ABSTRACT
The urban landscapes of Sverdlovsk-44 and Krasnoyarsk-26 exhibit forms which are typical of the closed cities and which developed primarily during the period in which the cities were completely sealed and secret. The city authorities approved a new city seal with the image of an atom torn by a bear, which constructs yet another layer of metaphoric and symbolic imagery emphasizing that the technological research centre is surrounded and hidden by the wild landscape of Siberian tundra. Conceived as simplified, legible, machinic spaces built to accommodate a systematized, organized society, the landscapes of the closed city fail to connect actors as agents in public space. In order to provide self-sufficient spaces capable of acting independently, some core conceptions of the planners and local authorities must change.
