The 9th ICSID Congress, Moscow, 1975

In 1965, VNIITE (All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics) became a member of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID). Yuri Soloviev, the founder and director of VNIITE, was elected vice president of ICSID on three occasions and served as its president from 1977 to 1980. As a consequence of his endeavours, Moscow was selected to host the 9th ICSID Congress, marking the first time it was held in a socialist country. The congress was attended by 700 Soviet and 757 international participants from thirty-two countries. The theme, ‘Man, Design and Society’, was conceived to emphasise the role of socialist ideals as the primary driving force behind Soviet design. This concept was reflected in the lightweight convertible cardboard equipment, conference merchandise, and dynamic visual identity created by the team from VNIITE (including Viktor Zenkov, Alexander Ermolaev, Evgeny Bogdanov, Igor Berezovsky, Elena Chernevich, and others).
The conference environment in the foyer of the Rossiya Hotel (the congress venue) featured temporary arrangements of furniture in small groups on a grey felt carpet. This contrasted with the hotel’s monumental interiors, allowing for spontaneous conversations to take place between congress sessions, along with film screenings and slide shows. Due to heavy state censorship, many innovative designs, prepared reports, and presentations were denied clearance just days before the congress. This resulted in the dissolution of the entire design theory department at VNIITE following the event.