Odessa: Living in the past

Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Second World War, Ukraine was one of the most prosperous parts of Soviet Union. There was a great need for living space and from the mid-1950s countless so-called Krushchyovka were built. They are apartment buildings (based on Russian design) that usually consist of 5 floors (without a lift) and can be built very quickly. There was and there is little comfort: low ceilings, poor sound insulation and minimal surface. There are 1 room apartments of 30 m2, 2 room of 44 m2 and 3 room of 60 m2. The apartments were designed for small families, but often several families lived there. In Odessa thousands of people still live in these depressing apartments. These blocks of apartments are located outside the center of Odessa. In the center we see a lot of old historic buildings with large apartments for the more fortunate in the past. It’s amazing how little maintenance is being done on these buildings. We combine pictures of the apartments with portraits of people who might have lived there. They were taken in the nearby immense graveyard. All pictures taken in 2019.