^

William C. Brumfield America as Emblem of Modernity in , 1870-1917

In a long digression on architecture in one of the 1873 a few wealthy property owners, and they also created the issues of his Diary of a Writer. Fedor Dostoevskii made legal conditions for the foundation of private associations. the following sardonic comment on contemporary Although certain Petersburg architects had begun to Petersburg: "And here, at last, is the architecture of explore the prospect of founding a professional group the modern, enormous hotel-efficiency, Americanism, as early as 1862, the first formal organization was the hundreds of rooms, an enormous industrial enterprise: Architectural Society, chartered in October right away you see that we too have got railways and 1867.- From the outset this organization disseminated have suddenly discovered that we ourselves are efficient new technical information and served as a center for the people."' Here, as in so many other areas, the great writer establishment of standards in building materials and noted the salient features of an issue that would be much practices. In addition to its advisory function in technical pursued by specialists and professionals, for the terms matters, the society initiated a series of open architectural "enormous" and "efficient" define just the qualities that competitions as early as 1868, thus establishing a Russian observers valued in American architecture. When precedent to be followed in the awarding of major

it came to European architecture of the same period, building contracts during the latter half of the century. showed an awareness of nuance and style, and An ambitious attempt by the society to sponsor a general they mentioned the "right" names from the perspective conference of architects in 1873 failed for bureaucratic

of architectural history. Yet, in the case of America. reasons, and it was not until 1892 that the First Congress Russian journals made an isolated reference to Henry of Russian Architects took place. Hobson Richardson or and John Root but otherwise exhibited an indifference to the specifics of a In the meantime, architects in the obtained developing American architectural idiom. What they saw imperial approval to found the Petersburg Society of was enormous, colossal, incredible, and efficient. AiThitects, chartered in October 1870, whose functions paralleled those of the Moscow Architectural Society. At The Russian architectural press, which conveyed the beginning of 1872, the Petersburg group published these accounts of American architecture to its Russian the first issue of the journal Zodchii (Architect), which audience, was essentially a product of the second half appeared monthly, and later weekly, up until 1917. of the nineteenth century; its development was directly For forty-five years this authoritative publication not related to the professionalization of Russian architects. only served as a record of the architectural profession The beginnings of cohesion in the profession date from in , but also provided a conduit for information the 1860s, when architects in both St. Petersburg and on technical innovations in Western Europe and the Moscow realized the need to create an association that United States. It would be difficult to overestimate the would rise above narrow, commercial interests to address importance oi Zodchii in supporting professional solidarity problems confronting architects as a group. To be sure, among architects and establishing a platform from which commercialism provided the major financial impetus for to advance ideas regarding architecture's "mission" in the a professional organization, as the economic forces of creation of a new urban environment.'' nascent capitalism led to the replacement of the older patronage system of architectural commission with a There were other architectural publications in Russia, more competitive, contractual approach to the business and a few of them made occasional reference to America: of building. But in order to promote the interests of but Zodchii remained the major source for information professional development and to regulate the practice of on architecture and civil engineering. The general areas architecture, a form of organization that transcended the of interest covered in the journal's reports on America individual architect or architectural firm was essential. included: planning, construction technology, architectural education, building materials and standards, The Great Reforms of the 1860s facilitated the economic and the related topic of disasters, particularly fires. Many progress necessary for the expansion of architecture of the items were taken from American and European beyond the commissions of the state, the court, and architectural journals, as well as from general Russian

