designer architect researcher

pakaging

"For a country that grows so much, and a town that used to have the largest factories, we have to resort to getting it all from Turkey!"

locks

at first glance, I thought are 4 pad locks really necessary?

landings

the interior exterior the various doors face toward the elevator. One shared switch on a timer for the entire vertical commons.. . . . . . . .

nikolai

fried fish in front of the kalkan.

National Museum of History

also the once residence of Todor Zhivkov, leader of socialist Bulgaria for 35 years. . . click for more

quest for the green flowers

A very specific pattern of green flowers, specific to the era, specific to a certain taste, specific to a specific person, I assumed.

divisions and connections

the walls dividing walls have no insulation.

The landings are shared space. Space that acts as an echo chamber.

The balconies are our theater boxes that connect us to the . . . . . . . .

legal cords

"He gets a TV and I get a TV. Like that."

tile covering

"Our only option was white tiles. That's all there was!"

reflections

'Mom, when will we glass in our balcony? All the other kids have glassed in balconies!'

the entry council

The lace looks forward. The brick turns a shoulder, slyly stepping its own entry down to the ground out back.

remonti

next door the pounding starts every morning.

“a new kitchen for the new family.”
He says coming out of the elevator with new cabinets.

They were just married last month. . . . . . . . .

belo

full ash trays and cardgame scoresheets in the morning light. . . . . . . .

vhod fall

"Whose idea was it to plant all these stupid trees?!"

family design

Private property is a tricky thing in communism.

It was allowed, of course, but with limits.
Each family could own a certain amount of square footage dependent on the makeup . . . . . . . .

traces

"to live is to leave traces" - Walter Benjamin

infill

"to be warm for me"

bushoni

inside every entry of every apartment lies an electrical panel.
a small piece of control given to each apartment.. . . . . . . .

meet oscar

"The pipes run through, she'll be fine!"

chushki smoke

Smells. We respond strongly to them. In the panelka, they are readily available.

spaces for gathering

When apartments are designed by minimums, and guests at home are traditionally a big ordeal, neighbors create their gathering spaces outside.. . . . . . . .

Shumen

Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, 1981 . . . click for more

Varna

Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship, 1978 . . .click for more

summer fading

"There is no such insulation on these panels." -tap - tap- "You have to insulate yourself!"

Buzludzha

House of the Bulgarian Communist Party, . . click for more