Dachas (wooden country houses) are largely unknown outside the post-Soviet states. Photographer Fyodor Savintsev has documented these important architectural forms, creating a unique record of a disappearing world. A “dacha” is a wooden country house that Soviet citizens used to escape the rigors of the city and enjoy rural idylls. This important cultural and architectural form, widespread in the countries of the former USSR, has been largely ignored in academia. In Dacha, Fyodor Savintsev documents this particularly Russian phenomenon; his photographs constitute a unique record of a rapidly vanishing, fairytale wooden world.

The word “dacha” has been used to describe structures ranging from grand imperial villas to small sheds. Originally granted by the Tsar to reward courtiers, this custom continued after the revolution, with Soviet cooperatives building dachas for their members. Ostensibly intended for the benefit of the working class, they were in fact meant for the state’s favored elite, including famous writers, architects, and artists, from Pasternak to Prokofiev. The fall of the Soviet Union accelerated their use, as economic uncertainty compelled city dwellers to seek self-sufficiency. The dacha tradition has survived revolution, war, and the collapse of communism, becoming an integral part of life in the process.

Using contemporary photographs to showcase these unique and individual buildings for the first time, along with an introduction that explains their historical and cultural context, Dacha is the only publication of its kind.

240 pages

25 x 16.7 cm