Stalin's Architect

The first biography to trace the remarkable life and career of Ukrainian-born Boris Iofan, beautifully illustrated with many of Iofan’s previously unseen sketchbooks and photographs from private collections.

This is a history of architecture, politics and power. Boris Iofan (1891–1976) made his mark as Stalin’s architect, both in the grand projects he achieved, such as the House on the Embankment, a megastructure of 505 homes for the Soviet elite, and through his unbuilt designs, in particular the Palace of the Soviets, a baroque Stalinist dream whose iconic image was reproduced throughout the Soviet Union. Iofan’s life and designs offer a unique perspective into the politics of twentieth-century architecture and the history of the Soviet Union.

Reviews

'Sudjic’s book is a useful introduction to Iofan’s life and work … As Sudjic writes, the second half of Iofan’s career is “a cautionary tale of how damaging it can be to come close to political power, especially for an architect negotiating an accommodation with tyranny”' - New English Review