Soviet Scientific Institutes

Cosmic rays and rumored climate-altering weapons―a treasure trove of never-before-documented Soviet-era research sites

In Soviet Scientific Institutes, French photographer Eric Lusito (born 1976) takes readers on a journey through time, space and science. Gigantic control panels, monumental telescopes, inexplicable machinery―the facilities he documents might be found in comic book and graphic novel fantasies or the science fiction of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. But why were these institutes built and what purposes do they serve today?
The Soviets promoted science as a utopian ideal to replace religion and rapidly modernize the country. "Big science" projects, primarily for Cold War military purposes, involved thousands of researchers working in complete secrecy. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many institutes were left destitute, their sophisticated technology condemned to extinction. But some scientists persevered, adapting to the new landscape. Today, defying the odds, they persist―even in wartime―to continue their work.
Lusito gained unique access to sites across former republics and satellites of the USSR―from a cosmic ray research center in the remote Armenian mountains, to one of the world's largest radars located in Ukraine, which locals believed to be a climate-altering weapon. Featuring a cover with a tactile laser-cut pattern replicating the punched paper tape used by early Soviet computers, Soviet Scientific Institutes is the first visual account of this once-closed world. Lusito's photographs capture the unintentional and unexpected beauty of scientific technology and bear witness to our never-ending quest for knowledge.