Reconstruction of the cinema "Udarnik" may result in death for this architectural monument. This building, which is part of the famous "House on the Embankment" (architect B. Iofan, 1931), could have celebrated its 80th anniversary in just a few weeks, but is now closed for reconstruction. According to Kommersant, “a large concert hall“Mega Hall”will appear on the site of the Udarnik cinema. The Karo Cinema Concern, which owns the facility, has already reached an agreement with potential co-investors. Karo Film, according to its representative Pavel Lopanov, has an idea to preserve a cinema hall on a part of the Udarnik's squares, and to create a modern concert hall on the remaining part. However, the problem lies in the fact that "Udarnik" is an architectural monument, and therefore is not subject to redevelopment. Natalya Samover, coordinator of the Arkhnadzor public movement, announced this in an interview with Interfax. “The word“reconstruction”has been spoken, and the whole reaction of the city defenders is now directed against this word, because the cinema is part of the“Houses on the Embankment”ensemble and is an architectural monument of regional significance. The law on monuments permits only two actions: restoration and adaptation to modern use. The word "reconstruction" is a concept that implies a significant change in the parameters of an object. And in accordance with the law, this should be qualified as damage to historical monuments, this is a criminal offense, which is punishable under Article 243 of the Criminal Code by imprisonment for up to two years. Therefore, this term itself cannot be applied to the monument.”Meanwhile, the Lenta. Ru news agency refutes the owner's statement, citing as evidence the words of the current administration of the cinema:“We do not receive any proposals for reconstruction or major repairs from an organization that leases 80 percent of the cinema. received ".
This week turned out to be rich in other denials related to the reconstruction of various cultural heritage sites. While some media outlets are trying to clarify the situation with Udarnik, other publications continue to discuss the new look of the Bolshoi Theater. The reason for them was the loud performance of one of the most popular ballet dancers Nikolai Tsiskaridze, unveiled at the end of last week, on the day of the official opening of the historic theater building. Recall that Tsiskaridze in rather expressive terms expressed his dissatisfaction with the current appearance of both the rehearsal and technical rooms and the auditorium, saying that after the reconstruction the theater lost not only its natural appearance and atmosphere, but also many valuable interior details, starting with bronze door handles and ending with a comfortable floor covering. This performance, in sharp contrast to other assessments of the work of the restorers, could not be ignored by those who considered themselves wounded. In particular, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Alexander Avdeev officially stated that Tsiskaridze's statements do not correspond to reality: “Nikolai got it wrong, there is nothing plastic there, and all the decorations and all the decor of the hall are made as required by modern acoustics - special wood, special papier-mache resonant. And if there is plastic, then these are wires that are embedded in the wall. Nothing else,”Avdeev told reporters on Monday. "I do not want to sarcastically about Nikolai, because he is a wonderful dancer and deserves deep respect," the minister said to RIA Novosti.
If the answer to the words of the People's Artist Tsiskaridze sounded from the mouth of the Minister of Culture himself, then investors entered the discussion with the outraged public, who expressed their dissatisfaction with the new appearance of Apollo, standing on the portico of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater. Their representative officially told reporters that the fig leaf adorning the figure of Apollo had existed on the statue before, but during the bombing of Moscow in 1941 this important detail of the sculptural composition was destroyed. "The figure of Apollo in the State Academic Bolshoi Theater was restored without distortion," said representatives of the general contractor. “Presumably, both the fig leaf and the wreath on Apollo's head - by the way, no one paid attention to his appearance, by the way - were lost in 1941, during a bomb explosion. At the same time, the sculptures of the muse of lyric poetry Erato and the muse of dance Terpsichore in niches on the facade of the Bolshoi Theater were also lost. The decision to restore any, even the smallest detail, was taken collectively, with the involvement of several commissions and independent experts."
And in St. Petersburg, meanwhile, the fate of buildings is being decided, which restoration may no longer help. We are talking about the wing of the Annunciation Synodal courtyard, located on the Eighth Line of Vasilievsky Island at the address: house 61, letter B. The illegal dismantling of the building, during which the walls of the second floor partially collapsed, was carried out on October 28. The next day, KGIOP, which received a signal from local residents, ordered to stop the destructive work. However, by this moment only ruins remained from the outbuilding. The current owner of the building put forward other reasons for the destruction of the architectural monument. According to him, “there was no demolition. The outbuilding is located next to the school, and the children got inside more than once. To protect them from potential danger, they decided to fence the building. They began to level the site in order to establish scaffolding, and the second floor collapsed. The walls of the first floor remained in place. But KGIOP employees found such arguments unconvincing: “As for the collapse, it seems to me that this is complete nonsense. If a piece collapses, this is not a reason to completely demolish the outbuilding. Such work on the territory of the cultural heritage site is impossible without the permission of the KGIOP,”said Alexander Kononov, a member of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Now an administrative case has been opened against the current owner of the former outbuilding, vice president and production director of the Vostok-Service group of companies, Dmitry Golovnev, and he himself is going to bring the city activists to criminal responsibility for libel.
On the same days, the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, headed by its new head Alexander Makarov, took part in the rescue of another piece of architectural heritage. We are talking about the so-called "House of Leontyeva", located in the city of Sestroretsk, Leningrad Region. An unscrupulous owner, who received this architectural monument for his use, brought the object of cultural heritage to a critical state. And now KGIOP is trying to confiscate the building from the owner, based on the fact that the restoration work stipulated in the sale and purchase agreement was never carried out: “The actions of the Renaissance Company were aimed at destroying the identified object of cultural heritage,” the statement of KGIOP representatives quotes. Fontanka.ru.
The next to respond to the alarming news was the new governor of St. Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, concerned about the increasing incidence of illegal again monuments of architectural heritage. He immediately promised to tighten control over investors and tenants. “According to G. Poltavchenko, he has made a decision, in accordance with which a working group will be created in the very near future to carry out an inventory of such facilities and proposals for their maintenance and reconstruction will be prepared. It is not only about the imposition of penalties, but also about the confiscation of objects from unscrupulous users,”writes Interfax. Later, the same topic found a response among the State Duma deputies, who decided to amend the laws protecting the cultural heritage of our country. "The State Duma adopted in the third reading a law obliging the government of the Russian Federation to submit annually to both chambers of the federal assembly a state report on the state of the monuments of history and culture of the peoples of Russia," RIA Novosti reports.
In conclusion of the review, let us mention the sparkling article by Grigory Revzin dedicated to the exhibition "Cistern" by architect Alexander Brodsky, which opened in the Collector gallery on Volgogradsky Prospekt. “This collector is a rather shapeless space, like such a vast concrete cave, built out of mismanagement. It is blocked off by a number of foundations, which are perceived as a colonnade with some tension of imagination. The walls are concrete, unpleasant texture. Brodsky hung light boxes with fans on the walls and covered it with white curtains, and they sway slightly. It turned out to be a city square with windows behind which there are living ones. This is not so reminiscent of the Brezhnev era in that Brodsky illuminated the Brezhnev ruins, but in that he illuminated the Brezhnev feeling. If anyone remembers, maybe there, in the seventies, some kind of various spiritual searches began, who knows what. Such a somewhat sleepy spiritual quest. In religion, in mysticism, in Zen, and wherever - it came out somewhat rather vulgar for us, and I don’t want to remember how it ended. But behind this is the primary intuition that the meaning must be sought in oneself, in one's experience, because around, in the current agenda, it certainly is not."
