In early January, the public was presented with the work of the finalists of the competition for the project of reconstruction of George Square, Glasgow's main square (budget of 15 million pounds). It is being prepared for the Commonwealth Games, which will be held in the city in 2014, in addition, its current state (after the "renovation" of 1998) - without greenery and covered with red asphalt - has long caused outrage among the townspeople. The square arose at the end of the 18th century. as a private garden intended for residents of townhouses built around. By the end of the 19th century. it became a public space with an eclectic town hall and a venue for political rallies. At the moment, there are 13 monuments to politicians and cultural figures, including a column with a statue of Walter Scott, as well as a "Cenotaph" in memory of the victims of the 1st World War.
Shortly before the announcement of the results of the competition, it became known that a jury of 4 experts had chosen the best option, but the initiator of the reconstruction, the head of the city council, Gordon Matheson, did not like any of the six projects. The winner nevertheless was named John McAslan, known for his Stanislavsky Factory ensemble in Moscow and the reconstruction of King's Cross station in London, and his project was the most restrained of the proposed ones. Despite this, Matheson was quick to announce that the project would not be implemented, that the protests of the public, who wanted to leave everything as it is, were heard, and George Square would only be slightly updated (removing the red asphalt and adding greenery). The surprise of this move is added by the fact that almost 90 thousand pounds from the Glasgow budget had already been spent on the competition, and most of all the townspeople did not like the idea of removing from the square some or even all of the statues that belonged to the head of the council himself and were not reflected in MacAslan's project.
The Architects' Journal notes that such a populist move by Gordon Matheson is clearly aimed at distracting the public from his own sins. Two days before the cancellation of the results of the competition, the police caught him in indecent behavior in a public place: as it turned out, the politician living in a civil union with a man had an affair on the side, and now this scandal can significantly reduce the number of his supporters among voters. As for the architect who won the competition, John MacAslan is not going to give up and plans to persuade the townspeople and the authorities to give a go to his project, and he is ready to take into account their wishes.
The story of another competition for a project for the reconstruction of a public space, the City Garden (Union Terrace Gardens) in the center of Aberdeen, turned out to be simpler. The 2011 competition was won by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and landscape architects OLIN, and the decision on reconstruction was approved in a citywide referendum (albeit with a slight advantage over the supporters of maintaining the status quo).
Funding for the project (£ 140m) was largely commercial, but despite this, the Labor majority, which replaced the 2012 city council elections, considered it a "vanity project" inappropriate during the crisis. However, the vote on the draft was also not unanimous: 22 against 20 council members, with one abstention.
In addition to the Scottish setting, these two plots have another common point: Glasgow and Aberdeen, like most cities in Great Britain, are governed by city councils, whose members (representatives of parties and independent candidates) are directly elected, and they are already elected from among themselves. chairman. Despite the great democratic nature of such a procedure, it complicates the adoption and implementation of decisions, so the townspeople often dream of introducing the post of mayor (as was the case in Bristol, where the architect became the first mayor).
Meanwhile, across the English Channel, in Arles, the court sided with the architect Henri Ciriani. The management of the archaeological museum located there (Museum of Ancient Arles), built according to his project in 1995, expanded the building with the help of a municipal architect, seriously disrupting its appearance. The museum, faced with blue ceramic panels, is one of the "provincial" Great Projects of French President Francois Mitterrand, and Docomomo, Richard Mayer, Raphael Moneo, Kenneth Frampton have advocated preserving its original appearance. Nevertheless, the reconstruction was carried out, and now the municipality will have to pay Siriani 30,000 euros as part of damages (although the court still did not order to demolish the "new formation").
N. F.
