The giant keyboard was created in 2005 in Yekaterinburg, as an example of a special project for the city festival" Long stories Yekaterinburg." The curators of the project were Arseny Sergeev and Nailya Allahverdieva, who presented this conceptual solution to the jury and the public. The author of the project and the executor was Anatoly Vyatkin. The Atomstroykompleks company was involved as a contractor.
What is curious, despite the high popularity original idea and the implementation of the project among local residents and guests of Yekaterinburg, it never acquired the status of an official monument or landmark. In fact, the composition, not recognized by municipal authorities, was nevertheless included in the register of the most popular and recommended places in the city by many guidebooks.
It was from the keyboard that at the beginning of 2011 the drawing of the “Red Line” on the asphalt began, which passed through 32 main attractions of the central part of Yekaterinburg. The monument is an exact concrete copy of a computer keyboard on a scale of 1:30. The composition consists of 104 closely spaced keys made of concrete and laid out in a QWERTY layout. The weight of individual keys reaches 500 kg. They are installed in recesses at intervals of up to 15 cm. The total area of the project reaches 64 m2. The base of the concrete keys follows symbols and letters from the alphabet, and the layout is the same as on a standard keyboard.
“Monument to the Keyboard” was installed on the second tier of the Iset River embankment, from Gogol Street. The monument consists of 86 keys, each weighing about 80 kg (the space key weighs half a ton).
The sculptor had to do almost all the work, which was done by hand, in the pouring rain, which, however, did not hinder him too much. The keyboard symbolizes the unification of communications between Europe and Asia. The material chosen to implement the plan is “vandal-resistant” concrete. The sculpture had to be installed using special equipment. Now city residents and tourists do not sit on the lawns, as before, but sit comfortably on concrete keys.
The key surface is flat with alphabet and function symbols arranged in the same order as standard keyboards.
The concrete “Keyboard” can be considered simultaneously both as a fetish of the computer era and as an industrial “rock garden”, a large-scale environmental experiment that forms a new communication environment on the territory of the city embankment of Yekaterinburg. Each button on the concrete keyboard is also a makeshift bench. The monument has become a cultural landmark of the city’s modern image and a new “brand”.
A positive response to the project is observed among all segments of the city's population. Monitoring the reaction of passers-by on the embankment showed that in 80% of cases the reaction of passers-by is enthusiastic, in other cases it is interested. Residents of the city are proud of the implementation of such a project on the territory of the city, in which they are primarily attracted by the non-standard implementation and modernity of the image.
Until June 2011, several keys from the monument were stolen (keys F1, F2, F3, Y), and the Windows key was damaged Apple logo.
Professor Niklaus Wirth, inventor of the Pascal language, who visited Yekaterinburg, expressed a desire to visit the project even at the installation stage.
The monument influenced the symbolic reinterpretation of the entire surrounding space and a sharp increase in its creativity. An ancient stone house located nearby is now called the "system block". The main city river Iset is now written on Internet forums as “I-network”, and next to the “Keyboard” it is proposed to place a monument to the modem. Residents of Yekaterinburg fantasize about the possible placement of a monument to the Monitor and the computer Mouse.
Monument with restored keys in August 2011
The project has been submitted to a competition for the status of one of the seven wonders of Russia.
In 2011, according to the results of online voting, the monument entered the “top 10” of the most popular attractions in Yekaterinburg.
There is a legend that if you press Ctrl+Alt+Del, the whole world will reboot.
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Which is popularly called the “System Unit” - due to its favorable location next to the Keyboard Monument. So it’s only logical that the next stop on our route will be the keyboard itself...
Since, according to our data, there is nothing like this anywhere except Yekaterinburg, we can say that the capital of the Urals has the largest keyboard in the world!
The monument was born from a simple idea - the artist was looking for a kind of “symbol of the era”, something that descendants would associate with our days. Already in the process of working on the project, another thought appeared - the artist suddenly saw this monument as a place where two spaces intersect: real and virtual. We communicate so often on the Internet today that sometimes we forget about simple human communication. Therefore, each key is also an improvised bench.
