Architect Andrey Bokov will talk about his book and, together with some of those mentioned—architects Yuri Avvakumov, Dmitry Bush, Alexander Ermolaev, Vladimir Paperny, and Alexander Skokan—will discuss the little-known and informal activities of Soviet architects of the 1960s–1980s.
The presentation will be moderated by art and architecture historian Olga Safonova.
«Parallel architecture» was a result of personal and group activity by architects who did not fit into the system of large design institutes and standard projects. Parallel architecture comprised pictures of the future, individual responses to the challenge of the time, new images and meanings that, over time, would become popular and generally accepted. The book discusses those involved in parallel architecture and the forms their activity took, including participation in competitions, working at the seminars Senezhskaya Studio and Interdesign, designs for the City of the Future and children’s architectural studios. It covers the views and discoveries of architects fascinated by science and theory; those involved in artistic projects and industrial design, but who still considered themselves architects.
Andrey Bokov is a People’s Architect of the Russian Federation who was director of Mosproekt-4 (1998–2014) and president of the Union of Architects of Russia (2008–2016). He created numerous architectural projects, including an experimental residential district in Nizhny Novgorod, the Third Pavilion at the National Exhibition of Economic Achievements, the State Mayakovsky Museum, the Pushkin State Literary Museum, Et Cetera Theater, and stadiums for Lokomotiv and TsSKA.