Sheremetyevo International Airport was built near Moscow in 1964, on the rise of historical optimism. Then it seemed that the USSR was ready to compete on equal terms - and cooperate - with the most highly developed countries in the world. The ultra-modern airport was conceived as a meeting place and seeing off international delegations.
A round landing pavilion connected by the gallery with the Sheremetyevo-1 terminal with an observation deck in the upper level is the architectural focus of the entire composition. Today the terminal is outdated and the owners of the airport want to demolish it in order to build a new one. The desire is understandable, but it is not clear why destroy the landing pavilion - a small architectural masterpiece, decoration and a symbol of the history of the airport, which can easily find a new use.
The structures of Soviet modernism in the 1960s and 1970s are not protected by law due to the sluggishness of our heritage protection system. Among them there are monuments, the value of which is obvious, but which can be destroyed before they are put under state protection. Today experts are trying to ward off the threat hanging over the Sheremetyevo landing pavilion. Archi.ru publishes a letter sent to the Minister of Culture of the Moscow Region by the Institute of Modernism.
You can add your voice to the defense of the famous "Glass" by signing a petition addressed to the airport administration for Сhange.org.
Minister of Culture
Moscow region
O. A. Rozhnov
Dear Oleg Alexandrovich!
The media published information about the impending demolition of the round landing pavilion of the Sheremetyevo-1 air terminal complex.
The air terminal complex "Sheremetyevo-1" was built in 1964 by architects G. A. Elkina, G. V. Kryukova, M. Chesakova, M. B. Gurevich, L. Ivanov, engineers N. I. Irmes, V. M. Aksenova, A. N. Pritzker.
The round landing pavilion, called "Shot Glass", was originally designed as an architectural dominant, a visiting card of Sheremetyevo International Airport, and after the opening of the airport complex in 1964, this pavilion became one of the most important symbols of new Soviet architecture.
Its historical value is indisputable - it was the landing pavilion building that was created in order to form a positive vivid image of the USSR among the official delegations arriving from abroad and other foreign citizens, to demonstrate the architectural possibilities of a modern, open to external contacts and possessing modern architectural thinking and building technologies, advanced the state.
When designing a round landing pavilion, a completely unique architectural and artistic solution was developed, on the one hand, absolutely original, embodying the aesthetic values of its time, on the other hand, associated with the traditions of the architecture of the Russian avant-garde, the era of the greatest achievements and innovations in the field of architecture, design and shaping. Developed and implemented in the early 1960s, the solution has not lost its relevance and visual impact to this day.
Due to its high artistic merit, the "Shot Glass" pavilion was featured in numerous publications in the professional and general press, included in many feature films, including - "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" (1973, directed by E. A. Ryazanov), Dead Season (1968, directed by S. Kulish) and others.
The constructive solution of the round pavilion "Glass" was also absolutely advanced for its time and is of considerable interest to this day. The supporting structure of the building is a reinforced concrete frame consisting of 28 rectangular reinforced concrete columns connected for rigidity with reinforcement with interfloor floors. This conical, three-storey building expanding upward is crowned with a 28-meter cantilever roof, the structure of which consists of reinforced concrete trusses with a span of 18 meters. A wide, 86 meters in diameter, round canopy, like an umbrella, covers the landing pavilion.
Today there is a successful international experience in the preservation and use of historical pavilions on the territory of modern air terminal complexes. Thus, the terminal of Trans World Airlines (TWA) at the airport. John F. Kennedy in New York, USA, built in 1962 by the architect Ero Saarinen and representing a unique bird-like structure, was once presented as an abstract symbol of flight and received the nickname "winged gull". In 2001, the terminal was shut down. In 2013, Andre Balazs Properties won a tender for the right to renovate the old poultry section of the terminal. It is planned to rebuild it into a hotel, which will include a conference center and a museum dedicated to the history of the terminal. In April 2015, the Winged Gull Pavilion renovation project received the DoCoMo USA Award of Excellence for the preservation of one of the most prominent buildings that shaped US architecture in the 20th century.
The landing pavilion "Sheremetyevo-1", of course, is no less a part of the cultural heritage and an outstanding architectural structure of Russia in the twentieth century. In the mid-1960s, the appearance of this pavilion played an important role in the formation of the cultural identity of the peoples of the USSR and, in addition, due to the high trafficability of its location, it was reflected in the minds of a colossal number of people around the world as an important symbol of the achievements of the USSR in the field of architecture.
Taking into account the high historical and cultural value of the landing pavilion "Glass", I ask you to include this pavilion in the list of objects that have signs of cultural heritage. On the basis of clause 4 of article 36 of the Federal Law of June 25, 2002 No. 73-FZ "On objects of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation" I ask you to take measures to ensure the physical safety of this building before making a decision to include it to the list of identified objects of cultural heritage. To ensure the safety of the building, I ask you to send to the owner of the facility, Sheremetyevo International Airport JSC, a written order to suspend any work that threatens its safety.
Respectfully, Director of the Institute of Modernism, Candidate of Art Criticism O. V. Kazakova
Research Director, A. Yu. Bronovitskaya
Application:
Scans of photographs of the 1970s pavilion - 3 pcs.
