Soviet Union · Saint Petersburg / 1920s–1990s · housing form; photograph 2015
Kommunalka: a communal apartment
A home shared with strangers
A communal flat in Saint Petersburg, photographed in 2015. One apartment does not represent every communal layout or every resident’s experience.
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A kommunalka is an apartment shared by several families, with a common kitchen, bathroom and corridor. The form expanded after 1917 as housing was redistributed and cities filled. It could be a place of mutual help and intense conflict; privacy was scarce and the state was often close. The photograph records one flat in Saint Petersburg in 2015, after the Soviet period. It is a reminder that collective living is not automatically egalitarian: sharing a kitchen can be a necessity, a punishment or a form of solidarity, depending on who has a door to close.
- Date
- 1920s–1990s · housing form; photograph 2015
- Maker / designer
- Soviet housing administration and residents
- Material
- Shared kitchen, corridor, rooms
- Context
- A communal apartment photographed in 2015; one flat, not a universal layout.
Evidence: Date is a period or later photograph · Place established
Historical record
- Communal apartments shared a kitchen, bathroom and corridor among several families.
- The form expanded after 1917.
- The photograph shows one flat in Saint Petersburg in 2015, not a universal layout.
