I was given this beautiful coffee table book of Soviet architecture for my birthday. It has a lot of holiday camps, swimming pools, theatres, and buildings that were built for leisure activities. Incredible architecture in the most obscure places. It's a little bit sad, because a lot of it has been left to fall apart.

Róisín Murphy’s quote — “I was given this beautiful coffee table book of Soviet architecture for my birthday. It has a lot of holiday camps, swimming pools, theatres, and buildings that were built for leisure activities. Incredible architecture in the most obscure places. It's a little bit sad, because a lot of it has been left to fall apart.” — reflects a deep appreciation for the aesthetic and historical value of Soviet-era design, particularly its often overlooked and decaying structures. Her words reveal both admiration and melancholy for the lost grandeur of public architecture once meant to uplift and serve the collective.

The reference to leisure activities—such as holiday camps, theatres, and swimming pools—is significant because these buildings represent a utopian ideal central to the Soviet vision: providing culture, rest, and recreation to the masses. These structures were often ambitious, futuristic, and symbolic of a society that prioritized collective well-being. However, their location in obscure places—far from major urban centers—means they were vulnerable to neglect after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Murphy’s emotional tone, calling it “a little bit sad,” highlights the impermanence of ideologies and the fragile legacy of architecture tied to them. As many of these once-vibrant buildings fall into disrepair, they become haunting reminders of both a bygone political era and the fleeting nature of cultural investment in communal infrastructure. The beauty of these structures is preserved only in the pages of books, while their physical forms crumble in silence.

This quote also speaks to the power of visual storytelling—how a simple coffee table book can capture entire histories, emotions, and contradictions. For Murphy, a musician known for her bold artistic sensibility, discovering these forgotten buildings may parallel her own interest in aesthetic depth, nostalgia, and undervalued art forms. It's an intimate reflection on the collision between beauty, history, and loss.