Soviet Playgrounds is a photographic survey dedicated to playgrounds built during the Soviet era in countries that were part of the USSR, including Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Belarus, and several Central Asian republics. Published in 2022 by Zupagrafika, the book brings together more than 150 images documenting play structures installed in socialist-era residential complexes, designed to be replicated on a large scale yet expressed through surprisingly diverse forms and solutions.
The volume examines a frequently overlooked urban heritage, focusing on elements conceived for children but deeply influenced by the political and cultural context of the time. Rocket-shaped slides, cosmic roundabouts, structures reminiscent of spacecraft, stylized animals, and hard-to-classify objects populate the courtyards of the microrajon, offering a tangible reading of Soviet public design as applied to everyday life.
One of the central themes is the spread of space-related imagery, which became dominant starting from the Cold War. From the Baltic region to Central Asia, passing through cities such as Kyiv and Riga, the playgrounds reflect the symbolic importance of the space race, translating the ideology of progress into accessible, shared play structures that today are often perceived as anachronistic when compared to contemporary standards.
Organized into five chapters, Soviet Playgrounds includes detailed maps of the documented play areas, reinforcing the project’s research-driven approach. Some structures are still in use, others have been removed or replaced, while many have been destroyed in recent years—also as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine—making the book a visual record of spaces that have now disappeared.
The photographs by David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka, alongside contributions from local photographers such as Alexander Veryovkin, construct a direct, non-idealized perspective. The foreword by Ukrainian urban planner Mykola Gorokhov adds a critical reading of the role of public space and its transformation over time.