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00241 by guest on 29 September 2021 publications such as Birzhevye vedomosti (Stock Exchange The article's final sentence, echoing similar opinions from News), which had obvious reasons of its own to be Birzhevye vedomosti, proclaimed that the new interested in the progress and economic development reflects, "The results of moral and material activity such represented by new American construction. In addition, as we have seen nowhere else in the history of the cultural Zodchii frequently published lectures given at the development of mankind."' Petersburg Society of Architects by members who had traveled to the United States, and thus provided firsthand Indeed, there seems to have been no limit to Russian observations of the New World. credulity in the face of American technological ingenuity, as is evident from an item on the "Beach pneumatic From the first year of publication, and every year tube," intended to carry passengers around the city at a thereafter. Zodchii included news items on the American "remarkable speed" far exceeding that of railroads.' There architectural scene, such as a short comment in 1872 was in fact an experimental pneumatic subway opened on the new building for the New York City post office.^ in 1870 under Broadway Avenue in Manhattan, but its The construction of buildings for public institutions in speed and potential for development seem to have been America's booming gained the frequent attention considerably less than remarkable. Pneumatic systems of Zodchii, whose editors understood that there was a were, however, used for transporting mail in New York by corresponding need for such buildings to serve Russian the turn of the century. society in the period following the Great Reforms. In 1873, for example, there were reports on communal housing for Throughout the 1870s, Zodchii published a wide variety women working in New York's factories;'^ readers of such of articles on developments in American architecture and articles might have been reminded of the housing crisis technology. The subjects ranged from Edison's "Electric affecting workers in Russia's large cities. The rapidity of telegraph" to engineering topics such as plans for a American building methods elicited expressions of wonder canal in Nicaragua, bridges in Philadelphia and New that are repeated with ritualistic emphasis throughout the York, and American methods for producing ice—a topic 1872-1917 period. An early burst of enthusiasm appeared of interest even to Russians because the rapid growth in an 1873 article—which drew extensively from American of cities required more reliable methods of cold storage publications—on the reconstruction of Chicago after the for perishable foodstuffs.'" A direct correlation between Great Fire of 1871. The effusive praise reveals much about Russian and American interests appeared in a favorable Russian architectural taste during this period, as well as review of the Russo-American Rubber Company pavilion its fascination with technological innovation: at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, in which Russians recorded American comments on Russian All of them [Chicago's new "building-palaces"] art." Yet attention remained primarily on American are built in the latest American style, which builders, whose accomplishments made St. Petersburg's represents a mixture of classical, Romanesque, building boom seem modest. gothic, and styles; here one can see the widespread use of iron structural In general, contributors to Zodchii showed little interest components, luxurious entryways even for in exploring the principles underlying the new American private houses, balconies on all floors, architecture, but there were occasional comments that magnificent roofs and encircled with showed the Russians' perceptions of what the American beautiful balustrades. Many of these buildings experience meant for the development of architecture. exceed in luxury and refinement the best In an article about the journal American Architect and buildings of the European capitals and are Building News—a frequent source of information for decorated with statues and colonnades. It is hard Zodchii—the reviewer not only provided a detailed to understand how this could have been created description of the American publication, but also in something like a year and a half Such commented on what he saw as the pervasive influence

unusual speed is partially explained by the use of the nineteenth-century French theoretician Etienne of great quantities of iron, including entire Viollet-le-Duc, whose writings played a major role facades consisting of a row of iron columns in discussions on the nature of Russian architecture connected by iron beams, and also by wooden during this period. Particularly noted is Viollet-le-Duc's construction work (such as at the Palmer Hotel) mfluence on American "practicality" and on American carried out at night by artificial lighting, and architects' return to as a source of with machines lifting pre-fabricated elements to guidance, not in a literal or historicist sense, but for a new a height of four stories.' understanding of structural support systems in building.'*

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00241 by guest on 29 September 2021 Technology and Architecture at the End of report cannot, it seems, be attributed to anti-American sentiment, but rather to the monument's sharp break the Nineteenth Century with contemporary tastes regarding heavily ornamented memorials—for example, 's Albert Memorial, It can be argued that Russian architects were receptive completed in 1872 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and the to favorable reports on the American republic by virtue early 1880s entries in the competition for the design of the of their obvious professional interests in economic growth Church of the Resurrection of the Savior on the Blood in and technical progress. Although architecture had its St. Petersburg. social and ideological uses in Russian society, Russian architects could praise American buildings and technology without implying political views of either monarchic or Most of the reports on America in Zodchii and Nedelia radical tint. Indeed, expressions of wonder continued stroitelia dealt with commercial architecture in cities, unabated from Zodchii's correspondents. An 1879 report from and Philadelphia to New Orleans and on Leadville, a mining town in Colorado, noted that it . The centers of attention, however, were "sprang up as if by magic" in this "land of wonders." Chicago and New York, which represented the most Surely such references would have suggested visions of the concentrated expression of the American ethos. In the rapid exploitation of the rich unsettled regions of and other parts of Russia. A report on the development of mid-1880s. Nedelia stroitelia reported on projects for the telephone in America stated: "One can indeed call the building of a New York City subway, techniques of America the land of application of scientific theories to elevator construction, the number of houses and firemen

