Kyiv Architectural Guide – book presentation & talk
Since the Russian attack in February 2022, the Ukrainian capital has been in the international spotlight: However, Kyiv is not only the administrative and political center of Ukraine, but also a place where the complex and diverse history of the country becomes particularly visible.
Semen Shyrochyn has been documenting the architecture of his home city for many years – and is committed to preserving buildings threatened with demolition. During the event he gave an insight into his latest book: a bilingual architectural guide (English/Ukrainian), which presents 100 striking buildings from the past 100 years – from avant-garde residential complexes to imposing Stalin-era palaces and iconic designs of Soviet modernism to the most significant building projects that have been built since Ukraine gained independence in 1991.
PhD Semen Shyrochyn
Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing. Philipp Meuser
Recording of the discussion is below:
PhD Semen Shyrochyn (b. 1988, Kyiv) is an architectural historian. He studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (National Technical University of Ukraine) and obtained his PhD in computer science (2015). Since 2016 he has been researching, popularising, and protecting architectural heritage. His main research focus is architecture and urban development from the Soviet period. Author of books and articles about the architecture of Kyiv and industrial cities in Ukraine. Co-participant in the exhibition ‘Metropolis: Past Utopias of the Future’ (2018, Kyiv) and in the project ‘Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Architecture’ (2020, Kyiv). Curator of the exhibition ‘Reconstruction of Khreschatyk: Competition and Design’ (2018–2019, Kyiv).
Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing. Philipp Meuser (b. 1969, Hilden/Rheinland) is an architect, publisher and university professor. He studied architecture in Berlin and Zurich with a focus on history and theory. Doctorate at the TU Berlin on the typology of Soviet mass housing. 2017 he received a Federal Cross of Merit for building cultural exchange with Eastern Europe. Since 2018 honorary professorship at the O.M. Beketov University in Kharkiv/Ukraine. 2022 Visiting Professor for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University in Providence/Rhode Island.
The event was organized in cooperation with DOM publishers.
Talk is held in English.