Perm cultural figures are preparing to implement another cutting-edge architectural project - to reconstruct the local drama theater "Theater-Theater" (whose artistic director, by the way, was at one time the current minister of culture of the region Boris Milgram) and the adjacent square. The latter, to be completely honest, is not a square in the classical sense of the word - it is, rather, a vacant lot with a fountain in the middle, near which local youth gather and litter. At the same time, of course, she does not go to the theater itself. The project of Evgeny Ass, Olga Tuluzakova and Grigor Haykazyan, according to the authors themselves, creates a new “spatial magnet around which the local life would revolve”. It is a wall-fence made of timber, cutting the square diagonally and crashing into the theater building. As Evgeny Ass explained (an interview with the architect was published in the Teatra-Teatra blog), this is not a reconstruction, but a design project - “application, imposition on the current look of new plastic means that do not destroy its merits. We only "equip" the interiors of the building and the space around the theater with objects that force us to reconsider the architecture of this building."
The reaction of local residents and, in particular, bloggers to the “fence” was violent and almost unanimously negative. “They stuck an apple in them - they are not happy, Chirkunov alone enjoys the red piples, they paint the great Lebedev stops! And people for you, freaks, are trying, by the way …”, - the blogger ollf-1 sneers at the anger of ordinary people. However, for the sake of fairness, we note that the people's anger is caused not so much by the “actual” works themselves, as by their inappropriateness in an uncomfortable city, the administration of which pretends that Perm is a part of Europe and only modern art is lacking for happiness: “Around and around the wall trade, cultural and other mass actions can arise systematically or spontaneously, "- its authors comment on the" wall "project, and the blog of the regional newspaper" Zvezda "adds:" garbage dumps, and amateur toilets, and eateries …. To be honest, from a distance it looks like a camp fence."
According to the new chairman of the city committee for culture Vyacheslav Torchinsky, the project will go to the city administration in the coming days, before that it will be discussed by the architectural commission. Critical public opinion will not be taken into account, the official said. But it turned out that the project is not to the liking of the professionals either. For example, the Perm architect Alexander Rogozhnikov considers the "wall" inappropriate, since it will inevitably cut and block the usual city panoramas. In addition, "this wooden fence will be difficult to divide into different groups," the blogger believes, so that the end result is "something like a permanent fight for a place in the queue for sausage (and this time it is entirely composed of waste from the forest industry - a symbol of the new era ?) ". By the way, Rogozhnikov himself once proposed a project for an esplanade with the creation of a theater quarter and a park. In this case, the architect considers a competition as the best option, as a result of which a project would be chosen that creates “conditions for public activity, united by a theatrical theme,” for example, an “open-air mega-stage”.
The authors of the legart blog expressed themselves much harsher towards the project of Evgeny Ass, although, as it turned out, they are very little familiar with the work of the architect and modern Russian architecture in general.“This, as I understand it, is a builder of some kind, who erected fences in the villages, and now decided to participate in urban planning,” writes denis_zaw. “But in my opinion, an ingenious design. I see in it the quintessence of the entire Perm fence sovrisk ", - says yakupov, who decided that in this way the authors provoke the locals to" fence creativity "of three letters. The Novosibirsk architect and critic Alexander Lozhkin tried to intervene in the discussion, calling for an end to personal insults against the authors, but, unfortunately, few listened to him. And ollf-1 is most concerned with the economics of the project: “A wall of unwritten beauty, for only 35 million Russian rubles (a glued timber house in an expensive company ViS costs 2-2.5 million, a village can be built on this area)…. And how do we call this marvelous cultural capital? Wall-wall? Or from a bar - from a bar? ". It is interesting that one of the leaders of the Perm “actual” Marat Gelman admitted in his blog: “The decision on the“Wall”was made without my participation. As far as I understand, a temporary structure will be erected in June, around which there will be discussion. So they break the spears early."
The already mentioned Alexander Rogozhnikov also initiated a discussion about foreign urban planning experience and the possibility of its application in Russia. Blogger komelsky sees in the ideal Western model everything that the disgraced master plan tried to introduce into the Perm practice: “Opponents” constantly invent counter-arguments, one more fun than the other - either snowfalls interfere with the European principles of urban planning, or the incredible shame of a “real professional” to study in Perm “Non-creative” design of five-story houses …”“The problem is that as long as the Russians are playing in Tokyo and building termite mounds in the middle of the desert, nothing good will happen,”says komelsky. “But the current stereotypical thinking is terrible. In tiny cities, they suddenly build towers. Apparently, the Khrushchev era broke something in the minds of fellow citizens, that people simply lost the feeling of an alternative. It worries me very much, in fact, because when the system begins to reproduce itself, when there is no one else to blame, when people themselves want to live in towers, then somehow they give up…”. Rogozhnikov agrees: “Perm“Crocuses”, the residential complex“Victoria”by the architectural studio“Art-bla”, the residential complex Forma, all these Levshinos, etc. - these are termite mounds in the middle of the desert … They simply do not want to give people alternatives, it goes against their business plans. People are left with two ways - either to become a mini-oligarch and build a country palace, or to buy a panel "kopeck piece" in a residential area. Attempts to introduce qualitatively different urban planning principles are stifled by litigation, as we have in Perm."
