Temple of the Laborers

In the open fields near the village of Menchakovo, just outside Suzdal, an unfamiliar structure cuts through the horizon — a silhouette of metal ribs, reminiscent from afar of a skeletal house with a pitched roof. This installation, conceived by Le Atelier under the direction of architect Sergey Kolchin, is called the Temple of the Laborers. Originally created for the 2023 Zodchestvo Festival of Architecture, its story did not end with the exhibition, as is so often the case with experimental display design.

Presented as part of a festival themed around generational change, the Temple of the Laborers sought to draw attention to those whose hands build architecture, even as their names fade from memory. The first architect remembered by name was the ancient Egyptian sage Imhotep. Since then, nearly 233 generations of builders have come and gone, most of them forgotten. Even more invisible are the countless painters, plasterers, masons, and carpenters without whom no structure would stand. The Temple is built from metal GKL profiles — a material never seen, always hidden behind smooth plasterboard, but fundamental to what it supports.

After three days on display at the festival, the Temple of the Laborers was not dismantled or discarded. Instead, it was given a new life, its meaning subtly transformed by its new context. In late 2024, the installation reappeared in an open field near Menchakovo — a historic village rich in culture, enveloped in tranquil scenery, and now undergoing thoughtful revitalization. Once on the verge of decline, Menchakovo is being reborn thanks to a group of dedicated locals. Today, it offers an ethical model of rural tourism, with new and restored homes available for guests, artist residencies in operation, and contemporary artworks and architectural pieces integrated into the village landscape. At the entrance to the settlement, the Temple of the Laborers found its second home.

The installation’s visual language emerged from years of exploring rural vernacular architecture — the informal, unplanned construction practices that shape much of Russia’s countryside without the input of architects. Assembled with minimal waste from standard GKL profiles, the object seamlessly transitioned from the urban exhibition space of Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor to a rural environment where such vernacular forms define the architectural landscape.