Orthodox Chic
a photography book about modern, strange, ugly and bizarre religious architecture in Ukraine
Osnovy Publishing LLC
Published on 3. January 2023
Book
Hardback
139 pages
978-966-500-854-5 (ISBN)
Description
Orthodox Chic is a visual exploration of architecture and urban space in independent Ukraine. The authors, architects Alex Bykov and Oleksandr Burlaka, alongside artist Sasha Kurmaz, turn to photographing post-Soviet religious architecture as a way of capturing its social, political and economic development. The authors work with several themes: the crisis that architecture faces as a professional discipline; developer strategies, whereby religion is used to manipulate and control land resources; and the status of religion of today. Nowadays, with the great increase of supposedly numinous places, authors question not only their authenticity but the possibility of an authentic religious experience. By looking closely at the place and its form, they draw attention to the fact that these sacred places do not fit within a symbolic hierarchy or system: they are fakes, both in body and in spirit. The manipulation of religion for appropriating and commercialising public space -- another one of the books main themes -- is evident in the small details. It seems as though the archaic institution of the Church fits into modern economic, technopolitical and visual paradigms. Surveillance cameras hang under the little roofs of church stalls which appear in favourable sites for large-scale construction, high-end cars parked nearby. Developers have another predatory strategy, whereby investors install small buildings with a cupola on them in the guise of a church or other religious building in public spaces in an attempt to clear these areas for further development.
Reviews / Votes
"Despite increased post-Soviet religious freedom, religious architectural experts havent reappeared in Ukraine, the authors of Orthodox Chic argue. Instead, wealthy individuals are building their own gilded status-churches, often used as a backdrop for wedding photos, while poorer communities have been forced to make do with makeshift places of worship, including wagons, shacks, kiosks, village council buildings, or old garages, which often have a cross or a cupola fixed upon them." -- The Calvert JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
162 colour photos
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 165 mm
Weight
456 gr
ISBN-13
978-966-500-854-5 (9789665008545)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alexey Bykov is a researcher and architect, working in the genres of photography and installation. In his works, he rethinks the phenomenon of modern architecture. Author of Soviet Modernism photobook. Brutalism. Post-Modernism. Buildings and Structures in Ukraine 1955-1991, a photo book dedicated to the study of post-war Soviet architecture. Alexander Burlaka is an artist and architect working in the fields of installation, photography and museum exposition. In his works, he explores architecture and its transformation in the post-Soviet countries. He is the author of Balcony Chic, a photo book, which documents balconies as a contemporary architectural phenomenon. Sasha Kurmaz is a Kyiv-based street-artist and photographer, who experiments with different medias. In his artistic practice, he researches the relationship between the individual, society and the state.