Khrushchyovka

A bit of social history today.  This is a "Khrushchyovka", a low-cost, concrete-paneled or brick three- to five-storied apartment building, developed in the USSR during the early 1960s, to expedite the provision of housing.  This shot taken in Cheryomushki in Moscow, which, in its time, was the frontier for these new structures.  They were designed for a 25-year lifespan but many have lasted well beyond that.  The district and its housing projects was immortalised by the composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, in his operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki which tells the story (you may have guessed it ..) of "a group of friends and acquaintances who have been granted new apartments in this residential development"!