practice and to life. While we engage in debates over the in the city, water systems, sanitation, the city's telephone practicality and future of the telephone, city telephone network, and the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. Land networks are being created in America."" prices in New York were "fabulous." but the operative word was "colossal"—as in a "colossal new bridge" between America was frequently referred to as the standard for New York and New Jersey, or the "colossal building" for comparison in construction and technology, as can be seen, the newspaper New York World, which was twenty-six for example, in an article on the efficiency of American stories, constructed from iron, steel, and ." Although housing construction: "Our masons, carpenters, and other the reporter had difficulty in describing a building of such craftsmen—would be amazed at the speed and daring of unprecedented scale, the Russians had finally discovered the Americans." This highly favorable account took notice the skyscraper; during the next decade, reports on this of cooperation between New York's housing contractors American form would appear regularly in the Russian and municipal authorities in the laying of utility lines architectural press. and the subsequent paving of streets and sidewalks. Also noted was the reliance on prefabricated, standardized Appropriately, the first detailed descriptions of the components—for example, frames and —in skyscraper appeared in articles on Chicago, where the design of urban homes. '^ efficiencies that would later preparations for the 1893 Columbian Exposition become a central part of Soviet housing construction, stimulated an interest in the city unparalleled since the but on an altogether different scale. Another news item Great Fire of 1871. The exposition was the subject of described the opening of New York's Metropolitan Opera extensive reports; such as an analysis of the planning House, with the usual hyperbole "enormous." and construction of the site, with statistics from the German publication Deutsche Bauzeitung. The account Beginning in 1882, most of the brief technical news mentioned the firm Holabird and Roche, a rare occasion in items on American architecture appeared in Nedelia which the Russian press identified American architects." stroitelia (Builder's Week), the newly established weekly Among other news items on the exposition was an ecstatic supplement to Zodchii. Nedelia stroitelia contained report on the project to construct an all-electric house, excerpts from the journal Scientific American, as well as described as a glimpse into the future." A general review reports from American publications on new buildings, of construction in Chicago noted that for six years a new technical innovations, and occasional disasters. Theater type of structure, based on a skeletal steel frame on a fires were noted with particular frequency. In 1885. reinforced concrete foundation, had been developed; but Nedelia stroitelia paraphrased an article from the the reports were tentative and made no mention of specific popular journal Niva on the recent completion of the architects.'" . Referring to the monument as "colossal," Nedelia stroitelia took a very critical view of "an In 1893. the crescendo of attention surrounding the unattractive and crude structure" and said "the monument Chicago exposition reached a peak. The first issues of is striking by the lack of all taste."'" The tone of this Nedelia stroitelia contained lead articles describing the