In September 2005, when the monument was being installed, the Swiss scientist Niklaus Wirth, author of the Pascal language, flew to Yekaterinburg. Having learned that a monument to the keyboard was about to appear in the city, he became very interested in the project and became its first visitor.
And after the installation of the monument, another meaning was born - already among cultural experts. “Klava” began to be perceived as a symbol of the union of Europe and Asia, which is especially important given the position of Yekaterinburg. Why? Yes, because the sculpture itself is dedicated to technology that came from Europe and symbolizes Western values: instant search for information, inclusion in the news flow, computerized world... But the object itself reminds many of the eastern “rock garden”. And the values there are already completely opposite: the ability to contemplate, reflect, observe... A keyboard that is conducive to live communication is an absurd phrase in itself, but for Yekaterinburg residents it has quite certain meaning. Meetings are often made at Klava, people come here for dates, and here you can meet people who like to read, dream, and draw. Naturally, they also come with laptops. There is enough seating for everyone.
Photo by Alexander Zaitsev.
Despite the considerable weight of the keys, by June 2011 several of them were... stolen. How this was done and who (and most importantly, why) needed the 80-kilogram concrete key is unknown. In August 2011, the monument was reconstructed.
The keyboard was created in 2005 as a special project of the festival “Long Stories of Yekaterinburg” according to the design of Anatoly Vyatkin. The producers and curators of the project were Nailya Allahverdieva and Arseniy Sergeev, who at that time represented the cultural agency ArtPolitika. The production of the project was carried out with the technical support of the Atomstroykompleks company. Despite the high popularity among citizens and guests of the city, the project never acquired the official status of a monument or landmark. In fact, not recognized by local authorities as a culturally significant object, the keyboard was nevertheless included in many unofficial guides to Yekaterinburg. With her, in the spring of 2011, painting began on the asphalt of the “Red Line”, passing through 32 main attractions of the city center.
Design features
The monument is a replica of a concrete keyboard on a scale of 30:1. Consists of 104 keys made of concrete weighing from 100 to 500 kg, arranged in a QWERTY / YTSUKEN layout. The keys are located in recesses at intervals of 15 cm. The total area of the project is 16 × 4 m. The surface of the keys is flat with raised symbols of the alphabet and functional symbols, placed in the same order as on a regular computer keyboard.
Cultural features and assessments
The concrete “Keyboard” can be considered simultaneously both as a fetish of the computer era and as an industrial “rock garden”, a large-scale environmental experiment that forms a new communication environment on the territory of the city embankment of Yekaterinburg. Each button on the concrete keyboard is also a makeshift bench. The monument has become a cultural landmark of the city’s modern image and a new “brand”.
A positive response to the project is observed among all segments of the city's population. Monitoring the reaction of passers-by on the embankment showed that in 80% of cases the reaction of passers-by is enthusiastic, in other cases it is interested. Residents of the city are proud of the implementation of such a project on the territory of the city, in which they are primarily attracted by the non-standard implementation and modernity of the image.
In February 2019, the Yandex company published statistics on search queries of Russians related to museums, attractions and exhibitions. In the ranking of monuments, the monument to the keyboard was in 2nd place: it was ahead only of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg, the third was the monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square in Moscow.
Object security issues
Before June 2011, several keys from the monument were stolen (keys F1, F2, F3, Y), and the Apple logo was applied to the ⊞ Win key.
In this regard, in June 2011, the head of the public art program of the Perm Museum contemporary art PERMM Nailya Allahverdieva proposed moving the keyboard monument to neighboring Perm. According to her, no one cared about it in Yekaterinburg, but the Perm museum was very interested in this art object.
But through the efforts of the Yekaterinburg initiative group, which included Evgeny Zorin, Lidia Karelina, and director of Litek LLC Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh, on August 17, 2011, the lost keys were restored. The renovation of the monument was made possible thanks to Anton Borisenko, director of the Union Trucks company, which sells and services trucks. The author of the monument, Anatoly Vyatkin, was present during the restoration work.
