Flavorwire

Today our favorite period drama heroine, Keira Knightley, returns to the big screen in Tom Stoppard’s bold adaptation of Anna Karenina, the Russian high-society love story that Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner, and TIME magazine have all called “flawless” and “the best ever written.” Set in pre-Soviet Russia, the tragedy explores themes that — as British translator Rosemary Edmonds explained — emerged from the vast panorama of Russian life. Not long after Tolstoy immortalized Anna’s affair with Count Vronsky, the old Russian regime collapsed, and an era of extreme artistic inquiry ensued. We’ve explored the experimental style that represents the ideological dreams and chaotic impulses of a stifled society; from retro-future research institutes and vacation spots to a wedding palace, click through to check out the very best of strange Soviet architecture.

Druzhba Holiday Center – Yalta, Ukraine

Image credit: Frédéric Chaubin via The Camera Club New York