Frédéric Chaubin. CCCP

Chosen as the Architecture Book of the Year at the International Book and Art Film Festival in Perpignan, Frédéric Chaubin's "Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed" reveals 90 buildings across 14 former Soviet republics. Each of these structures represents what Chaubin considers the fourth era of Soviet architecture, the result of a little-known flourishing that occurred from 1970 to 1990. Unlike the buildings of the 1920s or 1950s, there is no distinct "school" or trend evident here. These buildings embody a chaotic self-dynamics, the architectural spasm of a decaying system. By integrating into the flaws of this monolithic edifice on the brink of ruin, architects transcended the codes of modernity to return to their roots or to embark on free innovations. The boldest among them constructed buildings that the Constructivists could only dream of.