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Find the best of Moscow's constructivist architecture with this new map

Brutalist D.C. Next

Find the best of Moscow's constructivist architecture with this new map

The motherland of constructivist architecture, Moscow is home to many of the world’s best examples of the former hallmark Soviet style. However, many constructivist buildings such as the Narkomfin and Shukhov Tower are now at risk of demolition. This map of Moscow detailing the whereabouts of the city’s constructivist icons, which was released this month, makes viewing them (while they’re still here) all the easier.

“For us, the highlight, more than any individual building or architect, was walking for days across Moscow to find and explore these buildings,” said Derek Lamberton, founder of Blue Crow Media, the company who published the map. “It was as good a way to see the city that I’ve experienced.”

Lamberton, in fact, focused his Master’s dissertation at the University College London on the Russian avant-garde. The map’s designer Jaakko Tuomivaara also did the same while at the Royal Academy of Art. Together, the pair travelled to Moscow, sampling the city’s constructivist offerings to help them create and aesthetic for the map.

The resultant map showcases 50 buildings. Working with preservation campaigner and photographer Natalia Melikova and Nikolai Vassiliev of DOCOMOMO Russia, Lamberton was able to identify the most critical and influential examples of constructivist architecture in the city. Many of these come from the prolific constructivist architect Konstantin Melnikov. “The highlights, stylistically, are certainly Melnikov’s buildings, but historically Ginzburg’s Narkomfin with its early attempt to manifest the experiment of communal living is essential,” Lamberton said. Poignantly, the Narkomfin’s tenuous existence was recently in the news when it was announced that it’s owners plan to transform it into “business class accommodation.

Lamberton added: “Constructivism is remarkable stylistically and as a representation of such an intensely rich historical moment. It embodies the spirit of the complicated and exciting post-revolution era in a dynamic manner that is easily comprehensible to an onlooker today. The highlights, stylistically, are certainly Melnikov’s buildings, but historically Ginzburg’s Narkomfin with its early attempt to manifest the experiment of communal living is essential.”

Up next is the “Brutalist Washington, DC Map,” due out in October. The maps keep coming after that too. “In November we will release a 20th-century overview of Berlin,” Lamberton said. “For Spring 2017 we have the following: Brutalist Sydney Map, Modernist Belgrade Map, Brutalist Paris Map.” Those interested can find their maps here.

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