The Museum of Architecture will hold a presentation of William Brumfield’s new book, dedicated to the architecture of the Russian Avant Garde.

This publication is presented on the occasion of the eightieth birthday of William Brumfield, the leading American specialist on the history of Russian architecture and Professor of Slavic Studies and Tulane University in New Orleans. His photographs record the far from simple fate of buildings from the 1920s and 30s: their unsightly aging and, in some cases, complete decline, as well as more or less successful restoration efforts during the first years of the fashion for the art of that epoch.

The book “Russian Avant-Garde through the Lens of William Brumfield: Honoring the Master’s 80 years”, released by the “Tri kvadrata” Publishing House, includes more than 200 photographs taken from 1971 to 2019 during trips throughout the USSR and Russia. This work presents the avant-garde architecture of Moscow, St. Petersburg,  Kazan, Samara, Ekaterinburg, Cheliabinsk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, and other cities.

The publication opens with a greeting from Anatoly Ivanov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, followed by an introduction from Natalya Shashkova, Director of the Museum of Architecture — "William Brumfield and the Architecture of the Soviet Avant-Garde” — and an article by the publisher Sergei Miturich entitled “Our friend Professor William Craft Brumfield”. The introductory material concludes with an extensive interview — "William Brumfield: Photographing Soviet Avant-Garde Architecture” — conducted by Nina Pimenova-Romashova, chief curator of the Museum of Architecture. In it the professor gives a detailed history of his initial work in the USSR, what influenced his creativity, which architectural sites “intrigued” him most of all, and much else.

The book’s photographic survey includes 22 color and black-and-white photographs presented in three parts: “Moscow”, “European Russia”, and “Urals — Far East”, each of which is preceded by concise texts about the avantgarde architecture of the region. Each city is accompanied by comments and travel reminiscences.

The presentation of the book will take place on August 22, 2024, at 19:00 in the second-floor lecture hall of the “Ruin” building in the Museum courtyard.

Participating in the presentation:

- William Craft Brumfield, author of the book, specialist in the history of Russian architecture, and Professor at Tulane University, New Orleans.

- Savva Miturich, general director of the “Tri kvadrata” Publishing House. 

- Nina Pimenova-Romashova, curator of the exhibit “Russian Avant-Garde through the Lens of an American Photogapher. Celebrating the jubilee of William Brumfield”, Associate Director for Inventory and Curatorial Work, Chief Curator of the A.V. Shchusev Museum of Architecture.

Admittance to the presentation is free with preliminary registration through Timepad.
The book can be purchased at the museum shop.