The Window Seat: St Petersburg

In the first instalment of her series, Pi Media columnist Lara Olszowska takes you behind the facades of the Fontanka to discover the vibrancy of St Petersburg’s hidden youth scene.

An outdoor party at Loft Project Etazhi (Lara Olszowska)

From a Western European perspective, Russia’s culture often seems mysterious and at times can be misunderstood. As a result, tourists in Saint Petersburg who don’t speak the language or have a local friend, find themselves ticking off the Google-advised checklist of sites to see in this country’s cultural capital. Much as these places are important to visit, they offer a textbook view of Russian culture, focusing on the Imperial and Soviet eras and giving less importance to the post-Soviet culture emerging today. So, where does a tourist look to gain an understanding of Russia’s future and not just a story of its past?

The search begins in a humble dvor. Simply translated, a dvor is a courtyard, a principal feature of all Soviet housing blocks and the only communal space for residents to come together, be it for exercise, leisure time or idle gossip. Today, young creatives have reclaimed these courtyards to bring communities together in a new way, with a focus on exchanging ideas and freedom of expression. In this Putin era, there is still a tension between emphasising the glory of the past and giving a platform to the voices of the future. These tucked away art worlds therefore have an element of the underground about them, and this is what makes them all the more authentic, exciting and essential to the development of the modern Russian spirit.

My favourite dvor can be found a five minute walk from Ligovsky Metro, one stop from Dostoevskaya, where all the well-known restaurants and bars boasting a variety of cuisines are located. Why leave the city centre to arrive on the quiet streets surrounding Ligovsky Avenue? To get a real insight into youth culture brimming in Loft Project Etazhi. There is nothing pretentious about the food spots, drinking holes or concept stores found here. Initially, you might think you are walking into a car park, but soon you realise you are warmly invited to choose from a palette of different vegan cafes, bars, tattoo parlours and vintage or independent clothes shops, all supporting local brands as well as international ones. Visitors can climb six storeys to a rooftop, open all year round, to enjoy panoramic views of the city with a hot tea or a beer. Throughout the summer months, it is used to host a number of music events, where DJs play anything from techno and acid house to funk and hip-hop. What goes on in these unassuming premises is arguably at the forefront of how young people in Russia are interpreting and incorporating their culture in a new context, all from the comfort of an environment most natural to them — a homely dvor.

Back in the city centre, anyone can stroll down the picturesque Fontanka Embankment and admire its historic architecture without realising that only a few metres of brick separate them from the Golitsyn Loft. The Loft is organised into a collection of rooms and apartments, converted into a maze of art studios and collaborative workspaces for anyone to use. Ziferburg, formerly a grand apartment, is now a bright, high-ceilinged ‘anti-café’. On entering, a smiling teenager will hand you your own personal alarm clock from a quirky selection at the reception desk, and on leaving, they will charge you for the hours you have spent there, not for the hot drinks drunk or snacks scoffed. Imagine yourself sipping coffee in an armchair, looking over the snow-covered Mikhailovsky Palace, getting lost in a book and enjoying the hubbub of crowded solitude as people recite poetry, have conversation classes in different languages and practice piano in perfect discord in the background. Although this apartment no longer houses a French-speaking bourgeois family, their history is echoed in the music, drama, arts and languages that still bounce off the walls in the anti-café today.

Further along the Fontanka, beyond Lomonosov Bridge, there is a spacious courtyard bordering Gorokhovaya Street with a completely different feel to it. With nothing but a barbershop and beauty salon to indicate that passers-by may have a reason to go in, this yard is for the tattooed bikers and on-a-budget students. Ignore the nervous reaction of “I must be in the wrong place” and keep walking into the yard, past a large pile of scrap metal and through the scaffolding, towards the entrance of Co-op Garage. This old garage has been remodelled as a pizza-and-beer-joint-cum-bike-repair-shop and if you thought you felt out of place before, just wait until you see the skaters smoking outside or hipsters playing snooker inside! This casual hangout is somewhere for young people to relax, socialise and most importantly to share a space that was once undervalued and ignored.

Inside Do Immigration (Lara Olszowska)

Across town, attracting a crowd of twenty-to-thirty-something trendy professionals, the dvor on the corner of Vosstaniya Street conceals favourite wine bar Do Immigration. As you wind your way into the yard, the first thing to greet you is a wall of colourful graffiti, then a subtle sign with a tall wine glass painted onto it. The bar is split by a staircase into two rooms, both equipped with efficient staff, who are well-versed in their wines but will struggle to find you a seat! In spite of heavy import fees for European wines, this bar manages to bring the experience of fine wine, accompanied by delicious charcuterie, to its customers at a very reasonable price. It is no surprise then that once six o’clock hits the place is almost full. This dvor perfectly pulls together a familiar cosy setting with a modern clientele, taking them away from the typical view of traditional Russian culture, whilst keeping them firmly rooted in it.

Though it may be easy to limit Russian culture to the opulence of Tsarist palaces or the Communist image of a hammer and sickle, Saint Petersburg is one of many cities bursting with contemporary art, music and food, all ripe for the picking. The only task we tourists have is to commit ourselves to finding it.

This article was published as part of the series The Window Seat, written by Pi Media columnist Lara Olszowska.