The long-suffering second stage of the Mariinsky Theater has been in the spotlight of the press all week. Not only was the implementation of the project difficult and lasted more than 10 years (the story was recalled by Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti and Fontanka), after the removal of the scaffolding passions flared up with renewed vigor. It seemed that criticism came from all sides: the townspeople were indignant on blogs, journalists and experts - on the pages of publications.
The Village quoted the director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, who called the building “nothing”. RIA Novosti published the opinions of architects who agree that "this structure is a bare functional building, there is no need to discuss architecture here." And IA REGNUM reported: the townspeople are actively collecting signatures for the demolition of the second stage, which they intend to send to the governor of St. Petersburg.
At the same time, Grigory Revzin reminded in Russian Life: he predicted a similar result. And he cited excerpts from his 2009 article as evidence: “This will be a building that looks like a cross between a department store and McDonald's. The critic also lamented that his participation in architectural councils, juries and other consultations in the end could not save any project, including the Mariinka-2, from mistakes: “The mines that were included in the project and which I saw in advance, always exploded, and I have never been able to neutralize them. " And he brought to the attention of the readers a witty story about the implementation of architectural projects in Russia: “The first stage of any major project in Russia is a boundless dream. Each of our large government (and not only) projects begins with the idea of building something better than anyone in the world. Architecture begins with a dream at the highest level, and ends with a dream at the bottom. And it always ends at the bottom. And it's not clear who is to blame. " By the way, in his other article on the pages of Ogonyok, Grigory Revzin touched upon the sore point of "snickering Moscow", revealing the origins of the problem in the great appetites of the authorities.
In conclusion of the Mariinsky II theme, we note that there were also articles of a calm tone in the press. For example, "Fontanka" was perplexed, "where were the city defenders all the last time, because the project was shown to everyone," and cited the opinions of Grigory Revzin and Alexander Kononov. And Nikolai Malinin in “Vedomosti” philosophically concluded: “For some reason it seemed that life would now be different. I didn't. And why were everyone so surprised? The professionals knew what would happen, and the residents saw how it hatched."
No less hotly discussed in the press was the desperate action of St. Petersburg city rights defenders and anarchists, who, in fact, occupying one of the surviving warehouses of the Varshavsky railway station, tried to save the building from demolition. At the beginning of the week, Moscow News, having visited the activists, published information from the front line: the guys were not going to give up. But the very next day it was reported that the police and riot police had detained the defenders of the warehouse, some of them might be prosecuted. At the same time, as IA REGNUM wrote, the St. Petersburg deputies promised to control the investigation process so that it was as objective as possible.
Continuing the theme of heritage preservation - news from Peterhof. According to the newspaper "Kommersant", the administration of St. Petersburg is going to build an automobile overpass over the famous English Park, a monument of federal significance. Moreover, the officials do not see contradictions with the 73rd federal law "On objects of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation", insisting that this will not be new construction, but "the adaptation of the object for modern use." Deputy of the Legislative Assembly Alexei Kovalyov, disagreeing with such a free interpretation of the law, sent an appeal to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
Another important news of the week, touched upon by the St. Petersburg media, concerned the renovation program of two historic quarters of the city, which, by the way, has not yet been made public by the authorities. At a recent press conference, as Petersburg 3.0 wrote, the Housing Committee announced that it was preparing amendments to the legislation in order to simplify the resettlement of residents of these territories. The content of the amendments was not specified. Aleksey Kovalev fears that the authorities want to clear expensive land in the city center for new construction in this way. The next request of Kovalev and Boris Vishnevsky to the governor regarding the renovation program has already been approved by ZAKS, Fontanka reported.
A similar situation from the point of view of the behavior of the authorities is unfolding in Petrozavodsk. Here, for the third week, the excitement in connection with the appointment of A. V. Nelidov as director of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve. The edition "RK-Press" recalled that Nelidov is on the list of 126 corrupt officials, published last year in the media. And the concept of tourism development in Zaonezhie, developed under his leadership, threatens the World Heritage site with destruction. Meanwhile, the Vedomosti correspondent, who visited Kizhi, not only published an interview with the new and former director of the reserve, but also cited a very curious opinion of the inhabitants of the island: “I heard in the museum they said: they say, he will sell all Kizhi in six months. How will he do it? Will pull it apart by logs? He hasn't done anything yet. Why should I not believe him? The person seems to be adequate. And in general - I want to preserve the monuments. Let me do my job."
And now about the creative news, of which there were also a lot this week.
MAPS has posted an interesting article on the planned reconstruction of the ZIL. The author of the material, a specialist in industrial architecture and reconstruction of industrial enterprises Margarita Basse, analyzes and comments on the industrial zone renovation project, developed under the leadership of Yuri Grigoryan. As a result, she comes to the conclusion that "the project for the reconstruction of the territory of the ZIL plant requires revision from the standpoint of assessing the heritage of industrial architecture, solving the transport situation, taking into account the new purpose of the territories and studying environmental monitoring data."
RIA Novosti announced the beginning of the long-awaited restoration in the building, where the Roman Viktyuk Theater has been located for more than 15 years. Monument to constructivism, Palace of Culture im. Rusakov, built in 1929 according to the project of Konstantin Melnikov, this Friday they plan to get rid of the illegal extension, in order to then start restoration work.
The fate of another Moscow monument, the family estate of Muravyov-Apostol, was told in an interview with The Village by the financier and philanthropist Christopher Muravyov-Apostol, who carried out a comprehensive scientific restoration of the ancient building at his own expense.
In addition, Construction Weekly announced the start of restoration of the historical and architectural complex of Staraya Ladoga, and RIA Novosti announced the launch of a program to restore the Pskov Kremlin.
In addition to the news about the preservation of the heritage, information about several new urban development projects appeared in the Moscow press this week. Kommersant spoke about the intention of the Russian government to create an educational and sports cluster in Domodedovo, where it is planned to place student campuses and sports facilities. On the pages of Moscow Perspective, they informed about the upcoming transformation of the capital's Molzhaninovo district, unique for its good ecological situation, transport accessibility and low population density, into an industrial park. And "RBK daily" reported that the Moskomarkhitektura has developed a plan for the territory of the Tushino airfield, which is going to be transformed into a full-fledged landscaped area.
In conclusion, we will say that the search for a compromise on the issue of allocated lanes between the authorities and motorists continues in the capital. According to Kommersant, from February 6, the "dedicated line" will be canceled on the Zvenigorodskoye highway, where the road situation is one of the most difficult in the city. This decision was facilitated by an independent study of activists who proved that passenger traffic on this section of the route is extremely insignificant. Nevertheless, the introduction of dedicated lanes in Moscow, planned for 2013-2014, will continue. In addition, as Izvestia wrote, the city authorities have moved to more active actions: in the spring of 2013, delinators will appear on the busiest highways, protecting the designated lanes from motorists.
"Expert" announced that a high-speed tram service will be established in the capital. And also to accustom passengers to more active use of ground public transport, Izvestia told.
