The idea of organizing an architectural anti-award, proposed by architectural critic Elena Gonzalez immediately after the closing of the Zodchestvo-2011 festival, found active support in the blogosphere. A page for the future award with the eloquent title "Big Bummer" has already appeared on facebook, and now there is an active discussion of possible nominees. The author of the most unfortunate building of the decade (and buildings created in 2000-2011 may be nominated for the anti-award) will be awarded a special prize at the Third Moscow Biennale of Architecture, which starts on May 23, 2012. “The ten years are taken considering that a lot was under construction during the construction boom. We consider it necessary to reflect the special "successes". In the future, the prize will be awarded once every two years,”the organizers explain.
Selection of candidates and voting is carried out by all Internet users. Interestingly, in just five days since the publication of the information about the anti-award, the initiators managed to collect over a hundred comments and get a preliminary list of nominees. "The retail and office complex Regent Hall is located in the center of the historical part of St. Petersburg, at 23 Vladimirsky prospect," - this was the first nominee nominated by Andrey Lyublinsky. “I immediately thought about the Evropeisky shopping center on the square of the Kievsky railway station,” Yulia Ionova immediately joined the discussion. Among the main contenders for the "Big Bummer" also appear the Fundamental Library of Moscow State University, "Paveletskaya Plaza", "Chaika Plaza 7" on Novoslobodskaya and many other odious fruits of the construction boom.
However, not all users reacted with approval to such an undertaking. “Overall, the idea is very good. At the same time, I have no idea what criteria should be used to evaluate objects. Just on an emotional level? You can consider the architectural tectonics of an individual building, or you can train in search of associations. You yourself know how many more criteria can determine the figurative characteristic of a building. Foster has both cucumbers and chopped tomatoes. It can also cause laughter and hysteria, if you do not know that these buildings save 70% of all energy resources in comparison with similar ones according to TEP. And their shapes, shifted along the axes, support some city-planning lines. What is more important in a photograph of a single building without its background and context? Absolutely any structure can be descended the ladder of limited criticism. I've heard it said that St. Basil's Cathedral is just a vinaigrette. I think that it would be better, of course, to define a set of parameters, such as: scale, tectonics of form, expressiveness, conformity of the image, color composition, etc. with an established rating scale. Or choose objects from a certain range: by city, by author, by customer, etc. ", - Alexey Ivanov expresses his position. “Something else in this whole story is embarrassing … Somehow it is not customary among architects to criticize implemented projects (at least we were taught so) due to a number of factors accompanying modern construction (Customer service, networkers, engineering, etc.). Actually, little depends on the author of the project during this period … Therefore, the question arises whether it is necessary to focus on the authors, awarding a prize for an object, because we do not know what happened to the design decisions at the stages of coordination with specific people and groups … The question of metamorphosis an architect into a designer is the most insidious in our profession, which has become a humiliating norm of our time, especially in Russia,”agrees Boris Krutik. Ivan Marinin makes forecasts for the future: "The competition threatens not to cope with the task at hand, that is, not to reveal a bad house, but to open a section of society called" architects "and show the real state of affairs …"
The finalized reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater caused no less storm of discussions. Several serious verbal battles ensued among bloggers at once. Some of them were devoted to the newspaper revelations of the outstanding ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, the reason for others was the changes made by the restorers to the appearance of the famous quadriga, newly installed on the roof of the Bolshoi. Two discussions were provoked by the posts of the famous blogger Rustem Agdamov, dedicated to Tsiskaridze's statement and the organization of a festive gala concert. “It is a pity that there were some overlays. It is a pity that Tsiskaridze did not dance. Life and time will show if Nikolai is right. Judging by the video, he spoke with pain, sincerely. I don’t think there’s any personal grievances. It would be too shallow for Narodny,”alusy_2010 stands up for the artist. “In short, Tsiskaridze’s character may not be simple, but the criticism is constructive,” summarizes the user fresquete. Network user Alexander Dolchev, who published materials from the media, in which restorers refute Tsiskaridze's words, expresses a different point of view: “But in my opinion, the Bolshoi has changed. The theater turned out to be very good"
Also, users turned their close attention to the fact that the current appearance of the famous bronze Apollo quadriga by Peter Klodt, installed above the entrance portico, has undergone peculiar changes. The image of Apollo has a new detail - a fig leaf made of bronze. Blogger Alexander Dyukov, who drew the attention of users to this innovation, collected almost two hundred comments in his magazine, among which were poetic impromptu epigrams, caricature photo collages and numerous references to the story of Mikhail Weller and a humorous miniature of Mikhail Zhvanetsky, in which the statue of Laocoon and his sons was subjected to similar artistic censorship. This innovation of the restorers was discussed no less actively in the blog of political scientist Yegor Kholmogorov. “Well, let's castrate the statues in the Hermitage! What barbarism! " - tseliapin is indignant. “Maybe we still need to fight this? To start with some flash mob at the Bolshoi: for example, a crowd of people walks around with green leaves attached to them, you know where on top of their clothes (you can make paper, fabric …). Or, at the box office, give out leaflets to everyone who buys tickets … Or, on the contrary, to everyone who has come to enjoy, hand them over at the entrance … Let's open the poll - who is in favor of returning Apollo to his beauty? ", - the user mangucty makes a rationalization proposal.