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00241 by guest on 29 September 2021 pavilions and the frenetic, last-minute preparations became depopulated. in the area between Jackson and Washington parks. In addition to reciting the fair's greatest architectural Subsequently, Evald wrote a book entitled Structural achievements and its surpassing dimensions, the unsigned Characteristics of Buildings in North America, and in 1899 correspondent acknowledged the guiding presence of he continued his analysis of the American skyscraper with Messrs. John Root—whose death in 1891 was noted—and an extensive report on a fire at the sixteen-story Home Daniel Burnham, who served as chief of construction for Life Insurance Company building on Broadway Avenue, the exposition.-" After 1893, there appears to have been constructed in 1893. His observations regarding the still- no further notice of these two pioneers of the Chicago far-from-ideal methods of fire prevention in tall buildings School in the Russian press. were based, in large part, on data from the German publication Thonindustrie-Zeitung, which represented the Some observers looked beyond the extravaganza of the producers of fire-retardant ceramic shields. exposition to the more solid achievements of the Chicago School. One compact but informative report noted that By the beginning of the century, reports on skyscrapers "giant buildings here bear the strange name 'Sky and fires in American cities appeared in roughly equal Scrapers'" and contended that Chicago was particularly measure. In 1903, Zodchii published a technical review of "rich in these buildings," despite a growing reluctance to recent progress in the area of skyscraper construction, insure them.-' The nineteen-story Auditorium Hotel, more with special attention to new methods of insulating the commonly known as the Auditorium (1886-90), was steel frame from the effects of intense heat (many of these described as an example of the speed of construction advances were introduced after the Pittsburgh fire of possible with the new technology. The description included 1897). Drawing upon books by Joseph Freitag and William an abundance of statistics concerning the building's cost, Birkmire—prominent American civil engineers its height, its weight, the number of needed for specializing in the design of skyscrapers—the writer construction, and the length of its water and gas pipes. attributed the extraordinary increase in tall buildings in Yet there is no mention of the style of this spectacular America to three basic developments: the cheap and building, nor of the architect, . For Russian efficient production of high-quality rolled steel; the architectural critics, "style" was to be found in Europe; production of new types of fire-resistant coating for steel ^^ America was the land of statistics and technology. frames; and the introduction of rapid elevators.

Fire had, of course, been an enemy of Russian cities from American Pragmatism and the New Urban time immemorial, yet there was a specific interest in the spectacular effects of fire on the new American urban Environment environment, even though the lessons to be learned from these conflagrations had limited applications in Russia. French school However significant the role played by the The 1904 issues of Zodchii contained several items on this more in American design, Russian observers were subject, among which was a report on the devastating interested in the practical results of American technical Iroquois Theater fire, in which some four hundred died, Viktor Evald the editor of developments. In 1895, — and a survey of measures for fire safety in other major commentators on Zodchii and one of the most frequent Chicago theaters, including the Auditorium.-^ A account of American civil engineering—provided an subsequent article described methods of fire prevention skyscraper construction in New York and Chicago, with developed by the firm Adler and Sullivan.^* The for particular attention to methods of foundation support culmination of this inflammatory obsession appeared in technology of the steel frames. Impressed by the size and the journal's extensive coverage of the great fire view of their such large structures, Evald took a dim of February 1904. Based on reports in the New York aesthetic qualities and predicted that they would create Herald. Zodchii provided a general description of the in which "some of the main streets an urban environment disaster and its effect on the city in the first article.-'* The of tall, cubes, will be enclosed between two rows gloomy second article took a more technical approach, examining in the sun never with small, separate which the conditions of large structures after the fire. The peers. Such streets will resemble narrow canals or conclusion, bolstered by information from the German streams, flowing at the base of deep ravines."^^ This poetic publication Stahl und Eisen. discussed the remarkable image was followed by the observation that American skyscrapers were intended for use between eight and five, progress in protecting steel frames from fire damage." after which time the central areas of American cities

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Figure 1. Northern Insurance Company building, Moscow. 1909-1911. Ivan Rerberg. Marian Peretiatkovich, Viacheslav Oltarzhevski (Brumfield M59-32)

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For most of its final decade of publication, Zodchii and subsequent events, however, postponed reported with regularity on new developments concerning the large-scale application of this technology until the late American skyscrapers. Articles appeared on the Singer 1940s. The most significant statement of this convergence Building in 1906, on the Metropolitan Life Building in between American and Russian goals in civil engineering 1907, and on buildings by Francis Kimball in 1908. There appeared in Nikolai Lakhtin's two-part survey of the were also reports on the completion of other major latest techniques for the use of steel and reinforced structures, such as New York's Penn Station and the New concrete in New York's skyscrapers.'^ For Lakhtin York Public Library. A brief notice in 1908 commented on Russia's economic future clearly pointed toward the the "gigantomania" of Ernest Flagg, probably the most American model in urban architecture: active builder of skyscrapers in New York: "[Flagg] dreams

