How architecture and built environments shaped Russian and Soviet imperial power and its lasting legacies.
Empire leaves traces in the places people live, work and move through every day. As Russia's war against Ukraine has returned questions of Russian imperialism to the center of public debate, Off-Center offers the historical background needed to understand the present moment. The book tells the story of Russian and Soviet empire-building through the buildings, streets, settlements and landscapes that made and make imperial rule possible. From Helsinki's military-engineered urban landscape and Kyiv's contested religious architecture to the industrialized valleys of Central Asia and model Soviet towns in Uzbekistan, its chapters show how imperial power was built into everyday environments across a vast territory. Instead of focusing on capitals and rulers, it turns to the borderlands and outer regions of the empire, bringing overlooked places and everyday spaces into view. Looking at empire through the built environment reveals how power took shape not only in politics and war, but also in the organization of daily life and the spaces people inhabited. Original, timely and wide-ranging, Off-Center opens a new way of thinking about empire and the worlds it created.