See historian Marina Khrustaleva
about the experience of revitalization
cinemas in Los Angeles
The renovation program for dozens of peripheral cinemas in Moscow was launched at the end of 2014, when the Moscow government sold 39 buildings to the development company ADG group at once through an auction. The experiments of previous tenants, including leading Russian distributors, have confirmed that these buildings cannot pay off as cinemas, since capital reconstruction is required in order to adapt their internal structure to modern rental standards. And the proceeds from ticket sales turned out to be not the most profitable item. Therefore, most of the cinemas were either abandoned or turned into "self-made" shopping malls.
We have already written about the first steps in the implementation of this program - the study of the surviving cinemas and the competitions held. Taking into account other people's mistakes, ADG group has developed a unique program for creating regional centers, only 30% of the functionality of which should be related to cinema. Socio-cultural, educational and entertainment functions: coworking, sports sections, a children's club, master classes and, of course, retail - from a grocery supermarket to a fashionable food-hall format, will have to return these buildings to their former significance as centers of attraction of the local community, epicenters of the local cultural and social life.
Another conceptual know-how of the ADG group is the idea of a radical modernization of buildings. Where the law allows, and the economy confirms the expediency of radical measures, reconstruction will be carried out in a total way. Instead of the typical symbols of the 70s and 80s in the literal and figurative sense of the word, complexes will appear, endowed with signs of modern international architecture, based on a design code developed by a team led by Amanda Leavit. Using the code and the catalog of standard solutions, such as the combination of solid structural glazing of the first floor with cladding with volumetric ceramic panels of the upper volume on the facades, individual projects are developed for each future district center. No building will be completely identical to another. Each project takes into account the specific town planning and surrounding buildings.
The use of a single design code will allow the developer to "kill two birds with one stone" - to reduce the cost of each individual project and create a recognizable brand that will become the hallmark of a new type of public, trade and cultural centers in the "sleeping" districts of Moscow, capable of pulling the clientele tired of riding for bread and circuses”far away in Mega.
A sound business model with a worthy social connotation received the approval of the Moscow authorities and began to be implemented at a rapid pace. The design documentation for all 39 facilities has already been developed, most of the approvals for AGR (architectural and urban planning decisions) and positive conclusions of the MGE (Moscow State Expertise), as well as several permits for construction and installation works have been received. In the spring of 2017, construction work began on the reconstruction of facilities that are primarily part of the program - the Angara, Budapest, Sofia and Kyrgyzstan cinemas. At the "low start" "Dream" and "Orbit".
The ADG group has developed several strategies for working with objects from the point of view of working with heritage: scientific restoration, adaptation, preservation of decorative elements. The first option will be used in the revival of the Rodina cinema - an object of cultural heritage of regional importance - it is planned to restore the facades and interior, including the restoration of the staircase rails.
Those buildings, the constructive solutions of which allow them to be adapted to new functions, will be reconstructed by the “adaptation” method, while maintaining the volumes and basic structures. This category includes "Zvezdny", "Voskhod", "Sayany" and "Warsaw". For dilapidated buildings, whose layouts cannot be adapted to new functions, methods of "deep reconstruction" will be applied: while maintaining the building area with a possible increase in the height of the building.
Russian architects are actively involved in the program for the reconstruction of cinemas. In addition to the ADG group's own design department, third-party companies are involved in the work on individual projects. For example, ABD Architects took part in the development of the concepts of six reconstruction projects by the AL_A architectural bureau "Angara", "Dream", "Budapest", "Orbita", "Sofia", "Kyrgyzstan". Design documentation for the reconstruction of the Baikonur cinema was developed by Sergey Kiselev and Partners. The Spectrum Group of Companies is involved in the work on the projects of the Pervomaisky, Patriot and Aurora cinemas. And in the projects of the cinemas "Planeta", "Elbrus" and "Mars" - the company "Bureau" Close-up ". ***
The desire to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies developed, as well as to clarify the opinion of the architectural and historical-protective community about the implemented program, was the reason for holding a round table "Memory of Place" at the Arch Moscow 2017 festival. ADG group architect Sergey Kryuchkov invited a number of leading architects and researchers of architecture to discuss a range of issues. Do cinemas built in the late 1960s - mid-1980s deserve the status of architectural monuments, or does the use of typical and, often, ordinary projects deserve this status? Is the complexity of adapting existing buildings to new functions a sufficient objective reason for a radical reconstruction with a change in appearance and volume? Which is more important: the architectural appearance or the function of the building? Where to look for funds to preserve authentic buildings as symbols or museums of a bygone era? Is the fragmentary preservation of individual decorative elements correct, or is it just a way to camouflage the actual destruction of the “memory of the place”?
As you might expect, opinions were divided. Researchers and architectural historians have argued for the preservation of the original buildings, architects discussed various ways to revive them or recreate the spirit, but not the letter of a function that has gone forever. No one had balanced and reasoned opinions, especially in terms of economic expediency. Against this background, the presentation, prepared by the architectural historian Marina Khrustaleva, on how the empty cinemas of the capital of cinema, Los Angeles, survived, became a real discovery. The solutions to the problem faced by Russian architects and experts turned out to have been found long ago. They are logical, pragmatic and based on the legal framework and practice of active participation of urban communities and public institutions in city governance. And since we have yet to go through this path, we asked Marina Khrustaleva to prepare a detailed story about how the “temples of the tenth muse” survived in California.
Continuation: Marina Khrustaleva. Revitalizing Los Angeles Cinemas
