Yakov Chernikhov (1889–1951) is celebrated for his extraordinary architectural imagination, his monumental compositions and his visions of a world transformed by industry and modernity. Yet behind this remarkable body of work existed another, more intimate world: that of a father, a husband and a man living through one of the most turbulent periods of Russian history.

Your Papa Yasha: Beyond the Architecture begins with a collection of original family photographs, handwritten letters and personal documents preserved across generations. Among them are letters written by Chernikhov to his young daughter Elena, my mother, revealing a voice strikingly different from the monumental language of his architectural work: affectionate, vulnerable, sometimes demanding, and deeply human.

Through photography, archival material, personal recollection and artistic interpretation, the project explores the relationships between public achievement and private experience, creative ambition and emotional life, historical upheaval and individual identity.

It is also an exploration of inheritance: how family histories are preserved, how memories change across generations, and how fragments of personal correspondence can open new ways of understanding people we have known only through their work, their reputation or the stories of others.

Rather than seeking a definitive portrait, the project approaches Chernikhov through the complexities and contradictions of his private world, allowing the intimate traces of an individual life to exist alongside the extraordinary architecture of his imagination.