Blokoshka: Build your own playful Eastern Bloc modernist architecture

If you appreciate a little modernist architecture, then check out these build-it-yourself kits by Poland creative studio Zupagrafika. Inspired by the post-war landscape of eastern European cities, each kit contains four sheets of recycled cardboard that you can easily assemble, without scissors or glue, to create miniature matryoshka buildings that fit inside one another when complete.

Entitled Blokoshka, it's a playful exploration of the prefabricated housing that sprung up quickly and affordably following World War II when governments were in desperate need of providing suitable homes for their populations. This series pays homage to the "sleeping districts" of Moscow, the plattenbau constructions of East Berlin, the Warsaw Ghetto estates and the panelák blocks in Prague – all areas of Europe that enjoyed extensive modernist architecture and shaped the post-war continent's urban landscape.

Founded in 2012 by David Navarro, Zupagrafika is a Hispano-Polish creative design studio based in Poznań. Describing themselves as an agency that enjoys a special bond with architecture, typography and paper – they have created many other paper cut-outs inspired by modernist architecture, including a set that celebrates London's own Brutalist estates.

To get your hands on Blokoshka, then you can purchase your own kit via Zupagrafika's online shop.

Share

Get the best of Creative Boom delivered to your inbox weekly