Vladimir Paperny Visits UMD as 2025 Maya Brin Resident

Vladimir Paperny sparks dialogue in weeklong residency with the UMD community.

By Lauren Hargrave

The Maya Brin Residency Program in Russian in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC) hosted Vladimir Paperny, acclaimed author, designer, and cultural and architectural historian, as the 2025 Maya Brin Resident at the University of Maryland from Oct. 23–27, 2025. Paperny has taught at the Department of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, the University of Southern California, the Woodrow Wilson Center and Bristol University in the United Kingdom.

Launched more than a decade ago, the Maya Brin Residency Program connects students and scholars to distinguished Russian cultural figures through classes and events, fostering meaningful exchange and insight into Russian culture. In recent years, the Maya Brin Residency Program welcomed Maxim Osipov in 2024, and Liudmila Novikova in 2023.

As this year’s resident, Paperny participated in several events, including a two-day conference on “Contested Spaces: Aesthetics, History and Politics Between Cinema and Architecture,” co-sponsored by the Russian program, the Department of History, and the Cinema and media studies program, and with the participation of the School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning. The following week, Paperny presented his forthcoming memoir at an event titled “How I Was a Designer: Vladimir Paperny in Conversation with Sasha Razor” co-sponsored by the Maya Brin Residency, SLLC and UMD Libraries.

Paperny earned his master’s degree in design from the Stroganov Art School in Moscow and his Ph.D. in cultural studies from the Russian State University for the Humanities. His research focuses on 20th- and 21st-century Russian civilization, the culture of the Russian avant-garde and Stalinism, and context in contemporary architecture.

During the “Contested Spaces” conference, Paperny expanded his analysis of Stalin-era culture from his book “Culture Two: Architecture in the Age of Stalin” (Ann Arbor, 1985) into cinema by exploring the visual themes of water and light in several films of the 1930s and 1960s.

In his talk at the University Libraries, Paperny joined Sasha Razor, lecturer in film and media studies and Germanic and Slavic studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for an engaging public conversation on art, memory, and the intersections of design and cultural history. During the discussion, Paperny shared stories  from his forthcoming memoir “How I Was a Designer” (Kak ia byl dizainerom, NLO, 2025), a humorous and reflective account of his journey through Soviet and American design culture. He discussed how design shaped both societies and presented vivid examples of his creative work.

Russian program head Elizabeth Papazian shared how Paperny’s residency offered students, faculty and community members a unique opportunity to engage with his scholarship and creative practice.

“Vladimir Paperny is an intellectual omnivore whose work cuts across several disciplines: architectural history, cultural history, cultural preservation, film studies, design, essay writing, fiction and memoir. His omnivorousness was a perfect fit for this year’s theme of Cinema and Architecture,” said Papazian.

Looking back on his week in residence, Paperny described his experience as “fantastic,” as it “gave me the opportunity to connect with distinguished scholars, share different aspects of my work—from design and academic research to even my amateur singing.”

Photos taken by Max Hardman.