Architect behind the Palace of the Soviets

Maria Kostyuk

Boris Iofan is best known as the architect behind the Palace of the Soviets. Yet his style was not limited to the ­Socialist ­Classicism that flourished under Stalin. Rather, Iofan’s archi­tectural language boldly evolved throughout his lifetime: from his eclectic beginnings in Rome, to the grandeur of the wedding-cake style in the 1930s, and finally, to his incorporation of concrete panels under the Khrushchev government. This book presents a collection of essays, photographs, floor plans, sketches, and drawings that chart the development of the archi­tect’s variegated career which spanned nearly six decades.