Khrushchovkas

2009–2010

The series consists of images made in and around 1960s housing estates, colloquially known as Khrushchovka, in Moscow and cityʼs satellites. The Khrushchovkas marked a milestone in Soviet urban planning and transformed the country’s cityscape and lifestyle for decades to come.

The country-wide construction launched by Nikita Khrushchev (hence the name) relied on producing uniformly designed blocks of flats with the projected life span of 25 or 50 years. The idea was not original, yet the scale was unique. Providing minimal comfort, Khrushchovkas meant a dramatic improvement of living conditions for former dwellers of 'communal' (shared) apartments. Aside from restoring privacy in the lives of the Soviets, Khrushchevʼs construction programme reshaped Russian cities introducing the concept of ʻmicrodistrictsʼ built from scratch together with all infrastructure, which were to become the backbone of Soviet as well as post-Soviet urban planning. As many other similar projects worldwide, over the years Khrushchovkas have started to draw increasing criticism related to construction quality, inadequate maintenance, and poor comfort. However, again, the scale was unique. Starting from the late 1990s larger cities  began to phase out Khrushchev housing estates, replacing them with taller, more spacious, and fancier variety of what first emerged as Khrushchovkas.

The project was presented at FotoDepartament Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2010. It also became part of exhbition projects exploring international prefabricated housing, such as Flying Panels. ArkDes Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, 2019; Panel. Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, UK, 2014; COLD war COOL digital. Pratt Institute NY / Hazel and Robert Siegel Gallery, New York, USA, 2013; as well as part of Panel book published by London Architectural Association School of Architecture in 2014.