Moscow Neighbourhoods | RT Documentary

Erick’s List invites viewers inside five apartments where Muscovites live, once lived or will live. Located in five very different residential buildings, they represent various historical periods in the life of Russia, each known for its distinct architectural style. Some of these buildings have just been completed; others have been around since before the revolution. Some are grand and striking, others… – to be honest, you wouldn’t give them a second look. They are as different as the people who call them home, and we’ll get to meet these people as well.

Moscow’s signature properties tour starts with the imposing Stalin-era highrise in Kotelnicheskaya embankment – an elite house for the country’s powerful and famous. Among them was Galina Ulanova – a Soviet ballerina of international calibre. Her enormous apartment has been turned into a museum featuring original furnishings and the prima’s personal belongings. The building’s efficiency and splendour are in striking contrast with the living standards of most Muscovites who then lived in overcrowded communal apartments.

Soviet Union leader Nikita Khruschev started a development programme allowing thousands of people to move into their private albeit tiny and cheap-looking apartments in five-story residential buildings to solve this problem. They are still quite popular with first-time homeowners, who reconfigure them to fit their lifestyle. Ingenious design solutions and custom-made furnishings, as well as good taste, certainly help.

Moscow also has something to offer for those living the high life –for example, the 2,000 sq.m. penthouse atop the city’s tallest skyscraper. Russia’s most expensive residential property features glass walls and a roof, allowing its future owner to enjoy 360-degree sprawling cityscapes. Those who find such living quarters too futuristic would instead want a visit to a pre-revolutionary house with intricate façades and apartments complete with marble-clad fireplaces. Its resident of over 50 years tells about growing up in this majestic house and weighs in on Muscovites’ habits and mentality.

The last house tour of the show takes its viewers to a tiny 20-square-metre studio apartment on the 47th floor of a recently completed highrise in one of Moscow’s sleeper neighbourhoods. The young professional owner has always dreamt of living in a skyscraper and proudly demonstrates her home floating above the city like a spaceship. The new episode of Erick’s List about Moscow’s diverse housing scene captures the Russian capital’s exciting vibrancy and unique spirit.