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Utopia

“Space was at last homogenized, absolute war had become a reality, and the monolith was its monument.”

The framework of "mutual assured destruction" that permeated life during the Cold War played an important role in shaping the topography of our modern world. Unlike in the United States, where dispersal away from urban centers became the de facto survival strategy, the utopian vision for communism relied upon communities where people could live, work, and socialize all in one place. City centers therefore housed large-scale bunkers for the protection of both civilians and party elites, while Stalinist micro-districts surrounding the city contained a network of subterranean bunkers for residents. Like fallout shelters in the US, these spaces have largely faded into the urban landscape. Some bunkers have been converted into nightclubs and restaurants, while others are visible to the surface dweller only by their protruding air vents and escape hatches. By examining these memento mori, the photographs in this series explore the militarization of social space, and provoke questions about whether the threats of the Cold War are truly in the past.