Architectural Excesses
A long-running Russian architecture channel (since 2017) that goes behind the scenes of buildings — from catwalks under hockey arena roofs to small houses in Tula.
What it is
"Arkhitekturnye izlishestva" (Architectural Excesses) calls itself the oldest architecture channel on Telegram, running since 2017, and it has a YouTube channel too. It's in Russian. The feed is photos and short notes about buildings, with an unusual angle: the author likes to get where regular visitors can't. Right now there's a series on new hockey arenas: the permanent catwalks under the roof of the arena in Ufa, the roomy technical level of Nizhny Novgorod's VOLGA Arena, fire-fighting robots with cameras, and the famous round dressing room of Omsk's Avangard.
Why we picked it
Most architecture feeds show facades and pretty angles. This one is more curious about how a building works inside and what decisions sit behind it: why the team logo in a dressing room hangs near the ceiling, why speakers are hidden under the stands, how the colour of an arena bowl was debated. Alongside that come travel finds from ordinary Russian cities: a black fox on Surgut's coat of arms, animal-shaped pendants of the Ob Ugrians in a local museum, a small house in Tula the author dreams of living in. It's a large commercial channel with an advertising contact in the description, so the occasional ad does appear.
Where to start
- Scroll through the hockey arena series: the catwalks under the roofs in Ufa and Nizhny Novgorod.
- Find the post on Avangard's round dressing room in Omsk.
- Look at the notes from Surgut and Tula for everyday city architecture.
- If you like the format, check out the project's YouTube channel.
Who it's for
Russian speakers who enjoy looking closely at buildings and want to know how they work. Travellers exploring Russian cities. And people in architecture or construction looking for unusual examples.
Quick answers
How long has it been running? Since 2017, according to the description.
Are there ads? Yes, the description lists an ad contact, but the feed is mostly original posts.
What language is it in? Russian.
