Follow of the week: twenty years of Soviet architecture
7 July 2017
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Sasha Raspopina
Among the plethora of Instagram accounts dedicated to brutalist architecture, @mcmxxxv is one of the most popular.
The account focuses exclusively on Soviet architecture between 1930 and 1950, and features book and brochure illustration, as well as detailed and panoramic shots of buildings and sculptures.
These detailed shots are especially interesting and rare: from the vine-adorned facade of the Azerbaijan pavilion of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VDNKh) to the chandelier in the hall of suburban box office of the Kievsky railway station — things one might not necessarily notice if looking at a building as a whole. There are also closeups of mosaics, otherwise near impossible to study up this close as many are situated high up on walls and ceilings — you’d have to bring binoculars to study them in their natural environment!