According to the project coordinator, Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh, thanks to the renovation, the famous Ekaterinburg landmark will now definitely not leave for Perm. “But the problem remains, I would like the largest keyboard in the world to be included in the register of monuments, protected by the state and no one could ever take it away from us. To do this, we have compiled a collective appeal to add the keyboard monument to the register cultural values, On July 30, 2011, on System Administrator Day, we collected more than 100 signatures and on August 4, 2011, transferred everything to the city administration. We are still waiting for an answer,” noted Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh.
At the instigation of Evgeny Zorin and like-minded people, regular cultural events began to be held at the monument, the main one of which is the so-called annual “Subbotnik on the Keyboard”. During the cleanup work, keys are cleaned and painted, and championships are also held in throwing non-working computer mice at a distance, lifting a bunch of hard drives, etc. In 2017, two volunteers from the USA took part in the painting procedure. Also on the last Friday of July, Sysadmin Day is officially held at the keyboard with similar competitions.
Imagine, a keyboard lies on the embankment and no one secretly drags it away, rips out the Caps Lock key, or pours hot coffee on it. And all because it is concrete!
This miracle of design thought is located in Yekaterinburg, where, it must be said, the sculptors have a rich imagination. Ironically, the river on the banks of which this marvelous monument was erected in 2005 is called Iset. Now local youth don’t write it anything other than I-network.
The dimensions of the keyboard are impressive - 16 meters long and 4 meters wide. One spacebar key weighs half a ton. The weight of the remaining buttons is more modest - 80-100 kilograms. This keyboard has all the right buttons, 86 in number. They are installed at intervals, so that each key can be used as a bench. Sitting on concrete may not be very pleasant, but this does not stop students and computer enthusiasts; they regularly come here to drink beer.
When the monument was still being erected and was not ready, Niklaus Wirth, the creator of the Pascal language, was carried to Yekaterinburg by fair winds. He was very inspired by the idea and came to look at the attraction, even if it was not completely completed.
And if you’re in those parts, don’t miss the unique opportunity to reboot the world - press Ctrl+Alt+Del. To do this, you will, however, need a company, but you can find one locally.
There is a monument in Yekaterinburg, the existence of which most residents of the city do not even suspect - this is a monument to the keyboard.
The keyboard was created in 2005 as a special project of the festival "Long Stories of Yekaterinburg" according to the design of Anatoly Vyatkin. The producers and curators of the project were Nailya Allahverdieva and Arseniy Sergeev, who at that time represented the cultural agency ArtPolitika. The production of the project was carried out with the technical support of the Atomstroykompleks company. Despite the high popularity among citizens and guests of the city, the project never acquired the official status of a monument or landmark. In fact, not recognized by local authorities as a culturally significant object, the keyboard was nevertheless included in many unofficial guides to Yekaterinburg. In the spring of 2011, she began painting on the asphalt of the “Red Line”, passing through 32 main attractions of the city center.
The monument is a replica of a concrete keyboard on a scale of 30:1. Consists of 104 keys made of concrete weighing from 100 to 500 kg, arranged in a QWERTY layout. The keys are located in recesses at intervals of 15 cm. The total area of the project is 16 × 4 m. The surface of the keys is flat with raised alphabet and functional symbols, placed in the same order as on a regular computer keyboard.
The concrete “Keyboard” can be considered simultaneously both as a fetish of the computer era and as an industrial “rock garden”, a large-scale environmental experiment that forms a new communication environment on the territory of the city embankment of Yekaterinburg. Each button on the concrete keyboard is also a makeshift bench. The monument has become a cultural landmark of the city’s modern image and a new “brand”.
A positive response to the project is observed among all segments of the city's population. Monitoring the reaction of passers-by on the embankment showed that in 80% of cases the reaction of passers-by is enthusiastic, in other cases it is interested. Residents of the city are proud of the implementation of such a project on the territory of the city, in which they are primarily attracted by the non-standard implementation and modernity of the image.
Interesting facts about the monument:
1. Professor Niklaus Wirth, inventor of the Pascal language, who visited Yekaterinburg, expressed a desire to visit the project even at the installation stage.
2. The main city river Iset is now written on Internet forums as “I-network”, and next to the “Keyboard” it is proposed to place a monument to the modem. Residents of Yekaterinburg fantasize about the possible placement of a monument to the Monitor and the computer Mouse.
