Fragile Brutalism Ukrainian mass housing : past | war | future

SERIA__ is an urban graphic project devoted to the brutalist mass housing in Ukraine prior and during the war.

SERIA__ was founded by Dasha Podoltseva (designer) and Elena Orap (architect) in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2018.

SERIA__ presents a selection of limited edition screen prints, t-shirts, porcelain and concrete objects.

Introduction by Owen Hatherley

Artworks by SERIA__

Curated by Elena Michajlowska

Panelki oral history by Margarita Novikova

“Tall, grey and brutal, these mass-housing buildings are homes to millions of  Ukrainians. Designed with an idealistic vision in mind, they came as an improvement on the compact five-storey apartments hurriedly built in the wake of WWII’s destruction. These buildings were dubbed ‘panelki’ for their prefabricated concrete slabs – panels. Eventually many of them became neglected, run down and stigmatised.

SERIA No___ is a Kyiv urban graphic project devoted to the brutalist mass housing in Ukraine. The project was conceived with the aim to raise awareness of the country’s architectural heritage and to change attitudes towards ‘panelki’ in order to bring a positive change to actual houses. But the ongoing war in Ukraine puts the project in a different context. What’s been happening to ‘panelki’ since 24th February 2022 and what the future holds for the Ukrainian urban landscape.”

Elena Michajlowska

Softcover, 48 pages,
Colour & B+W

210x148mm

Published by the modernist society