of constructing a building as high as one thousand feet.... Industry, trade, and technology are developing, Even the Yankees have had second thoughts about this. prices for land parcels are growing, telephones There are reasonable people thinking of raising the and other communications cannot always satisfy question of a law to set limits on the flights of artists demand; in short, circumstances analogous to beyond the clouds."^* Yet after 1908, for no clear reason, those in America are gradually arising in our

the number of articles on America underwent a sharp, if urban centers. These circumstances make it temporary, decline. In 1909, the only item on America necessary to construct tall buildings, which must dealt with air pollution in Chicago; in 1910, there was a be erected on a steel frame. '^ single report on a new bridge in Philadelphia; and in 1911, R. Bernhard reviewed R. Vogel's book Das amerikanische With this imperative in mind, Lakhtin analyzed the tall Haus, reflecting a growing curiosity about the American building from foundation to wind braces and made design of the detached house and its suitability as a model detailed drawings of key points in the steel column and for suburban development around Moscow. girder structure. The same message, regarding the convergence of Russian and American architectural The reappearance of articles on American architecture and conditions, was propagated at the Fifth Congress of technology in Zodchii was due, in large measure, to the Russian Architects in 1913 by Lakhtin and Edmond Sixth International Congress on Materials Testing, held at Perrimond, both of whom had recently attended New York's Engineering Societies Building in 1912. Given conferences in America and returned to Russia convinced

the standards of the time, it is noteworthy that the of the relevance of the new American architecture.'" journal's correspondent was a woman, Maria Koroleva, about whom regrettably little is known. Her dispatches With the onset of war, visions of growth, progress, and provide detailed and highly technical accounts of the technical development receded, and with them the proceedings, as well as an analysis of the construction of possibilities of an American-style construction boom in New York's Woolworth Building by .-' To Russia. These visions were undoubtedly unrealistic or Russian observers, the Woolworth Building represented premature; Lakhtin once went so far as to compare the an extreme example of the American mania for the office subsoil of St. Petersburg with that of New York to assess tower—a mania that went beyond the limits of economic whether it could support tall buildings. During the war feasibility, according to the writer of an article on the years, references to America dwindled, with the exception building, who also noted that its primary function was to of a series of detailed articles written in 1916 by Roman serve as a trademark for the Woolworth firms.'" In a Beker on small community library buildings in America. series of postcards entitled "Moscow in the Future," dating Beker presented a highly favorable view of these from 1913. visionaries in Russia were producing fanciful structures because of their design, and also because they sketches of a "new Moscow," which bore a distinct seemed to express the democratic belief in education for resemblance to midtown Manhattan."" Indeed, the first the people.'" In 1917, America's entry into the war on the tentative steps in this direction had already been taken side of the Entente produced renewed interest in the with the completion of Ivan Rerberg's modest tower for the United States; but at the end of 1917, Zodchii ceased Northern Insurance Company in central Moscow in 1911.'- publication. In a wholly unintended irony, the last article (Fig.l) published in the journal bore the title "American Engineers and the War."" The increasingly specific technical descriptions of the engineering involved in the construction of skyscrapers

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1. Fedor M. Dostoevskji. Polnoe sobranie sochinenti An element of fantasy reigns over many Russian v tridtsati tomakh (Leningrad: Nauka. 1980), 21:106. perceptions of American architecture, even those 2. For a history of the foundation of the Moscow Architectural Society, see lu. S. expressed in the pages of sohd professional journals—not Laralov, ed. 100 let obshcheslvennykh arkhitekturnykh organizalsii V SSSR, 1S67- 1967 (Moscow: Soiuz 6-11. to mention the more imaginative, if less reliable, passages arkhitektorov. 1967), 3. laralov. ed.. 100 let. 12. from literary works such as Maksim Gorkii's City of 4. The complicated publishing history of Zodchii and its supplement Nedelia

the Yellow Devil (1906). This air of unreality must be stroitelia is presented in laralov, ed. 100 let, 103-4. attributed in part to the different levels of development 5- Zodchii. 1872. no. 3: 46, 6, Ihid., 1873. no. 9: 110. based on material taken from Birzhevye vedomosti. between Russia and America at the time, and to the great 7, Ibid,, 1873. no, 9: 107-8, distance separating the two countries. for all of these Yet 8, Ibid.

