The Rise and Fall of Khrushchyovka

Hundreds of millions of people living in Russia and to former Soviet Republics still live in degrading Soviet-built housing blocks. (Matthew Messner)

"Nearly 50 percent of Russians live in 50-year-old Soviet-era block housing. A full 75 percent of Russians live in cities. These two statistics, combined with a changing relationship with home ownership, means the country has a rare opportunity to rethink the way its people are living."

"The country’s current situation has been evolving for nearly 70 years. A housing crisis after World War II led to the building of tens of thousands of Khrushchyovka, the typical 5-to-10-story prefabricated concrete apartment blocks which still cover Russia and most of the former Soviet republics. Built throughout the 1950s and 60s, many of these housing blocks have now fallen into severe disrepair, often never having been intended to have been lived in for half a century..."

"Russia’s situation may be somewhat unique in the world, but the current dialog is very much international. Few places have been so urban for so long, and none have a history so defined by mass social housing. And now with a public that is for the first time an active player in a housing market, the possibilities seem wide open...."

Read the full article on The Architecture's Newspaper - Architects gather to discuss Russia’s young housing market