# Sochi's garage ghettos



## dars-dm (Oct 13, 2007)

Garage cooperative is a set of garages stacked together popular in Russia to store cars (as commieblocks don't have parking lots)








http://vtyumene.ru

However, in Sochi during the pre-Olympic construction boom lots of garage cooperatives were almost entirely converted into low-quality housing. Living rooms were built on top of garages, making the ghetto-like areas. The ground floor is retaining a space for a car.































































6-floor living garage








http://4.livejournal.com/54597.html?thread=1984581

An extreme case









The prices can vary from 10000$ for the simpliest one to 300000$ for the highrise, like on the last photo.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Oh, wow. Geil. Don't show this to East Germans and Poles, they are likely to follow the Russian example! :shocked:

Still loads of these community garages all around in the former Eastern bloc.


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## Dallas star (Jul 6, 2006)

Cool thread, are other parts of the city embracing this style of architecture now as a result?


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## dars-dm (Oct 13, 2007)

There are lots among the entire city, but more common in Adler district.
https://www.google.ru/maps/@43.4362...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjaTP3jWyxiUFCfBqnQrT9g!2e0

https://www.google.ru/maps/@43.4497...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1siNp0KxC6F6m4DzKWZVwpcg!2e0

https://www.google.ru/maps/@43.4564...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s2R3ftyDPc3ej45aA34PQkw!2e0


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## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

The architecture looks like an improved and more well kept version of the Brazilean favelas. Interesting phenomenon.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

Interesting. I also had the same feeling that this is Europe's closest thing to favelas.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Actually, a lot of European city centers and village architecture which are now preserved, considered charming and attract heavy investment initially followed an urban logic which wasn't that far off from what we typically associate with "favelas" or at least third world "informal" housing.


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## binhai (Dec 22, 2006)

The vinyl siding makes it look like some apartments in the US.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

eklips said:


> Actually, a lot of European city centers and village architecture which are now preserved, considered charming and attract heavy investment initially followed an urban logic which wasn't that far off from what we typically associate with "favelas" or at least third world "informal" housing.


Sounds interesting, what places are you thinking of?


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Most of central and medieval (though most of the building stock is from the 17th century onward) Paris actually, these buildings for example:
https://www.google.fr/maps/@48.8533...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjyQ1b1-lMdYXl7JePpypPQ!2e0

I am not that well read on the issue so it's only a wild hypothesis, but my take would be that the fundamental difference between "favelas"(or many other kind of third world "informal" constructions) and traditional European housing is not so much the constructions themselves, as the fact that in modern times, States and Promoters, and the people behind them, have acquired a monopoly on urban planning and construction. Anything outside of both State and Private planning/construction is deemed illegal or informal.


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

A lot of that isn't far off from the common Seattle townhouse infill of the last decade. The rules have changed a bit. But garage at the bottom, two or three floors above, the whole site is a driveway except the buildings themselves....


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Very interesting indeed, never underestimate human creativity.


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## Dober_86 (May 9, 2010)

Yep, these do look like las favelas rusas  I don't see if it's worse than a shabby commie from the 60s, in a way these are even better, the only concern is whether these developments were sanctioned and built with regard to safety? 










This looks really precarious. 
*
dars-dm* И давно подобное стали практиковать?


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## dars-dm (Oct 13, 2007)

^^Вообще, начали в 90-е, но бум пошел перед Олимпиадой.


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## urbane (Jan 4, 2005)

BarbaricManchurian said:


> The vinyl siding makes it look like some apartments in the US.


I agree, but with pavements/street patterns akin to Brazil.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

eklips said:


> Most of central and medieval (though most of the building stock is from the 17th century onward) Paris actually, these buildings for example:
> https://www.google.fr/maps/@48.8533...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjyQ1b1-lMdYXl7JePpypPQ!2e0
> 
> I am not that well read on the issue so it's only a wild hypothesis, but my take would be that the fundamental difference between "favelas"(or many other kind of third world "informal" constructions) and traditional European housing is not so much the constructions themselves, as the fact that in modern times, States and Promoters, and the people behind them, have acquired a monopoly on urban planning and construction. Anything outside of both State and Private planning/construction is deemed illegal or informal.


Dunno, that looks tight and rigurous to me. In general, Western medieval architecture and planning are considered to be rationalistic in a pre-Enlightenment way (at least for the high middle ages, much less so for the early middle ages of course). Probably the most well known support of this thesis is the book Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism by Erwin Panofsky. 
All the European medieval cities I've seen looked more or less rational and rigurous to me, even the Mediterranean ones. The Saxon city I come from was always a great example for me in this regard.

Apologies for the late reply!


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

And apologies for my late reply as well. 

There is more intelligence and rationality in "favelas" than you might think. In Peru for example, shantytowns were set up in a grid like system to allow for future pavement and so on. This eventually happened and happens as the shantytown turns into a "favela", which turns into a working class area.
Still, that book looks interesting, thanks for the recomendation. A question though: does the author study European medieval architecture from "bellow", as in not just the cathedrals and palaces but also the common housing built by people of lower status?


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