Khrushchyovka: Soviet and Non-Soviet in the Space of Everyday Life

According to official Soviet statistics, 1,205.2 million square meters of residential housing were constructed in the USSR during the 1950s and 1960s. This period saw the emergence of a new territorial and social entity. Natalia Lebina’s book focuses on the well-known “khrushchyovka” buildings, which were constructed during this era and still exist today. By examining this housing as a distinct cultural and everyday space of the Thaw period, the author analyzes the external design of these buildings, the formats of their internal organization, and the furnishing of the new living quarters. She highlights how the life of a Soviet individual evolved within the context of global trends in the modernization of daily life. In this context, “khrushchyovka” is viewed as a unique phenomenon of its time, where the absurd mingles with the constructive, the amusing with the optimistic, and the “Soviet” with the “non-Soviet.”
Natalia Lebina holds a Doctorate in Historical Sciences and specializes in the study of Soviet daily life. She has authored several books, including “Passengers of the Sausage Train,” “Soviet Daily Life: Norms and Anomalies,” “Man and Woman,” and among others.

Moscow: New Literary Review, 2024.