Ilja Jakovlev

My vision of the topic "Beauty in Ugliness" is mainly devoted to the architecture of prefab houses and the socialist legacy, the questions of which become more acute every year. On the one hand, people's interest in the study of Soviet and post-Soviet forms of architecture is growing, on the other hand, people's attitude towards them is as diverse and contradictory as possible.
In my work, I study architecture and the emotional and mental connection of a person. Buildings occupy an important place in our visual memory, with clear associations, functions and memories. The idea of ​​our exhibition, that we find beauty in ugliness, was largely formed by the fact that all of us (exhibitors) grew up in panel houses, in post-Soviet and industrial landscapes, many of us have lived most of our lives or still live in panel houses from Narva to Lasnamäe and Annelinn. Living in childhood in not the most beautiful places and stereotypically considered ugly for many people, we did not lose the ability to see beauty, but went beyond it and were able to find it where ordinary people just can't see it.
Due to the specificity of my topic, I often come across people's opinions regarding Soviet and panel architecture, which most people consider old-fashioned, ugly, uncomfortable and gloomy.
Nevertheless, it is still someone's home, memories from childhood, a cultural phenomenon that will undoubtedly leave a mark on anyone who has ever encountered a panel house apartment. And in many ways, these prints can unite us and our worldviews, original and extravagant, capable of seeing beauty where it seems to be absent.