Fragile Brutalism. Notions of home and loss in times of war and peace

"Fragile Brutalism" is a homage to the Ukrainian modernist prefabricated buildings known as "panelki", whose destruction has become a haunting symbol of the brutality endured by civilians in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Dasha Podoltseva and Elena Orap first engaged with panelki to rehabilitate them after they had fallen into disrepute due to their brutalist appearance and Soviet-era origins. Responding to the war, they now explore the fragility of these edifices that they, and with them millions of Ukrainians, call or have called home. In keeping with the festival theme "In Common", they do this not in the sterile environment of an art gallery, but on Hackney's De Beauvoir Estate, a place Londoners call home, and elsewhere in the borough. In this way, the project also encourages reflection about shared and divergent experiences with regard to the legacy, present and future of post-war modernist housing in Britain and Ukraine, and about what we share and where we differ when it comes to the notion(s) of home and the reality or threat of its loss.

A project by SERIA__ in collaboration with Johannes Novy and the School of Architecture and Cities (University of Westminster). Supported by the London Borough of Hackney, Stephen Taylor Architects & Jack Arts Billboards

Please note, access to the work is only possible between 10:00 and 18:00 and only on weekdays.