Architectural Complicity

Architectural Complicity
Architectural Complicity

Video: Architectural Complicity

Video: Architectural Complicity
Video: Architecture is a Language: Daniel Libeskind at TEDxDUBLIN 2024, March
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Yekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk) is known for its monuments of the architectural avant-garde of the 1920s - early 1930s: the Chekist Town, the Dynamo House of Physical Culture and Sports - and, of course, the White Tower. Also known as the UZTM tower, it was built in the north of the city in 1931 to serve the social city of the Uralmash plant (UZTM). A citywide competition was held for her project, the winner of which was the architect M. V. Reischer. The 29-meter high water tower was conceived as a symbol of the region and the city and their vertical dominant: it completed the Alley of Culture and was visible from the square of the First Five-Year Plan. And the White Tower still plays this role perfectly: it is equally impressive on the outside and inside, even today - when it is neglected and covered with graffiti.

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The water tank-cylinder, raised above the ground on 4 rectangular supports, is equipped with two observation platforms: directly on its roof and on the platform above it; from there you can see the surrounding area and the whole city. The spiral staircase is hidden in a rectangular volume with a window along its entire height (today it is not glazed): for example, when climbing the tower, a person has an "axis" on his right hand - a void around which the staircase turns, and on the left - this window opening, and suddenly a spectacular view of a huge tank opens up from the inside.

Белая Башня. Фотограф Митрохина Марина. Лицензия Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Белая Башня. Фотограф Митрохина Марина. Лицензия Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
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The tower was decommissioned in the 1960s, when the need for it disappeared with the development of the city's water supply network. Then discussions began about changing its function: for example, Reischer proposed turning it into a cafe for 50 people. But nothing was done, and the "frozen" tower stood in its original form until the 1990s, when it was removed from the balance of Uralmash and fell into desolation, in which it is now. In the 2000s, the tower belonged to the branch of the Russian Red Cross, which was going to house a museum of constructivism and a planetarium in it, but failed to realize these plans.

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There is a lot of talk about the White Tower today. This building is well known among the townspeople, and the idea of making it a “brand” of the city is popular. The tower gained such fame thanks to the arch-group PODELNIKI, which for several years has been drawing public attention to the problem of its preservation (or even salvation). The most active members of the group are three young architects Polina Zinovieva, Antonina Savilova and Evgeny Volkov. The group received the official status of "user" of the tower (its owner remains the state) and bears security obligations in relation to it. Official site of the project -

save-the-tower.ru.

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The group periodically raises funds for the study and conservation of the tower, for the installation of a fence there to protect it from vandals, etc. The money is collected through a crowdfunding system, which allows only those projects that have public support to receive funding.

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In addition, PODELNIKI was involved in the cleaning of the tower and the adjacent territory, as well as the study of this monument by the students of the Ural State Academy of Arts, so that young architects and designers could help the avant-garde monument with their own hands and ideas. At the same time, archival materials and structures of the White Tower were studied: for all its popularity, this object has been insufficiently studied.

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Also in Yekaterinburg for several years the festival of architecture and design "White Tower" has been held, the program of which is always associated with the building that gave it its name. For example, a few years ago a light installation "The Red Cross on the White Tower" was arranged, and this time on the last day of the festival, November 1, the film "Pearls of Constructivism. White Tower".

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The Cultural Laboratory of the White Tower is also founded here (you can find out about its current activities in the Vkontakte group): during this project, the tower is studied as a "testing ground" for different types of activity, since it is important to choose the most successful and popular function for it. The events of the laboratories take place both on the sites adjacent to the tower and inside it.

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The main result of the efforts of the PODELNIKI group is the tower conservation project created by the Moscow architectural bureau Rozhdestvenka. Now the project has been approved by the Ministry of State Property Management of the Sverdlovsk Region (MUGISO), and the current fundraising should bring money to fill window and door openings, openings in ceilings, the installation of temporary staircase fences, roof waterproofing: funds can be transferred here; there is also a short video interview with "Companions".

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After the conservation, it will be possible to start the restoration, and the tower will be used in parallel with the progress of the work as a platform for events. However, restoration is not an end in itself, say PODELNIKI: The White Tower is also a research project, i.e. it is important to understand in what form the city needs it, and if it is enough to keep it in its current state, then it is necessary to do just that. The key is the physical preservation of the tower and its return to the life of Yekaterinburg. A similar principle of conservation has already been applied by "Rozhdestvenka" in the case of the Outbuilding-Ruin of the Museum of Architecture. A. V. Shchusev in Moscow.

Белая Башня. Изображение предоставлено группой PODELNIKI
Белая Башня. Изображение предоставлено группой PODELNIKI
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Today, the White Tower is a good example of how the efforts of unequaled citizens can really contribute to the preservation of an architectural monument. The White Tower is indeed becoming a symbol of Yekaterinburg, and interest in it has already gone beyond the professional community. More and more people are talking about the civil position of the architect, and in the case of the PODELNIKI group, this position is clearly readable. Get acquainted with the proposals for the conservation and further development of this facility on the official website of the project. The plot about the preservation of the White Tower also deserves special attention as a story about the unification of architects and the public in the matter of saving the monument, which has every chance of a successful outcome.

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