Balcony art                                                                                                                                 

Russia

                                         Balcony Art by copydude

 

 

 

Soviet architects, in their wisdom, designed all Russian apartments with open, mediterranean-style balconies. It is therefore left to each tenant to find some way of filling in these gaping holes - either as protection against the Russian winter, or as fortification for Russian society’s special security needs. Or simply to blot out any view of the adjacent, mud blown landscape.

Balcony infill is not taught at any Russian technical school. Neither are there any known materials which bond easily with Soviet drill-resistant iron and concrete. Every unsuccessful attempt is therefore a triumph of individual creativity.

 

 

 

Non-concrete housing in Novgorod

In Soviet times, balcony infill provided a harmless outlet for the unwanted ‘cult of the individual’, consuming time and energy which might otherwise have been directed against the State. Note that old Russian houses do not have mediterranean-style balconies and perhaps this simple omission played a small part in the Tsar’s downfall.