Monumentality, Modernity, and the Soviet Built Environment

FAIN: FB-52180-06

Scott W. Palmer
Western Illinois University (Macomb, IL 61455-1390)

This project examines the interplay between the built environment, political culture, and the Soviet Union’s effort to effect the transition to modernity. Focusing on the leading examples of the country’s monumental architecture, or the “seven wonders of Soviet civilization,” I will explain how the creation and representation of large-scale construction projects helped define twentieth-century Russian identities and shape the development of modern European culture. With the support of a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Humanities, I will complete the foreign archival research necessary for the preparation of an illustrated scholarly manuscript.