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Eric Fichtl

Russia

<p>The 'Friendship of Nations' fountain at Moscow's impressive VDNH grounds. Each golden statue represents one of the former republics in the Soviet Union. <br /></p> <p>The fountain is one of several standout attractions at the Soviet-era Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, abbreviated to ВДНХ, and translated to VDNH).</p><p>While I went with the colour version of this shot, the black and white brings out some interesting details (see below).</p>
<p>Moscow's GUM runs the length of one side of Red Square. It dates from the late 19th Century, and was designed by Alexander Pomerantsev and Vladimir Shukhov. Shukhov in particular engineered this stunning glass roof, which covers several storeys of passages and created a climate-controlled shopping experience long before the suburban shopping mall concept. <br /></p><p>The name GUM, which stands for Main Universal Store (Главный универсальный магазин), was given to the facility during the Soviet period, and has stuck around since. Today, it really is a shopping mall – but with some serious architectural pedigree. </p>
<p>Rain softens the look of Kamergerskiy Pereulok, a small pedestrian street in central Moscow.</p>
<p>An interior shot of St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square, peering up one of the octagonal spires capped by the church's famous onion domes. <br /></p><p>Dating from the mid 16th Century, the structure is a unique oddity – an asymmetric labyrinth of chapels and corridors on the interior, with ten cylindrical domed towers each bearing their own signature style on the exterior – that has long been a symbol of Russia. </p>
<p>Designed by Viktor Andreyev (who also did the Hotel Cosmos just down the road), this 25-storey tower block dates from 1968 and is something of a Moscow landmark. The trees block the stilts that give it its unusual name, the House on Chicken Legs (Дом на ножках in Russian). </p>
<p>A woman dashes toward the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a striking and strange Soviet take on post-modernism by architect Yuri Platonov.</p>
<p>Blinding light forms a sort of cross in one of Moscow's pedestrian underpasses. These tunnels are a consequence of the span of the city's monumental boulevards.<br /></p>
<p>Some buildings in the Kremlin compound feature bricks bearing the stamp of their manufacturer, Central something something something...</p>
<p>A stencil in Moscow.</p>
<p>Passengers descending into and ascending out of one of Moscow's very deep metro stations.</p>
<p>Muscovites with places to be.</p>
<p>Emerging into the light outside the Kremlin.</p>
<p>Russia's largest hotel dates from the late 1970s, when it was built as part of the facilities for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. There are over 1750 rooms in the Cosmos, which still operates today.<br /></p>