Dismissal of Grigory Revzin
Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky dismissed Grigory Revzin from the post of Commissioner of the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. An architectural critic wrote about this in his blog on April 7: “There is nothing to write about Crimea! Three months before the exhibition. I wonder what will happen next. " The Commissioner acts as the personal representative of the Minister of Culture at the exhibition; Grigory Revzin was appointed to this post by Alexander Avdeev in 2011. In an interview with Bolshoy Gorod, Revzin said that what had happened seemed logical to him, since his views were very different from those of the minister: “He said that today the basis of the cultural program is that Russia is not Europe. And everything I did was about what kind of Russia Europe is. " As Deputy Minister of Culture Elena Milovzorova explained to the press, "Revzin's very active creative and journalistic activities do not allow him to fully participate in the project, preparation for which is in full swing." Revzin wrote about the situation in Crimea in a negative way for lenta.ru and for Echo of Moscow. Deutsche Welle and Interview Russia published extensive interviews with the critic.
Interfax reports that Semyon Mikhailovsky, the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, has been appointed the new commissar. Kirill Ass from Colta.ru considers it unlikely that "he will risk completely changing the exposition in the remaining time, although he has the opportunity to arrange a demonstration performance in the genre of unforced emergency work, so close to the Russian spirit."
The Biennale will be held from June 7 to November 23, 2014, curated by Rem Koolhaas. The Russian exposition is being prepared by the Strelka Institute, which Revzin entrusted with this task back in January 2013.
Contests and winners
This week the results of two major architectural competitions were announced. The winner of the competition for the improvement of Triumfalnaya Square is the Buromoscow workshop. The project was examined in detail by Kommersant and Gazeta.ru, and the portal of the Archsovet of Moscow spoke with the founders of the workshop, Yulia Burdova and Olga Aleksakova.
The next winner is the Italian bureau LAND Milano Srl, which developed the best park project on Khodynskoe Pole. According to Moskovskaya Perspektiva, Sergei Kuznetsov called the concept the most thought-out: the proposals of the Italians will make it possible to quickly bring the project to life. Its cost is estimated at about 600 million rubles. The criticism was made by Gazeta.ru, which cites the opinion of Galina Morozova, head of the Moscow City Society for the Protection of Nature: Khodynskoye field should be preserved as a meadow park with local grasses and flowers, and not create artificial lawns there. According to her, the project of the Italian architects could have been implemented in any other place without destroying "the rarest landscape for the central part of the city."
Archi.ru prepared a report from a press conference summarizing the results of both competitions, and The Village asked Sergei Kuznetsov why to announce international competitions in Russia and what they give to local professionals.
Also this week, the finalists of the competition for the development of the concept of the International Financial Center in Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye were announced. They are the Russian bureau TPO "Reserve", the German Astoc GmbH & Co and the Dutch KCAP Architects & Planners. The final decision of Sberbank, on the lands of which the MFC is to appear, will take within two months. The project will be implemented in 10-15 years, investments - about $ 8-12 billion, writes Kommersant.
In addition, a new architectural competition for the reconstruction of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts was announced. A. S. Pushkin. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the competition will be closed; Project Meganom bureau, Sergei Skuratov's workshop and TPO Reserve will participate. Projects must be submitted in two months, the winner will be determined at the end of June. Marina Loshak, director of the Pushkin Museum, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the new concept of the museum's development.
Historical center of St. Petersburg
What awaits the historical center of St. Petersburg, Kommersant tried to figure it out. Many specialists are pessimistic about large-scale reconstruction programs: now there is no understanding of what the historical center should be, no money, no specialists. Rafael Dayanov, Chairman of the Council for Architectural and Historical Heritage of the St. Petersburg Union of Architects, believes that "the historical center is one big problem, an iceberg that we see only about 30 percent."
In the meantime, the reconstruction of the Nikolsky market began, according to "St. Petersburg Vedomosti": this forced the city rights defenders to go to the rally. They believe that "office inserts" in the historic building will spoil the panoramas of the Kryukov Canal, and only the facade will remain of the monument, writes "Nevskoe Vremya".
Through public efforts, it was finally possible to achieve the inclusion of another problem building - the blockade substation - in the register of monuments. This decision was made at the last Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Fontanka reports. Now the "LSR Group" will not have the opportunity to demolish the building and build an apart-hotel in its place. “The more we scare investors away from the city center, the better,” - IA Regnum, professor of architecture Vladimir Lisovsky, conveys the opinion. Now Smolny is facing trials with an investor who has already invested about 400 million rubles in the project, writes Kommersant.
Transformation of the All-Russian Exhibition Center into VDNKh
The Moscow Department of Culture has begun the restoration and improvement of the All-Russian Exhibition Center, Novaya Gazeta reports. Excavators, cleaners, dump trucks are working on the territory, fresh asphalt is being laid and temporary structures are being demolished. The basic improvement will be completed by May, and the entire reconstruction project of the All-Russian Exhibition Center, which will be renamed VDNKh, will require 7 years and about 60 billion rubles. Moscow plans to make the All-Russian Exhibition Center the same convenient and pleasant place as Gorky Park or Sokolniki, Gazeta.ru writes. Now on the territory of the exhibition there are more than 600 structures, including both architectural monuments and a squatter construction and buildings with a dubious right to property, including an oceanarium under construction. The new general director of the exhibition, Vladimir Pogrebenko, will have to deal with them.
In the near future, the development of the concept for the development of the VVTs territory will begin, but for now The Village recalls the last 20 years of the complex's history.
