Russian Domestic – Colours of Verhniy Poselok

Colours of Verhniy Poselok – the “Upper Village” – Bugulma, Tatarstan
Верхний Посёлок, Бугульма, Татарстан

Domestic architecture in Russian villages is typified by wooden houses, which are often painted in bright colours to protect against the hard frosts and equally fierce summer sun. The wood is supplemented by tin for chimneys, aerials and mailboxes, and by heavy steelwork for fences, doors and gates. In Bugulma, a railway town with a large marshalling yard, materials from the rollingstock and tracks are often reclaimed for use. The resulting architecture has its own taxonomy of forms, and a vocabulary and grammar of colours and textures that evolves as the weather leaves its mark. Traditional village building in Russia survived the influence of the Stalinist architecture that swept through city centres, but is now slowly being superseded by concrete and masonry.