The architects made a rather bold attempt to solve two painful problems of Yekaterinburg with the help of one project. The first is a TV tower, unfinished since late Soviet times. For 25 years, an abandoned concrete structure with a height of 220 m has been decorating the Iset embankment and it is not very clear what to do with it: the issue is being actively discussed, exhibitions of comic ideas are being held, but no serious progress has been made, only money is allocated for further conservation of the object.
The second is the construction of a temple in the name of the heavenly patroness of the city, the Holy Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria. They want to restore it in the park on Truda Square, on the site of a historical church blown up in the 30s of the last century, or they are going to fill an artificial island in the central city pond and install a temple on it. Both options are not very popular with Yekaterinburg residents, as they violate the familiar and well-established appearance of their hometown and take away popular places of pastime. The proposed appearance of the future church in the spirit of Russian "gingerbread" historicism also does not cause enthusiasm and does not find much support.
The concept project of the Ptarkh & Partners workshop can be viewed as a kind of “knight's move” - why not turn a visual sign of decay and impotence into a real symbol of the city? The project provides for the reconstruction of an unfinished TV tower into a church with the tallest bell tower in the world (exactly in the world, and the record will be broken at once by 75 m), an exhibition space and a spiritual and educational center. The spherical volume, echoing the dome of the neighboring circus, turns out to be dressed in a symbolic phelonion with a cruciform pattern, framing the strong vertical of the bell tower. Of course, with the planned height of the bell tower of 235 m, a public observation deck is conceived in its upper part, because it will also be the tallest object in the city. Interestingly, the architects pay great attention to the social function, emphasizing the benefits of the project not only for the Orthodox community, but also for the entire city. The second version of reconstruction they developed provides for the development of a wider area around the unfinished tower and even the construction of a concert hall. In this case, the whole complex will be symbolically and at the same time fashionably covered with a common "veil", extending even to the opposite bank of the river.
The ambitious project is so far only the architects' own initiative. And the big question is whether their universal, and even ecumenical, vision of a modern Orthodox church will find any support. Nevertheless, the very fact of the conversation on this topic is remarkable.
