A History of Russian Architecture

by William Craft Brumfield

Since its initial publication in 1993, A History of Russian Architecture has remained the most comprehensive study of the topic in English, a volume that defines the main components and sources for Russia's architectural traditions in their historical context, from the early medieval period to the present. This edition includes 80 new full-page color separations, many of which are published here for the first time, as well as a new Prologue and elegant photographic essay drawn from the author's research and fieldwork over the past decade in remote areas of the Russian north and Siberia.

Subject to influences from east and west, Russian architecture's distinctive approaches to building are documented in four parts of this definitive early medieval Rus up to the Mongol invasion in the mid-twelfth century; the revival of architecture in Novgorod and Muscovy from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries; Peter the Great's cultural revolution, which extended through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and the advent of modern, avant-garde, and monumental Soviet architecture. Beautifully illustrated and carefully researched, A History of Russian Architecture provides an invaluable cultural history that will be of interest to scholars and general audiences alike.

View the William C. Brumfield Russian Architecture Collection online at

Genres: Russia, History, Architecture, Art

Paperback

First published May 28, 1993

About the author

William Craft Brumfield is Professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University. Brumfield, who began photographing Russia in 1970, is the foremost authority in the West on Russian architecture. He is the author, editor, and photographer of numerous books, including Lost Russia: Photographing the Ruins of Russian Architecture, also published by Duke University Press. Brumfield is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship and was a Fellow at the National Humanities Center. In 2002 he was elected to the State Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, and in 2006 he was elected to the Russian Academy of Fine Arts. He is also the 2014 recipient of the D. S. Likhachev Prize for Outstanding Contributions to the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of Russia. Brumfield's photographs of Russian architecture have been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums and are part of the Image Collections at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Reviews

[Stivikorapishvili · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating book with so-so photographs. I'm anxiously -- uh, eagerly -- awaiting the pop-up and scratch-n-sniff versions. Joaquin Phoenix is slated to star in the big screen adaptation. Sigh.

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent survey of Russian architecture by a fine scholar. If you're interested in Russian culture and history, this really does deserve a place on your shelves.

[meg Olson]

I'll probably be reading this for a very long time.