Soviet Playgrounds

zupagrafika

A photographic survey of Soviet-era playgrounds in former USSR countries such as Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The book features over 150 photographs across five chapters, documenting the diverse, mass-produced play equipment in socialist-era housing estates, like rocket slides, earth-shaped climbers, animal-themed ladders, and cosmic roundabouts—objects that would likely raise safety concerns today. From Riga to Dushanbe and Kyiv to Vladivostok, children dreamt of becoming cosmonauts amid space-themed playgrounds. Some remain in use, while others are vanishing, often destroyed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The book includes a foreword by urban planner Mykola Gorokhov and maps of the featured playgrounds. Photographs were taken by Zupagrafika and local contributors.

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