Another hero of online publications in the past two weeks has become the Moscow Museum of Architecture, in which exhibition and lecture life has literally been boiling lately. So, several interesting opinions appeared in blogs about the photo exhibition “Le Corbusier. Chandigarh "by Alexei Naroditsky:" If we talk about my attitude to this particular work of Le Corbusier, then, IMHO, this is a kind of conceptual minimalism, "writes the author of the blog m-chuprynenko. - What struck - for him, concrete is like plasticine. He sculpts completely psychedelic things out of him. But. These things (like any minimalism, IMHO) are exhibition, that is, they are absolutely not adapted to real life and the comfortable environment of human beings. Judging by the photos and video recordings, people do not appear there often … The entire architecture of the place resembles a model rather than a real part of the city. Very correct, very fictional and very empty layout. " And here is an excerpt from the selenalena blog: “They look very simple - just a rectangular box, just window openings, just a flat wall … Masters understand that this simplicity is deceiving, that behind all these simple at a superficial glance, there are the most accurate calculations of proportions, which is exactly why they are so good. It's like Japanese calligraphy - it seems so complicated! And only a few come to mastery”.
As always, blogs have not ignored the topic of heritage. For example, the magnificent building of one of the contemporaries of the same Fomin - Alexei Shchusev - the former Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Tbilisi was turned into ruins by the forces of the new owner, according to the blog huck-d. In 2007, it was deprived of the status of a monument, after which one wing was demolished in order to "adapt" it to a hotel, then the roof collapsed and the interiors disappeared, on which, meanwhile, the best masters of their time worked, for example, the sculptor Yakov Nikoladze. It is symbolic that this is Shchusev's second landmark building (after the Moscow Hotel), destroyed under the guise of reconstruction. Synthart notes in the comments that the Institute was unlikely to collapse by itself, since the building was of the highest quality - its construction was personally supervised by the then secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Georgia, Beria. a_pollaiolo adds: “This is a true architectural masterpiece. Was. And one of the best examples of Shchusev's genius, capable of interpreting classical forms in accordance with the peculiarities of local culture. Barbarism".
By the way, another Stalinist ensemble is expected to be reconstructed in the near future, although this time it is much more ambitious - we are talking about the revival of the former greatness of VDNKh-VVTs. True, this ensemble, as you know, has been developing over several decades, and for what period it is going to be recreated is not yet entirely clear. The author of the blog boch-boris1953 Boris Bocharnikov notes that, judging by the layout, which was recently shown in the NTV channel, the authorities decided to give the original look to the Industrial Square: “I just didn’t believe my eyes - they plan to restore the Sovkhoz pavilions (left) and“Grain "(on the right), but to build them into pavilions No. 20 and 57. They were demolished in 1965, due to which the ensemble of the square was completely destroyed." It seems strange to the blogger that the Central Alley is not planned to be restored the way it was. Synthart comments: “Embedding” the pavilions - in my opinion, this is the limit of insanity. It would be interesting to look at the author of this crazy idea. " Selective reconstruction, as the author noted, does not imply, by the way, the restoration of the "crown" on the "Cosmos" pavilion, in the center above the arch. By the way, in this blog, as well as in the VDNKh community, you can find numerous archive photos and information about the pavilions and personally assess the degree of historical veracity of the upcoming reconstruction.
"Rebuild or Rebuild?" - This issue has recently become topical for Ostrovityanov Street in Moscow, where a project for the placement of a new Orthodox church was submitted to public hearings. Mikhail Korobko believes that there is no need to build a new one if the old Kazan church of the Bogorodskoye-Voronino estate, built in 1677 by the boyar Prince Ivan Andreevich Golitsyn, was very close. The manor park is now under state protection, but one of the earliest churches in this part of the Moscow Region was demolished in the 20th century. The blogger is sure that it is precisely it that needs to be built: "Its reconstruction would give this place significance, there would be an owner at the manor park, unnecessary discussions about what the temple should be like, etc. would go away." However, opponents of Korobko rightly note that the matter may not be limited to the reconstruction of the monument. “The clergy will enclose a huge territory with a fence, and a bunch of different buildings, parking lots and entrances to them will appear next to the church. An example is nearby - the church in Troparevo. Therefore, in this case, the remains of the park with the house will definitely come to an end,”comments nekula. The district administration promised to announce its final decision on this issue later.
