The severe and stunning Soviet architecture of Ukraine has enjoyed a recent vogue abroad. In Ukraine itself, however, due to various political and economic factors and the stigma that is attached to everything Soviet, many examples of this unique architectural moment are under threat, facing neglect, disrepair, or even destruction. Ukrainian authors Alex Bykov and Ievgeniia Gubkina are two of the leaders in the fight to save Ukraine’s modernist architectural heritage. Based on far reaching research, this book offers a rethinking of postwar Soviet architecture, with Bykov’s photographs documenting buildings in their current state and Gubkina’s critical text and analysis giving an unexpected spin on the multi-faceted modernist architectural movement, placing it in its overlooked global, historical, and political context. This lavishly-illustrated title rallies against the apathy that has led to the steady destruction of these urban ruins, wiping this legacy from our collective memory, and questions whether the Soviet past that is so often portrayed is really past.

In partnership with ICG Kovalska.