Fontanka – förlag

Alexander Voitskehovsky's paintings and drawings have long been a feature of St Petersburg's artistic landscape, loved for their idiosyncratic humor and other-worldly quality. Here they are gathered in a single publication for the first time, with accompanying exhibitions in UK and Russia.

The NKTP (People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry) Sanatorium was commissioned in 1934 by Grigory Ordzhonikidze, one of Stalin's closest allies and head of the Commissariat for Heavy Industry (he committed suicide after falling out with Stalin in 1937, the year of the sanatorium's completion). Despite the prevailing ideology that sought to outlaw modernism in favour of Stalinist neoclassicism, architect Moisei Ginzburg, with a team that included Ivan Leonidov, Evgeny Popov and Nikolai Paliudov, succeeded in creating an architectural ensemble that essentially retained its modernist integrity - and today remains a masterpiece of 1930s modernism - while making only minor concessions to the new Stalinist orthodoxy. In the early Soviet period, Kislovodsk in the northern Caucasus became known as a center for health spas and sanatoria - 'palaces of health for the workers'. Ginzburg's sanatorium still functions as a therapy center, and retains many of its original features, including windows, light fixtures, some of the furniture etc. This first English-language publication of the original book documenting its creation is an important addition to the Ginzburg canon.

• First English translation of seminal work on Soviet theaters by architect Grigory Barkhin - a key figure in Soviet architecture from the 1920s• Originally published in 1947, it became an essential work for universities and art colleges and was translated into German and Chinese• Little-known designs for theaters all over the Soviet Union, including Smolensk, Alma-Ata, Kazan, Minsk, Rostov-on-Don and many othersIn the 1930s Grigory Barkhin became particularly interested in theater architecture, and this culminated in the publication in 1947 of a two-volume work, Architecture of the Theatre. This was the most comprehensive and deeply researched study of theater architecture of the time. The first volume follows a historical timeline, from early classical theaters to some of Europe's national treasures - La Scala, Opéra Garnier, Vienna State Opera - and the development of theater architecture in the Russian Empire. The second half of the book is devoted entirely to Soviet theater architecture of the pre-war period, in particular the five-star design of the Red Army theater in Moscow, and competition projects for theaters in Rostov-on-Don, Sverdlovsk and Minsk, which Barkhin himself designed with his son Mikhail. These projects can be seen as the cornerstone of the development of Soviet architecture of the time. In this remarkable book, published here in English for the first time, Barkhin sets out a blueprint for architecture that combines an understanding of the subject with a bold and uncompromising vision.

The Caravane Earth Foundation presents The Majlis book, a rich and colourful documentation of the creation of the “Majlis” exhibition, a multi-layered nomadic project at the 17th annual Biennale di Venezia. The book tracks the multifaceted nature of the exhibition itself, which comprised an architectural object, an exhibition, and a garden, all three hosted by the Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy. Additionally, the book tells the broader story of Caravane Earth, chronicling research conducted by the foundation and the key ideas that form its philosophy and agenda. The Majlis highlights the main elements of the project in Venice while giving an introduction to key members of Caravane’s community of experts. With a narrative structure broken into four sections – Exhibition, Architecture, Craft, and Earth – The Majlis book features interviews with important figures and institutions from these fields, stunning visual documentation of the creation process and featured artefacts, and critical writings on permaculture, architecture, and craft. Featuring discussions with the Smithsonian Foundation, landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, The International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU), director and curators of the Sheikh Faisal Museum, and many more, the collection provides a deep look and education into the many causes championed by Caravane Earth.

Longlisted for the 2022 Klaus Flugge Prize.Kolobok is a new adaptation and translation of a famous Russian folktale about a resourceful bun (a kolobok) who, as in the tale of the gingerbread man beloved of children in the West, skilfully evades the attentions of various animals. Beautifully adapted in rhyme by Sian Valvis, and with evocative new illustrations by Dovile Ciapaite, Kolobok offers English-speaking young readers a glimpse into the magic and mysticism of Russian folklore. The visceral and environmental elements that are present in Russian folktales bring to life a vivid sense of the nation’s culture and identity.

Sytin House was built in Moscow in 1803 by Brigadier Andrei Sytin to be his city residence. Built from wood but disguised to look like stone, a peculiarity of the Russian building tradition, it was a typical house for a member of the gentry class, built according to standardized designs and decorated with classical motifs. The otherwise modest house has a portico with four columns and a pediment, all from wood. The Sytin family moved in just a few years before the fire of Moscow in 1812 that devastated most of the city, but, amazingly, not this house, that is to this day an extraordinary survivor, one of only a handful of such houses left in Moscow. The house survived the early 20th century building boom, as well as the upheaval of the 1917 revolution when numerous wooden houses were dismantled for firewood. Divided into communal apartments during the Soviet period, it avoided demolition under Stalin, was listed in the 1960s, and finally restored in 1980. It was once again left empty in the 2010s however, and began to decline. Nestled between two of Moscow’s main streets, it has been recently triumphantly restored, and is today a witness of over 200 years of the city’s architectural history. Text in English and Russian.