The confused interpretations of Russian Construct ivism which have appeared in Western literature have hitherto been based almost entirely upon an arbitrary selection of mainly secondary material (in Russian and translation) which has been easily available. The principal objective of this thesis has been to establish a preliminary account of the development of Constructivism which draws as far as possible upon original, primary sources. The thesis traces the main elements of the picture that has emerged. It portrays a development from relatively isolated explorations of new formal vocabularies and a new attitude to materials at the scale of small abstract constructions, into a full and multi-dimensioned philosophy for the design of functional objects for a new society. " Chapter 1 deals with the evolution of a new formal language in abstract, "non-utilitarian" constructions - some wellknown, some hitherto unknown - by the artists Tatlin, Rodchenko, Miturich and others. . Chapter 2 examines the impact of the October Revolution and the impetus this gave the artist in Russia to involve himself with the tasks of the Revolution and the establishment of the new Socialist society. ýrComha pter 3 then traces the theoretical arguments and conclusions arising the process of attempting a fusion between this new ideological content and the emergent artistic vocabulary. Chapter 4 examines the evolution of teaching syllabuses and training methods at the Moscow VKhUTEMAS as an attempt to realise the newly formulated ideal of the "artist-engineer IItI 'artist -constructor'. Chapter 5 surveys the concrete achievements of the Constructivists in those areas of design which they had the opportunity to tackle: in the areas of furniture, fabric, clothing, kiosk and theatrical design. Chapter 6 then examines the subsequent gradual reduction of the Constructivists' sphere of activity down to the small-scale design project such as typographical poster and exhibition design, the part that photomontage played in this move. Chapter 7 attempts a new interpretat ion of the later work of Miturich and Tatlin, placing it within the context of "organic construction". This is a hitherto ignored dimension of the Constructivi st philosophy, which derived its inspiration not from the field of machine technology but from the inner logic of nature. The Conclusion, viewing the Constructivist movement's demise as far more the product of internal factors and the wider cultural climates of the late 1920's than of any direct political attack, outlines the subsequent careers of some of its leading members.