About the press conference at which Sergei Tkachenko presented to the journalists a "working" model of the reconstruction project of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, wrote the newspaper "Kommersant". This first public presentation of the project revealed a lot of interesting details. In particular, as it turned out, the Tkachenko-Foster concept as a whole had already been adopted by the Museum's Reconstruction Council. True, the high-tech "five-leafed leaf" of the exhibition complex, which until recently was positioned as the main focus of the entire project and at the same time did not like Yuri Luzhkov so much, now it can acquire forms that are traditional for modern Moscow construction. In particular, Sergei Tkachenko reminded reporters that once on Volkhonka there was a traveling palace of Catherine II, and said that he personally had nothing against "new architecture with the memory of the old." In other words, events are developing exactly according to the scenario that was described by Grigory Revzin just a week earlier. Under the pressure of criticism from the capital's mayor, Foster's plan will inevitably transform and, perhaps, may soon completely change the form of hi-tech to “Moscow style”. And Gazeta focused on another unexpected turn in the fate of this project. The head of the Ministry of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, who also heads the Board of Trustees of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin, ordered to amend the 73rd Federal Law on Heritage, which prohibits underground construction on the territory of monuments, thereby legitimizing the vast underground part of the future museum town.
The government decree on the demolition of the Central House of Artists, which we wrote about last time, immediately caused a violent public reaction, which resulted in a rally on December 20. Two hundred activists, however, were forced to hold a rally at the entrance to the Central Park of Culture and Leisure. Gorky - they were not allowed to the subject of heated disputes, which is reported, in particular, by Vedomosti. Interestingly, the authorities immediately had a new option for the further use of the vacated territory: in an interview with RIA Novosti, quoted by Gazeta, Deputy Mayor of Moscow Vladimir Silkin said that now the city plans to build an amusement park or an arts and science park, although until recently, it was about a multifunctional complex. Silkin claims that in the new Rules for Land Use and Development, neither office nor residential functions are assigned to the territory of the Central House of Artists.
The postponement ended the race with the adoption of the Updated General Plan of Moscow. This can be regarded, if not as a victory for public opinion, then at least as time won by it. All major newspapers, such as Kommersant, Vremya novostei and Izvestia, were quick to respond to this news. Recall that on December 2, the document was adopted by the Moscow City Duma in the first reading, however, historians, transport workers and other specialists had a lot of questions and complaints about it, and they probably would not have been removed if the State Duma had not adopted the amendments to the City Code of the Russian Federation giving the regions a two-year deferral for approval of general plans. In other words, the new deadline for the Updated General Plan is January 1, 2012. This fact somewhat reassured the Moscow authorities, over whom the prospect of suspending all construction activity after January 1, 2010, as illegal, hung like a sword of Damocles. By the way, Sergei Tkachenko presented some new facts about the implementation of the General Plan at the already mentioned press conference, and this is the subject of an article in Gazeta.
However, the postponement of the adoption of the general plan did not give any respite to the defenders of heritage sites. On the contrary, at the end of the year, the number of emergency situations with monuments increased sharply. This can only be explained by the persistent desire of investors to get rid of the "encumbrance" of the historic building before the adoption of the PZZ. So, there was a fire in Guryev's chambers in Potapovsky lane, dating back to the 17th century. The activists of Arkhnadzor Rustam Rakhmatullin wrote about this for IA Regnum and Konstantin Mikhailov for Gazeta. It is characteristic that immediately after the fire, a meeting of the commission of Vladimir Resin took place, approving the lists of newly discovered monuments, at which it was decided to deprive the "fire victim" of the conservation status. Together with him, another monument damaged by the fire, Bykov's house, built according to the project of Lev Kekushev, also lost hope for the protection of the state. Konstantin Mikhailov writes about the results of this meeting.
The temple of All Saints on Kulishki also attracted close attention of the defenders of antiquity in mid-December. A public discussion of the draft "measures to preserve" this monument, organized by the Central Council of VOOPIK, was a cause for concern. The Tserkovny Vestnik and Gazeta provide a detailed analysis of these measures, which, in particular, involve raising the church by 4 meters. Finally, the activists of "Arkhnadzor" managed to obtain new information about the state of the Children's World. Alas, it is also disappointing: the destruction of interiors there continues, as described in the article and photo report of Natalia Samover.
The Moscow Heritage Committee intends to put an end to the barbarism of the owners of historical buildings. As the chairman of the committee Valeriy Shevchuk said at a press conference, in the new law on cultural heritage objects, the discussion of which by the mayor's office is scheduled for February 2010, protection obligations will cease to be an empty phrase for owners of monuments. In particular, the new law will clearly prescribe the procedure for the removal of monuments and establish rules for the use of buildings for commercial purposes. Details can be found in Novye Izvestia.
The Izvestia newspaper, in turn, reports on the good results of the restoration year in St. Petersburg. The results, however, have to be summed up against the backdrop of a new hard-hitting turn in the history of the Okhta Center project. Let us remind you that the city authorities refused to hold a referendum of the initiative group of opponents of the construction of this complex. The news was discussed by almost all the St. Petersburg media, and an article was devoted to it in Nezavisimaya Gazeta. An interesting analytical article on the topic of the "gas scraper" also appeared in the "Expert" magazine - the author reflects on the possibilities of moving Gazprom's urban planning ambitions from Okhta to another place.
The theme of modern construction in the historical fabric of the city is continued by the project of reconstruction of Sennaya Square, which was recently discussed and rejected by the City Council of St. Petersburg. The concept included the construction of a new shopping complex and hotel at 47-49 Gorokhovaya Street, as well as the reconstruction of the bell tower of the Assumption Church. The fate of the square will now be decided by a competition, the Gorod 812 portal and Izvestia report.
And finally, two unexpected news. The first is about the Moscow mayor's intention to erect a copy of the Glory Memorial blown up in the Georgian city of Kutaisi on Poklonnaya Hill, at the suggestion of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Naturally, the matter will not do without the participation of the chief Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. Gazeta.ru and Gazeta wrote about this political and artistic action with comments by Grigory Revzin. And the second curious piece of news came from St. Petersburg, where the city authorities are going to impose a special tax on tourists for visiting monuments and thereby replenish the budget for their maintenance. Writes about this "Vremya novostei".
So, by the end of the year, as expected, there was a surge in urban planning activity. Fateful decisions were made on a number of major projects, and, fortunately for Moscow, a legitimate reason was found for not accepting the Updated General Plan. The second half of December is also the traditional time for summing up the results of the year. Gazeta wrote about the results of Arkhnadzor's work in 2009, and Grigory Revzin listed the most important events of this architectural year in his final article in Kommersant Weekend.
