to penetrate into the USSR from Western countries in the end of the 50s of the XX
century [1-3].
1
Corresponding author: OrlovEV@mgsu.ru
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 457, 03011 (2023)
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Fig. 1. The Kazan State Circus (1967)
(source: https://mk.mrgcdn.ru/7dae533db59aa26f0afc726365641603.jpeg).
Fig. 2. The small sports palace "Palacetto" in Rome (1957)
(source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/03/02/9f03027ba03a5b8ef8809a3737595941.png).
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Fig. 3. The Palace of the National Congress in Brasilia (1960)
(source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Congresso_do_Brasil.jpg/1200px-Cong
resso_do_Brasil.jpg).
The authors (D.D. Efimov, T.R. Zakirova, E.Z. Asadullin, S.P. Sanachin) of several
papers [4-8] devoted to the Kazan State Circus believe that the idea of this shaping was
borrowed from foreign architects, including P.L. Nervi (the small sports palace "Palacetto"
in Rome) (Figure 2) and O. Niemeyer (the Palace of the National Congress in Brasilia)
(Figure 3) [9-11]. Such a statement has the right to exist and fully justifies some, but
incomplete similarity of the Kazan Circus with these buildings. Furthermore, the above
ideas are boldly approved in other scientific works [12-13].
The author of this article puts forward a hypothesis according to which the ideas of
shaping in the architecture of the Kazan State Circus originate not from the architecture of
other structures built in the era of modernism (as indicated by the above researchers), but
directly from the religious and philosophical phenomenon of unidentified flying objects
(UFOs), Hinduism and Buddhism.
2
Methodology
The author of this article in July 2023 took advanced training courses under the program
“History of Religions” (Russian State University for the Humanities, Center for the Study
of Religions), where the history of such teachings as Hinduism and Buddhism was
considered, and also paid attention to new religious movements, which include the religious
and philosophical phenomenon of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Special literature on
the above-mentioned religious directions was also studied, where there was also a large
illustrative material.
All of the above made it possible to conduct an in-depth analysis of the data and propose a
well-founded theory of shaping the architecture of the Kazan State Circus.
3
Results
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George Adamski (1891-1965), an American of Polish origin, a farmer and later a writer,
who was actively interested in Eastern philosophy, openly stated to the public that in the
early 50s of the XX century he managed to photograph an unidentified flying object of
disk-shaped form on his camera (Figure 4) [14-16]. In addition, in 1952, he said that in the
Mojave Desert (USA, California) he allegedly had a meeting and conversation with an
astronaut who came to Earth from another planet. The unknown guest, according to
D. Adamski, came to our planet in a spaceship whose shape strongly resembled a disk
(Figure 5). The astronaut stated to the farmer that they had been secretly flying to Earth for
a long time and his civilization was greatly concerned about the radiation that appeared
after people tested nuclear weapons.
Fig. 4. Photograph of an unidentified flying object of black colour (mother ship), from which small
unidentified objects of white colour flew out (photo by D. Adamski,
source: https://inkiadhasin.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/wiesbaden-schierstein-1956.jpg).
Fig. 5. Sketch of UFO, which saw D. Adamski in the Mojave Desert, made from his words by
ufologist D. Ricci. [14].
Subsequently, D. Adamski became known as one of the world's first contactors with
alien civilizations. He actively began to popularize the UFOs phenomenon, elevating it to a
philosophical and religious cult, holding numerous lectures and seminars on the subject,
demonstrating his evidence in the form of sketches and photographs.
After some time, new religious movements (Raëlism, Unarius, Aetherius Society, etc.)
appeared, based on the belief in the existence of intelligent beings on various planets of the
solar system, with whom people can come into contact [17]. The belief in reincarnation, as
well as in the divinity of aliens with magical powers, becomes the basis of religious cult.
For the creation of the universe and all life, according to the fans of some such cults, a large
central "body" is responsible – black matter (abyss), creating order out of chaos, which is
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the absolute being, unknowable and omnipotent, which is worshipped by aliens. The
spaceships of aliens, in the beliefs of new religious movements, in their appearance in most
cases coincide with the shape of the disk, which was described in observations D. Adamski
and some other peoples. The new religious movements are more inclined to the occult.
In addition, thanks to D. Adamski, the phenomenon of UFOs is strongly embedded in
the public culture of the time, having a great impact on it. For example, in the cinema, the
number of feature films with the theme of the contact of alien intelligence with the
inhabitants of the Earth began to increase. In 1967-1968, the television series “Invaders”
with actor Roy Tinnes in the title role was released in the United States, in which the main
plot becomes the organization of an alien invasion of Earth. The alien spaceships
completely repeat the shape of disk-shaped saucers, which told D. Adamski.
The feature film directed by Stanley Kubrick - "2001 A Space Odyssey", which was
released in 1968, shows the contact of aliens with humans. The "black monolith" acts as the
central figure, being an absolute being, unrecognizable with the help of human mind, but
actively influencing all the ongoing events in the world [18].
The famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), the founder of analytical
psychology, actively expanded the doctrine of the collective unconscious. For some years
he actively collaborated with Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), with whom
he was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (London, UK). In his scientific
works, C. G. Jung analyzed the phenomenon of UFOs, relating it to the occult [19]. The
psychiatrist suggested that the round shapes inherent in UFOs are nothing but a symbol of
striving for completeness and unity. C.G. Jung envisioned the ideal form as a circle. The
researcher was also deeply interested in mandalas (circle, circle) (Figure 6) – round-shaped
emblems with a certain occult meaning used in Hinduism and Buddhism, which he tried to
connect with the outlines of round shapes of spaceships of the UFO phenomenon [20].
