Norilsk, Siberia

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 Looking for interesting places online, I stumbled across a blog run by a news agency of the Russian State. They seem to think they will be blocked any day now but in the meantime this is soft power at its soggiest; propaganda in the style of a travel agent's window dressing. But I loved these photos of Norilsk in the Siberian Arctic, the world's most northern city with some 200,000 people. It was built as a centre for the mining industry by forced labour. 

The Arctic is only really known for two colours, grey and white, so ignore the derivate and pretentious grandiosity of the Stalinist architecture and focus on the real gift of the Architects - the colours. 

Then think of other mining towns. Maybe the Black Country or Merthyr Tydfil. 

Sadly, I thought about their origin and decided to convert the web images into jpegs just in case the originals had an little nasties in them alongside the subliminal messages in Tchaikovsky's ballets. I hope that works! 









Don't wander too far though! The Home Counties this ain't! 





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