Alexander Larin

In the words of his colleagues, Larin appears to be a mysterious, esoteric phenomenon: a sage, to whom architectural truths are intelligible; a medium that knows how to capture ideas worn in the air; Theorist whose discoveries are available to a narrow circle of devoted. At the same time, he is least like a mistagog, who owns secret knowledge. He has no theoretical works. Implementation falls in the 70s of the twentieth century – an era whose architecture today does not cause enthusiastic veneration. When you look at Larin’s projects, it is unclear where this absolute higher authority comes from. Larin always worked as if not in Russia. His things more or less fit into the context of Western architecture, not Soviet and post-Soviet. The fundamental principle of his work: “Architecture should not be beautiful, it should be appropriate.”
Compiled by Andrey Gozak.

Editor
Kubensky Edward
Publisher
Tatlin, 2011
Series
Masters of Soviet architecture