It is also important to recall that many elements of beliefs present in the new religious
movements related to UFOs, borrowed from Hinduism and Buddhism (for example, the
transmigration of souls, the presence of absolute existence (analogous to the primordial
basis of all existing (Brahman)), mandala, etc.).
a)
b)
Fig. 6. Variants of mandala images
(source: a – https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f8/45/57/f84557b00277e211910c81da44d18dd5.jpg,
b – https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bb/bf/de/bbbfde98680ac62c7f96f3016d204252.jpg).
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Discussion
Taking into account the above, it can be concluded that the information presented by a
simple farmer D. Adamski, without the need to find out whether his data was true or not,
was the beginning of the formation of the cultural phenomenon of unidentified flying
objects. A characteristic feature of UFOs is a “flying saucer” on which aliens from deep
space were supposed to arrive on Earth.
This also gave rise to the formation of new religious movements associated with the cult
of UFOs, which began to appear immediately a few years after D. Adamski's active
propaganda of his ideas and observations. The ideal shape of a “flying saucer” or “disk”
was interestingly accepted by the surrounding people. They believed in its ideal image as a
possible alien spaceship, which tends more towards futurism.
If we discard and do not consider D. Adamski's stories and proofs as mystical, but
interpret them as a cultural phenomenon, then we can recall that he was very interested in
Eastern philosophy, part of which are the beliefs described in the religions of Hinduism and
Buddhism. In this case, we are talking about the shape of the mandala and the circle itself,
which were sacred to believers. Thus, D. Adamski most likely took the shape of a circle or
the circumference of a mandala as an ideal form, which, in his opinion, should have become
a prototype for an alien spaceship.
It is important to note in proof of the theory that the years of D. Adamski's propaganda
of his ideas about the cult of UFOs fall at the time of the beginning of the Cold War. He
actively conducted his lectures and seminars on the subject of UFOs until his death in 1965.
The beginning of the Khrushchev “thaw" allowed the inhabitants of the USSR to live a little
more freely than before, thanks to which various information from foreign countries began
to penetrate, which became available to Soviet people. Most likely, the phenomenon of
UFOs could also interest the architect G.M. Pichuev. It is also important to note his
biography. G.M. Pichuev was born in 1931 in Ulan-Ude, Buryat-Mongolian ASSR, where
Tibetan Buddhism was strongly developed. It can be assumed that the future architect
himself could be familiar with these beliefs along with D. Adamski. However, in those
years, the advertising of such knowledge in the USSR was not welcome.
Most likely, architect G.M. Pichuev got acquainted with the works of architects P.L.
Nervi and O. Niemeyer, which served as a hint for him, but not the main motive of
form-making, because he was guided directly by his own understanding of the image of
UFO.
It was interesting to choose a place for the construction of a building of this shape –
right next to the Kazan Kremlin. This is a symbolic intersection of the old architecture of
the city with unusual forms, which have a deep meaning borrowed from ancient religions.
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Fig. 7. Krasnodar Circus (Russia, 1970)
(source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7_KlTR78JmY/maxresdefault.jpg).
Fig. 8. Astana Circus (Kazakhstan, 2005)
(source:
http://photocdn.photogoroda.com/source2/cn1894/r2128/c2133/54365710.jpg?v=20171213112136).
Conducting a visual comparison of the formation of the Kazan State Circus with its
foreign counterparts, as well as studying and analyzing the information from D. Adamski,
we can conclude that the building designed by architect G.M. Pichuev almost completely
repeats the appearance of the “flying saucer”, which D. Adamski describes in his writings.
Architectural modernism, which appeared and began its development, allowed architects
to show greater fantasies than before, broadcasting certain hidden ideas and meanings,
which, according to the author of this article, were laid down during the formation in the
architecture of the Kazan State Circus. Subsequently, the ideas of the “flying saucer” were
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implemented in other architectural solutions, for example, in the Krasnodar Circus
(architects M. Shulmeister, Y. Motorin, A. Kudryavtsev, engineers A. Titov, T. Lebedev, M.
Glinkin) (1970) (Figure 7) and Astana Circus (architect T. Abdilda) (2005) (Kazakhstan)
(Figure 8).
5
Conclusions
Based on the studied literary sources, as well as illustrated material, we can draw the
following conclusions based on the generalization of the obtained facts:
- shaping in the architecture of the Kazan State Circus was most likely borrowed from
the form of an unidentified flying object (UFO), which was photographed and described by
D. Adamsky (the similarity of the building’s forms directly with photographs and drawings
provided by D. Adamsky is visible);
- D. Adamski, raising UFOs into a philosophical and religious movement, most likely
borrowed the forms of a “flying saucer” directly from Hinduism and Buddhism, in which
the circle symbol is actively used in religious rites (using various types of mandala);
- the above data most likely could get to the future creators of the Kazan State Circus in
the USSR during the Khrushchev “thaw”, when information from foreign countries became
more accessible;
- interest in such shaping, which was used to create the circus building, could come
directly from the architect G.M. Pichuev, who was born in the Buryat-Mongolian
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, where Buddhism has always been actively
developed.
- the shaping of this building began to be actively borrowed in the construction of other
structures on the territory of the former USSR.
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