While some bloggers were breaking their spears in discussions on the modern appearance of one of the most famous architectural monuments of the capital, others decided to contemplate with their own eyes the infamous quarter near the Old Square. The action "Open Kitay-Gorod", organized by "Arkhnadzor", was held specifically so that everyone could get acquainted with the historical monuments in the area of Nikitnikov and Ipatievsky lanes. It is possible that in the near future this territory will acquire the status of a pass zone, since in addition to the Trinity Church in Nikitniki and the chambers of the icon painter Simeon Ushakov, the building of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation is also located here, whose employees are seriously concerned about their own safety. And while the territory, nicknamed “Closed City” among bloggers, has not yet bristled with a fence, over 200 lovers of beauty were able to admire the local beauties. And for those who did not manage to join the excursionists, members of "Arkhnadzor" published a colorful report on their blog.
But if the situation around the historical quarter in Kitay-Gorod lends itself to adjustment, at least theoretically, then another event that happened in the capital in recent days causes a much more minor mood among network users. We are talking about a fire that occurred last Saturday, October 29. At about five o'clock in the morning in the north-west of the capital, one of the few wooden monuments of the Soviet avant-garde, the DK Oktyabr, built in 1936-37, erupted. In the summer of this year, the Palace of Culture "October" was recognized as "an object with the signs of a cultural heritage site", but now the remains of the house are an extremely sad sight. One of the first to respond to this incident was the well-known local historian Denis Romodin, who posted the material on his blog. This news caused a resonance among the network public. “Another sad news in addition to the new Bolshoi and fences in Kitay-Gorod,” concludes user paulkuz. Describing the damage to this building, Romodin gives a link to the blog of the user sontucio, which contains pictures taken two months before the tragedy. "Wonderful place. We used to call it a drum-shed …”, - nostalgic user lyolik13. “Neither more nor less - the only example of a wooden avant-garde that survived in Moscow, the oldest building in Shchukino …", - notes the network author Vladimir Sergeev in his report "In Memory of" October ", made from the ashes of the Palace of Culture. “Despite all these events: a strong fire, destruction of the house by firemen and looting, the facade and front of the house were preserved, and only the auditorium and stage burned down. The leadership of the Palace of Culture, local residents and ordinary Muscovites are ready to stand up for him to the end,”writes Sergeev, showing a photograph of the burnt facade decorated with the inscription“You are not forgotten”and the image of a five-pointed star symbolizing the past of the House of Culture during the difficult war years.
The gloomy predictions about the future burnt down monument of Soviet architecture, unfortunately, echoes another material posted on the pages of livejournal.com. We are talking about the post of a resident of Samara, writing on the Internet under the nickname ondryushka. His material entitled "Samara, which will soon be gone" caused numerous responses from users of LiveJournal. The post dedicated to residential wooden houses on Samarskaya Street is provided with an excellent selection of photographs. However, these shots caused not only admiration, but also indignation in the blogosphere. The fact is that the odd side of this street will be radically transformed in the near future due to the construction of the Samarskaya metro station. This means that the carved platbands, graceful weather vane and small two-story mansions built in the Art Nouveau style will soon come to an end. The report, made in order to preserve the memories of this still existing part of the historical center of Samara, became a place for heated controversy, which attracted one and a half hundred comments.
Some readers stood up for the demolition of dilapidated buildings, some spoke out in favor of restoration, with the help of which this building could be preserved in Samara. “It seems like a shame, but on the other hand, everything is in such a sad state that let them demolish. A few places are pathetic though,”writes user sv-bob. Blogger klaviaturov supports this position: “If the townspeople cannot take care of something, then it just needs to be demolished. And I think it's reasonable. “Rotten logs are excellently restored. Especially the facades. Proven by numerous examples,”the author of the post objects to him. “A mediocre design solution. This street had to be saved - the tenants should be resettled and given houses for business purposes, and they would live forever and keep their history,”protests dmitrykogan. “In neighboring Penza, they were able to keep their houses and move people from them to better housing. And the old houses were given to all firms in possession on the condition that they renovate the inside as they want, only the façade does not change in order to preserve the historical face of the city,”the user simsimych cites as an example the solution to a similar problem. “By the way, some of the houses in the register of cultural heritage objects and their administration cannot demolish them,” says golema. If this information is indeed confirmed, then it is possible that the problem of demolishing houses on Samarskaya Street will become the property of not only blogosphere users, but also journalists of major media outlets. This means that we will return to it more than once in our press reviews.
