A masterpiece of engineering, the Shabolovskaya radio tower may be reconstructed in the near future, the newspaper Moskovskiye Novosti writes. The tender for the development of the documentation was won by the Quality and Reliability Company. And although the famous building has long been in need of restoration work, the upcoming reconstruction raises serious concerns among experts. First of all, because the tower is an architectural monument, which automatically entails the impossibility of any reconstruction. The amount allocated for the work - 10.5 million rubles - will not be enough for a full-fledged restoration, says Sergei Arsenyev, deputy director of the Shukhov Tower Foundation. Architects from universities in Germany and Switzerland will help determine the exact state of the tower, who will conduct an expert examination worth 2 million euros at their own expense and create a three-dimensional model of the structure with all its distortions. The unique engineering facility, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary on March 19, has never been seriously restored. Meanwhile, the Shukhov Tower Foundation has been proposing for several years to create a so-called “Shukhov Center” on the territory around the monument, including a museum, an exhibition complex, an engineering club, a business center - once again this idea was announced at a press conference dedicated to the anniversary of the tower.
A source in the Moscow administration told RIA Novosti that the Moscow authorities officially changed the purpose of construction work in Detsky Mir, replacing the restoration of the facades and complex reconstruction with the adaptation of the department store to modern use with the restoration of the facades. At the same time, the adaptation to the modern use of the department store must be carried out in accordance with the approved subject of protection of the object. Natalya Samover, the coordinator of the Arkhnadzor public movement, believes that it is necessary to change the very object of the object's protection, since the adopted version was initially “adjusted” to the current reconstruction.
The Union of Architects of Russia spoke out against the destruction of the Detsky Mir department store and the Dynamo stadium this week, Arhnadzor reports. The SAR has drawn up a corresponding statement, which was signed by the leaders of the Union's Heritage Council. The destruction is condemned by both Russian specialists in the field of protection of architectural heritage, and international professional organizations, including the Scientific Committee of ICOMOS and DOCOMOMO. Alexander Kibovsky, head of the Moscow cultural heritage department, also voiced his position on the two long-suffering objects in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio station. In his opinion, work at Dynamo is carried out in accordance with the results of the examination, which revealed the value of only the western stand, the rest of the facades will be reconstructed. As for Detsky Mir, according to Kibovsky, the designer of the Mosproekt-2 shopping center is currently revising the project due to the change in the shape of the atrium.
The fate of the Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow is also being decided. Recently, the court rejected the claim of businessmen who demanded to remove the protection status from part of the estate, Vesti-Moscow reports. Parallel trials are taking place on land plots located around the Gonzago Theater. Moreover, according to one of them, the court has already satisfied the demands of the tenants, obliging the Cadastral Chamber to remove all encumbrances from this site. In fact, now it is possible to build there: in the plans of entrepreneurs - the creation of a cottage village on this territory.
The press has written extensively this week about the demolition of historic buildings. So, in Bolshoy Kozikhinsky lane in Moscow, the destruction of a tenement house has resumed. At the same time, the city authorities said that the demolition is legal, since the building does not represent historical and cultural value. And according to the HOA, the site generally carried out a planned garbage collection from the construction site, and not the demolition of the building. However, the work was temporarily stopped due to the protest of local residents and city rights defenders.
And in Yekaterinburg, the partial demolition of the architectural monument "Passage" interested the governor of the Sverdlovsk region Alexander Misharin, reports "New Region". He was not convinced by the arguments put forward by the developer and the regional ministry of culture and tourism in favor of the legality of the reconstruction of the historic building. Now the fate of the "Passage" itself and the park, which is located in the neighborhood, must be decided by a specially created commission under the governor. This week Grigory Revzin also spoke about the Passage. The architecture critic does not consider the building to be an outstanding architectural monument. “This, of course, does not mean that it should be demolished,” he adds. About the project of the new "Passage" Revzin says: "This is 15 years old postmodern architecture, executed, moreover, very ponderous, unartistically, I would even say, a little stupid." The townspeople are actively fighting for the preservation of the monument: they are on duty at the object around the clock, collect signatures in its defense, send letters to the prosecutor's office and the police.
The architectural community of Yekaterinburg is discussing one more piece of news. The concept for the development of the site for the Expo 2020 exhibition for the city will be prepared by the architectural bureau of British architect Norman Foster. Erik Bugulov, Director General of the Bid Committee of Yekaterinburg, told RIA Novosti about this. “We chose Foster's architectural bureau from five candidates, there were also applications from Spanish, Belgian, Italian companies,” he said. The contract with the British architect is planned to be signed in the near future.
Petersburg is also concerned about the destruction of its historical heritage. There, the remainder of the wall of the courtyard wing of Shagin's house was demolished, despite the fact that the prosecutor's office announced a warning to the investor company, ZAO Nezhyloi Fond Consult, about the inadmissibility of dismantling the building. In the same week, the investor was refused permission to build on the territory of Shagin's house. Now "Non-Residential Fund Consult" is preparing new documentation. However, the newspaper Karpovka reports that the authorities of St. Petersburg generally want to take the historic building from the investor and transfer the reconstruction to another company.
At the end of the review, there is a list of the most unusual buildings in St. Petersburg, which was compiled by the newspaper "Moy District" It includes a horse cemetery in Pushkin, Traktornaya Street, a water tower of the Krasny Gvozdilshchik plant, Serafimovsky town and others.
