The rotten state of architecture in Samara

A typical Samaran wooden house, which are liable to destruction by fire, often unexplained Photograph: Rowan Moore

A damaged art nouveau building. Around 1900 Samara was a boomtown, compared by some to Chicago. That period left a unique art nouveau legacy Photograph: Rowan Moore

Another ruined wooden building Photograph: Rowan Moore

The former Samara public library that was visited by Vladimir Ulyanov Lenin Photograph: Alamy

Detail of a neglected wooden house Photograph: Rowan Moore

The Maslennikov factory canteen is designed in the shape of the hammer and sickle. The canteen, designed by a female architect, Yekaterina Maximova, was built in 1930-32. It is now threatened with demolition, and a campaign has been launched to save it Photograph: Rowan Moore

A poster advertising a rally to save the 1932 Maslennikov factory canteen Photograph: Rowan Moore

Another example of the decorated and delapidated wooden houses still found in the centre of Samara Photograph: Rowan Moore

The exterior of St George's Lutheran Church in Samara Photograph: Alamy

The Volga power station, built in 1934, which is currently being considered for listing. Samara boasts many fine examples of Soviet architecture Photograph: Rowan Moore

One of Samara's underground stations Photograph: Losevsky Pavel/Alamy

An aerial view of Ladya residential district. Many new developments in Samara are out of scale and out of character with historic buildings Photograph: Alamy

A Soyuz Space Rocket in the centre of Samara. In Soviet times, Samara was a closed city and a centre of rocket building Photograph: Rex