Concrete Siberia

A photographic insight into the Soviet-era architecture of one of the most extreme, little-known and vast territories on Earth.

From the Ural Mountains to the Arctic Circle, the book features the extensive microrayons of Siberia’s urban centres, the brutal landscapes of industrial monotowns, cosmic circuses, concrete theatres and opera houses, as well as prefabricated panel blocks, or panelki, erected on permafrost.

Divided into 6 chapters, Concrete Siberia by Zupagrafika contains over 100 photographs capturing the stark splendour of post-war modernist architecture scattered around the cities of Novosibirsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk, Irkutsk and Yakutsk and the quotidian lives of their inhabitants.

Includes a foreword by architectural critic Konstantin Budarin, orientative maps and informative texts on the featured cities and buildings.

‍‘Prefabrication and serialisation became the key premises for Soviet urban development when Khrushchev came to power. For Siberia, it meant a new wave of colonisation. ’

– Excerpt from the foreword

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Background info
‍After the release of their photobook Eastern Blocks, Zupagrafika went on to explore the post-war modernism of Siberia. David and Martyna, the creators and curators of Concrete Siberia, selected a number of cities and locations and invited Russian photographer Alexander Veryovkin to capture them. The coldest city the photographer visited while shooting was Yakutsk. The temperature reached - 30 degrees Celsius.

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Authors: David Navarro & Martyna Sobecka (Zupagrafika); Alexander Veryovkin (Photography)
Words, research, edition: David Navarro & Martyna Sobecka (Zupagrafika)
‍Foreword: Konstantin Budarin
Publisher: Zupagrafika © 2020. All rights reserved‍