BUILDING AMIDST SOLITUDE

Inspired by his ideals, architect Han van Loghem travelled to Siberia in the mid 1920s. The Soviet Union was in need of specialists to help design and construct completely new cities and mining and metallurgical centres in the Urals and Siberia. And socially engaged architects from Western Europe headed to the first workers’ state in the world so that they could bring their new architectural ideas to life. Builders Of The Future shows how for van Loghem, the journey to Siberia was also a quest for personal and professional fulfilment, which he was lacking in the Netherlands. Van Loghem's personal journey had its repercussions his relationship with his wife, Berthe Neumeijer, who had initially planned to stay in the Netherlands but then followed him to Siberia in an attempt to save their marriage.