The Brutally Beautiful Wastelands of Outer MoscowSEXPAND
The seam where a city meets the country is an uncanny place. It's not rural, yet not exactly urban, either, a non-place often full of half-finished streets and isolated developments. Most of us only see these environments through the windows of our cars, but photographer Alexander Gronsky has spent the last four years in Moscow's outskirts, watching and photographing.
The Brutally Beautiful Wastelands of Outer MoscowSEXPAND
The Brutally Beautiful Wastelands of Outer MoscowSEXPAND
Moscow—like countless other cities—expanded outwards after World War II by building satellite towns full of prefabricated towers.
It was an optimistic time: Inexpensive, clean, and safe housing for everyone—the dream of modernism—seemed within arm's reach.
The Brutally Beautiful Wastelands of Outer MoscowSEXPAND
While some of these projects succeeded and others fell into blight, development has steadily expanded Moscow's footprint, now bristling with pastel-colored high-rises.