Panelák

This photographic series takes a journey in the panelák estates in and around Prague, exploring the architecture of the pre-fabricated, pre-pressed concrete panel buildings such as those extant in the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in the former Soviet bloc, and the impact on the way of life of their socially mixed residents past and present. 25 years after the end of the Iron Curtain, what is left of the panelák estates? One may wonder whether the collectivist living utopia turned into a nightmare. Was Le Corbusier’s functional city concept flawed and unrealistic? But perhaps it is not as bad as we would like to think, it may well be that the residents have a fondness for their panelák way of life and still believe in the dream.