El Lissitzky, from painting to architecture

Proun, 1919-1926

Abstract

This article examines the concept of Proun, developed by El Lissitzky between 1919 and 1926, as a key operation for understanding the transition from painting to architecture within the Soviet avant-garde. Rather than a stylistic phase or an intermediate step, Proun is presented as an experimental field that redefines the role of form, shifting it from representation to the active construction of space. The study analyzes how Lissitzky incorporates suprematist and constructivist procedures, together with the pedagogical experiments of Vitebsk, to generate a language that fuses plane, volume and movement, culminating in the 1923 Prounenraum. It also discusses the relationship between art, technique and visual communication, highlighting the importance of materiality, dynamism and spatial rationalization. Throughout the text, it argues that Proun does not aim at a synthesis between art and architecture; instead, it deliberately stresses their limits, proposing new possibilities for modern visual culture. The article also identifies significant gaps in Portuguese-language scholarship, emphasizing the need for broader access to primary sources and for reintegrating Lissitzky into contemporary Brazilian debates on spatiality, the avant-garde and architectural thinking.