In terms of scale, the Second Moscow Biennale of Architecture turned out to be much more modest than its predecessor two years ago. However, to a certain extent, this was only in the hands of the curators - in particular, this year they were able to concentrate all conceptual projects within the CHA. In an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Bart Goldhoorn spoke about how convenient and important he considers such an arrangement of expositions - all brought together, they more clearly and fully revealed the theme of the show, formulated as "Perestroika". Grigory Revzin shared his thoughts on the curatorial program of the Biennale in Kommersant, reports from the exhibition also appeared in Novaya Gazeta, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and on the BN.ru portal.
Perhaps the only venue where high-profile architectural events took place in parallel to the Biennale was ART Strelka. On May 25, a new ambitious Institute for Media, Architecture and Design opened on its territory. The main star of the ceremony was Rem Koolhaas, the head of the world famous OMA bureau, who made a presentation of the method he had developed specifically for Strelka. However, the critic Grigory Revzin was much more impressed not by Koolhaas, who seemed to him to be "living uncertainty", but by the architectural project of Oleg Shapiro, who rebuilt a piece of "Red October" under "the most precise space in Moscow with the identity of the young Europeanized art generation of the 2000s." Several other publications, in particular, Nezavisimaya Gazeta and the British Independent, published their report from the opening. And Big City published a conversation between Strelka President Ilya Oskolkov-Tsentziper and Grigory Revzin, dedicated to the eternal question of whether it is possible to change the current Moscow architecture.
By the way, Rem Koolhaas himself noted the successful reconstruction project of Strelka's space - the interview with the megastar was published by Vedomosti. In it, the architect also explained why he agreed to participate in the work of the new school: "Its advantage is novelty," says the head of OMA, "unlike Harvard, here you can get skills and knowledge in six months or a year … and consistently work on one topic." Another architectural celebrity invited to the Biennale was the theorist and guru of deconstructivism Peter Eisenman - an interview with him was published by Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
In parallel with the Biennale, important events, which had a great public response, unfolded in the field of protecting the historical heritage. A bolt from the blue for the St. Petersburg authorities, who until now diligently closed their eyes to the construction of the Okhta Center, was the personal intervention of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the situation. The head of state instructed Rosokhrankultura to “ensure strict observance” of UNESCO's instructions. And if officials simply dismissed the international committee itself, which threatened St. Petersburg with exclusion from the list of world heritage sites, the president’s reaction is unlikely to be ignored, the Kommersant newspaper believes. A variety of publications, including Gazeta.ru, Vremya Novostey and Novye Izvestia, have pondered what exactly the alternative construction options mentioned by Dmitry Medvedev might be. Interestingly, the authors of the skyscraper themselves - the architects of the RMJM bureau - responded to the president's words with an open letter to the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, in which they guaranteed their readiness to adjust the project in accordance with the requirements of UNESCO. This is also reported by "Kommersant".
The joy of St. Petersburg city defenders was overshadowed by news from another hot spot of the city - Apraksin Dvor, the reconstruction project of which was recently considered by the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Designed by the architect Vladimir Burygin, it involves the demolition of 26 historical buildings, as well as the relocation of a number of other buildings in the Apraksin yard to a 10-meter stylobate, which will house new shopping areas. Fontanka, ZAKS portal and Novaya Gazeta tell you more about this.
As for the Moscow heritage defenders, all their attention in the second half of May was focused on the Kadashevskaya Sloboda. On May 18, the demolition of the historical buildings surrounding the famous Church of the Resurrection began there. After the remains of the Deacon's House were destroyed, activists of the "Arhnadzor" movement set up a round-the-clock watch in Kadashi and blocked the way for construction equipment. Later, the parishioners of the temple joined them. The website of the movement, the Voice of Russia radio station, the Vesti TV channel and the Izvestia newspaper reported in detail about everything that happened at this construction site. The Moscow authorities have long ignored this conflict, however, as Vremya Novostey writes, the other day Mayor Yuri Luzhkov gave instructions to investigate the situation. Under pressure from criticism, the Moscow Heritage Committee called for the suspension of work.
Demolition in Kadashi was the first victim of the Master Plan for the Development of Moscow until 2025, which came into force, the Expert magazine believes. Gazeta reports that the final approval of the scandalous document was a reason for its opponents to file claims in court. Members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation are ready to send a complaint to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. The opposition also hopes that the document can suspend the intervention of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, which, as the same Gazeta writes, believes that it lacks provisions on Moscow's performance of the functions of the capital.
Another controversial bill that is just as slowly but surely moving towards adoption despite public outcry is the restitution law. In the second half of May, it was approved by the Commission on Religious Associations under the Government of the Russian Federation and submitted to the latter for consideration. The text of the document was at the disposal of "Kommersant": the newspaper notes a number of changes in it, in particular, the appearance of a clause on granting to religious organizations the full right of the owner to the returned property, without restrictions on its purpose. Izvestia also suggests that the church will receive not only religious buildings, but also residential houses and buildings built on the territory of monasteries during the Soviet era. Mutual criticism of the museum and church communities, meanwhile, does not subside, which was confirmed by the debate in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, - a report from them was published by Kommersant. It is clear that against the background of such heated discussions, the transfer of each new landmark object to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church causes a strong public outcry. Here are just a few of them: The Historical Museum liberated the Metropolitan Chambers of the Krutitsky Compound, and in Chelyabinsk the Russian Orthodox Church was given the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky on the Alom Pole, where the city philharmonic hall with a unique organ was still located. The newspaper "Culture" tells in detail about the last act of the transfer.
With the onset of summer, an active season of restoration work began - reports of them come from various cities of the country. Thus, Dmitry Medvedev allocated about 14 million rubles from his reserve fund for the speedy restoration of the burnt-out towers of the Pskov Kremlin. Another 10 million for the same purposes was allocated by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, the rest of the restorers expect to receive from local businessmen, informs the portal infox.ru. Novaya Gazeta publishes an article on the completion of a three-year restoration of a unique monument of wooden park architecture of the 18th century - the Venus Pavilion in Gatchina, which has not yet been very much pampered by the attention of the authorities. But for the restoration of a much larger and more costly object - the Great Menshikov Palace in Oranienbaum - there seems to be no money. And although the most difficult stage of restoration - restoration of facades and roofs - is already over, it is unlikely that it will be possible to complete the work entirely by next year - the 300th anniversary of the city of Lomonosov, the portal BN.ru notes.
Moscow was also not spared by the news of the restoration. Thus, at the end of the musical season, the Moscow Conservatory was closed for a lengthy restoration, according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The first full-fledged restoration in almost three hundred years also begins at the well-known bell tower on Sofiyskaya embankment, Vesti reports. Also, apparently, the costly work will have to continue and the Moscow Manege: the gummed timber trusses, restored according to the drawings of the engineer Augustin Betancourt, began to crack, Vremya Novostey writes.
And finally, good news for defenders of historical heritage came from the State Duma on June 2, where at a meeting of the Committee on Culture amendments to the federal laws "On Museum Fund" and "On Cultural Heritage Sites" were approved, which will give official status to museums-reserves and museums - estates, that is, all those cultural heritage sites that include historical territories. As the Vremya Novostey newspaper explains, so far more than a hundred reserve museums in Russia could not guarantee the safety of their panoramas and surrounding landscapes, but now they have finally acquired the legal right to defend their territories.
