Chaubin, CCCP

Named the architectural book of the year by the International Artbook and Film Festival in Perpignan, France, Frédéric Chaubin's "Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed" delves into 90 unique structures across 14 former Soviet Republics. These buildings embody what Chaubin identifies as the fourth phase of Soviet architecture, a period of manifest creativity from 1970 to 1990. Unlike the trends of the 1920s and 1950s, no single dominant style or school of thought emerges; instead, these edifices reflect a tumultuous energy birthed by a deteriorating system. Architects leveraged the disintegration of rigid structures to transcend modernism, revisiting foundational concepts or venturing into innovative designs. Some completed ambitious projects that aligned with Constructivist ideals, such as the Druzhba Sanatorium in Yalta, while others embraced expressionism, as seen with the Palace of Weddings in Tbilisi. The Prometheus youth camp in Bogatyr, resembling a prototype lunar base, boasts influences from Suprematism. In the waning years of the USSR, "speaking architecture" became prevalent, featuring designs like the Crematorium in Kiev with concrete flames, the Institute of Scientific Research in Kiev with a UFO on its roof, and the House of Soviets in Kaliningrad evoking Orwellian surveillance. These eclectic and imaginative structures not only capture the vast geographical and cultural breadth of the USSR but also chronicle the ideological aspirations of that era, from cosmic fascination to identity resurgence, amidst the fracturing Soviet unity.