Archstoyanie took place in its traditional place - in the village of Nikolo-Lenivets, Kaluga Region - but under the leadership of a new curator, Oleg Kulik. Almost all editions wrote about this main architectural event of the summer - the newspapers Vremya novostei and Chastnyi Korrespondent, Interni magazine. However, it cannot be argued that critics praised Oleg Kulik's efforts to transform Archstoyanie into Forest Liturgy equally highly. So, Olga Kabanova in “Vedomosti” believes: “And if the previous editions of“Archstoyanie”were dear with an unusually lyrical note of melancholic unity of culture with nature, then this festival was more like an attraction in nature, where objects related to water were the main success.” And Valentin Dyakonov from Kommersant is sure: "Grafting a mystical branch to the trunk of contemporary art does not seem viable."
Much less journalists were interested in the opening in the State Museum of Architecture named after A. V. Shchusev exposition "Urban intimacies / Loft in Madrid". The newspaper "Moscow Perspective" wrote in more detail about this first joint exhibition project of the Spanish Embassy in the Russian Federation and MUAR.
But practically the entire central and Moscow press responded to the next confrontation between the Moscow authorities and the defenders of the architectural heritage. On July 25, the estate of the Alekseev merchants was demolished on Bakhrushin Street. Experts consider this building to be one of the best mansions in Zamoskvorechye, a typical example of the "Moscow Empire" style, but it was not officially recognized as an architectural monument, and a hotel should appear in its place. RIA Novosti, Gazeta, and Vremya novostei tell you more about this. The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation harshly condemned the actions of the city authorities, demanding to restore the manor house built in 1817 on Bakhrushin Street in its former form. More about this is the newspaper "Izvestia", which gave the floor to both parties to the conflict: the leaders of the Moscow executive power and members of the Public Chamber.
In Izvestia, Rustam Rakhmatullin published an article “Refused to Protect”, dedicated to the new edition of Resolution No. 510 “On the City Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage”, which stipulates that objects that the Moscow Heritage Committee has already refused to register for the first time are not subject to repeated consideration. The author makes a disappointing conclusion: “The addresses of Tropinin, Odoevsky, Sukhovo-Kobylin are left without protection. The new wording of the decree does not comply with the law on heritage protection, since the discovery of monuments is always the discovery of new circumstances: an outwardly unremarkable house may turn out to be the chambers of the 17th century or the residence of a great poet. " The same reportage under the title "Old Moscow was deprived of the right to pardon" was made by the State TV and Radio Company "Russia".
During this period, the famous "Children's World" was also in the spotlight. VTB Bank announced its intention to allocate about 6 billion rubles for the reconstruction of the department store. VTB Chairman of the Board Andrei Kostin said during a recent meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that the reconstruction will begin in October 2010, and it is planned to complete it in 2012. However, according to IA REGNUM, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation was hardly informed about all the problems accompanying the implementation of this project, and, in particular, that the reconstruction of "Children's World" involves the destruction of its historical interiors.
The attention of the international community was riveted on Brasilia, where the 4th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee began its work on 25 July. One of her most important intrigues was the participation in the session of representatives of the leadership of St. Petersburg. As a reminder, officials from the city on the Neva were officially invited to Brasilia to discuss the construction of the Okhta Center, but they were going to ignore the session and changed their minds only at the very last moment. RIA Novosti, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia, Radio Svoboda tell more about this collision.
Another unpleasantly high project for the historical center of St. Petersburg is the residential complex "Premier Palace", which threatens to change the canonical panorama of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the portal "Fontanka.ru" and the newspaper "Kommersant" are discussing. Another architectural news from St. Petersburg concerns the famous "New Holland". According to Kommersant, Roman Abramovich may become a new investor in the reconstruction of the island. At the invitation of the governor Valentina Matvienko, the businessman is preparing to take part in the competition, which the St. Petersburg government will announce in August this year.
In Moscow, meanwhile, journalists were presented with a new project for the reconstruction of Pushkinskaya Square - "a product of a compromise between the interests of the public, motorists and the city," as officials position it. The defenders of old Moscow, however, do not share this optimism at all. More about this "Vesti", "Moscow Perspective" and the site of the Central Scientific, Restoration and Design Workshops.
Another highly discussed project at the end of July was the Skolkovo innovation city. According to the ASN portal, the developers of the bill on the creation of the innovation city have already begun preparing this document for the second reading, which should take place at the beginning of the autumn session. However, so far, both the authors and third-party experts have no confidence that this ambitious project will actually be launched. Vyacheslav Glazychev, professor of Moscow Architectural Institute, member of the Public Chamber, summarizes the doubts of the professional architectural community. The interview with him, published on the Slon.ru portal, has a more than eloquent subtitle: "So far, the Skolkovo project is about creating a certain picture, since the authorities like to look at pictures." As for the actual project of the Russian "Silicon Valley", the Skolkovo Innovation City Development Fund, headed by Viktor Vekselberg, involved the Swiss firm Maxmakers as a consultant for its development. According to RBC daily, the Swiss will have to develop three concepts for the possible development of Skolkovo. Foreign specialists have a lot of experience in creating integrated development projects, but before that Maxmakers worked exclusively with amusement parks and resort developments. How these skills can be applied in the innovation city will become clear already in the fall. Well, in the meantime, the hot summer continues …
