Balconies in Russia

Many apartment buildings residents had a concrete balcony that added extra fifty to sixty square feet to the apartment’s total floor space. Many residents enclosed their balconies with glass windows, thus turning this exterior area into another room of the apartment.

Some balconies were merely fitted with iron grilles to deter burglars but were otherwise left open to the weather. Whether open or closed, however, most balconies were used primarily as storage rooms… .

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