A decision and an arrival
After the September 1954 decision, people and machinery arrived. A tent camp appeared near Padun. Sources give differing days for the first tent; late 1954 is the reliable common timeframe. What matters here is the gap between a decision in the capital and life on a cold construction site.
Temporary places have daily lives
Green Town took its name from its tents’ colour. Wooden housing and institutions developed around the camp. The construction became an all-Union project and Bratsk acquired city status in 1955, without ending cramped accommodation, relocations or the need to build homes alongside production facilities.
The settlement vanished; the issue remained
The camp’s land lay within the future reservoir and residents moved to new settlements. Permanent microdistricts grew elsewhere. The first large-panel apartment block’s occupation in late 1962 marked another stage, not a simultaneous move of all builders from tents into comfortable flats.
