Our proposal Trans-Siberian Logbook was selected as a recipient of the 2018-2019 Robert James Eidlitz Fellowship. Project is under development.

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A train line is a physical manifestation of a section. It does not define borders or edges in the way most linear architectural phenomena do. It cuts through cities and landscapes indiscriminately to link towns and cities together. Unlike highways, which are unable to pass through city centers, the train tracks’ light touch allows them to cross through urban main streets and downtowns. The experience is rural, suburban, urban and then again in reverse as the train moves from isolated town to town.

We plan to study Russia as it presents itself in section, coast to coast. We propose to traverse the country from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg via the Trans-Siberian Railway and keep a visual and empirical logbook documenting our journey. The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest train journey in the world through a profoundly vast landscape, which presents a unique opportunity to see the immense country as a cultural and geographic gradient instead of through a political lens.