Project "korpus 18" by Uta Beyer

"- (work in progress) - As everywhere in Europe after World War II, also in the USSR urban housing was in short supply throughout nearly all countries. Intensive industrialization and urbanization put enormous pressure on the existing housing stock. Large-scale housing construction was begun at the end of the 1950s, when social housing projects, known as Microrayon, or Microdistrict, started being developed throughout the entire Soviet Union. My ongoing project “Korpus 18” focuses on one Tbilisi Microrayon building: Korpus 18. Korpus 18 is an apartment block built in 1981 together with dozens of other blocks, that today are home to approximately 40,000 people on less than four square kilometres. This Tbilisi Microrayon's architecture follows identical patterns used for almost all former Soviet cities, be it Riga, Moscow, Berlin, or - Tbilisi. “Korpus 18” is a series of portraits of 18 families and their homes in Korpus 18. The project will culminate in a book to be published in 2012. Each Korpus-18-home will be represented as a 3-picture-story within the story, and will give an insight into the inhabitants' hopes, dreams, and outlook on life" - Uta Beyer