limitations, there is evidence to suggest that the extensive 9, Ibid,. 1873, no. 7-8: 94. Russian reporting on American architecture established 10, See Zodchii. 1876, no. 7:85, based on material from .4rmenian Architect and Building News. a receptivity to technology that would continue—and 11, Ibid., no. 11-12: 120.

in some respects increase—after the revolution, despite 12, Ibid., 1877, no. 3: 29-30. barriers to exchanges of information.^* 13, Ibid,. 1880, no, 3-4: 33,

14, Ibid,, no, 6: 49-50,

15, Nedelia stroitelia, 1885. no, 15: 3, Beyond the specific function of America as a model in 16, Ibid., 1891, no. 3-4: 20. civil engineering and architectural design, there is the 17, Ibid,, no, 39-40: 385-86, broader issue of cultural perception, which Zodchii was 18, Ibid,, no. 26: 288. 19, Ibid., 1892. no. 46: 313. uniquely qualified to convey. Although technical concerns 20, Ibid., 1893. no, 1: 2-3, and no, 3:10-11,

are of obvious importance to members of the architectural 21, Ibid,, no, 14:62,

profession, architecture as an art and as a building 22, Ibid,, 1895. no, 29:155; the article is entitled "Sky Cities." 605-8, technology also participates in the social and cultural 23, Ibid., 1903, no. 51: 24 Ibid,, 1904, no, 8: 86-89. and no. 11:137-38. with material from Deutsche values of the that it shapes. this environment In respect, Bauzeitung.

Russian reports and articles on American architecture 25, Ibid., no. 17: 207-8. reveal a continual measuring. America is seen as the 26, Ibid,, no, 26: 303, 27, Ibid,, no, 39: 431-35, with numerous photographs of tall buildings standing ultimate standard, regardless of Russia's more immediate among the ruins, relation to Europe. Paradoxically, this taking of measure 28, Ibid-, 1908. no, 40: 375, reflects, on a deeper level, a type of nationalism that seeks 29, Ibid., 1912. no, 46: 455-59: no, 47: 467-70: and no, 48: 479-81, 30, Ibid., a model commensurate with its own aspirations. Only 1912. no, 52: 522, 31, See E, I, Kirichenko, Moskva: Pamiatniki arkhitektuty lS30-19I0-kh godov America, with its continental sweep and boundless energy, (Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1977), 95-99,

provided a comparable scale for the challenges confronting 32, The tower has survived very well in contemporary Moscow, See photograph Russian builders. in William Craft Brurafield, The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1991). 284.

33, Zodchii, 1913. no, 18: 203-11, and no. 19: 215-21, other of in No form endeavor Russia expressed this 34, Ibid,, no. 18:204, relation to America as clearly as architecture, with 35, Compare to Koroleva's report on papers read at the technology section of the its emphasis on both the pragmatic and the cultural. Fifth Congress, Zodchii. 1914, no, 3: 27, 36 Ibid., 1916, no. 46: 412-16, and the three subsequent issues, with floor plans, Whatever suspicions Russian thinkers such as Dostoevskii photographs, and a bibliography,

might harbor toward American culture, the material 37, Ibid.. 1917, no, 47-52: 226-29. from Zodchii suggests that the two countries have often 38, Extensive reports based on personal observations of American architecture began appearing again in the Russian architectural press in the 1980s, For example, perceived in each other a set of values and characteristics Stroitel'naia gazeta published an interview with a faculty member at the Leningrad that are tacitly admired accepted and as one's own. Hence Engineering and Construction Institute, who had visited American construction the willingness of Russian— observers to repeat the terms sites in 1985 and gave a positive account of what he saw. Even the terms used are of American boosterism "colossal." "enormous." and reminiscent of those in Zodchii. "Bystree—znachit pribylnei" {Faster means more profitable), Stroitel'naia gazeta. March 3 1987: 3, "fast"—even while offering skeptical comments. These are the terras that have appealed to the Russians' own sense of destiny—terms that, despite immeasurable social and cultural differences, indicate in the broadest sense the presence of shared ideals.

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