The report “Moscow Heritage at Crisis Point” has been written to draw attention to the ongoing destruction of Moscow’s historic buildings.
More than a thousand buildings, hundreds of them of historic and architectural importance, have been destroyed in the last five years, approximately 200 of them with monument status.
“Architectural monuments of all eras are under threat. Nothing is sacrosanct,” writes the President of SAVE Europe’s Heritage Marcus Binney in his introduction, “Moscow is in danger of becoming an ersatz city, which makes a mockery of Moscow’s great past.”
The bilingual report has been prepared by the Moscow Architecture Preservation Society (MAPS) and SAVE Europe’s Heritage with contributions from experts from Russia, the US, Germany and the UK. It includes a survey of threatened and lost buildings and practical recommendations on how to save what remains of Moscow’s architectural heritage, including suggested changes to Russian law. It is the first international survey of its kind.
Binney writes that the report is an attempt to "combat the tidal wave of grossly overscaled and insensitive development that threatens to erode Moscow’s unique and distinctive qualities."
The report includes case studies of several of the city’s endangered landmarks including St Basil’s Cathedral, Tsaritsyno, Children’s World Department Store, Mayakovskyaya Metro Station, the Melnikov House and Narkomfin.
The report was today delivered to President Vladimir Putin, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow's chief architect Alexander Kuzmin, the head of the Moscow Heritage Committee Valery Shevchuk and 11 other leading decision makers in the sphere of architectural heritage.
In the course of this week, 250 copies of the report will be sent to all members of the Moscow City Duma, Moscow’s top architects, the Moscow Heritage Committee, and many others.
Seven hundred copies will be distributed throughout the world to leading figures in the architectural world and to the media.
Excerpts from the report:
“The purpose of this report is to illustrate the immediate, extensive and overwhelming threat to Moscow’s historic architecture.
Whole rows of traditional painted stone and wooden buildings along ancient streets and river quaysides are being destroyed and deformed, robbing the city of some of its most picturesque beauty.
Moscow’s rulers should be aware that no other European capital would tolerate destruction of the authentic fabric of a major landmark in this way. Nor indeed would its citizens.
Moscow is in danger of becoming an ersatz city of cheap reproductions and mock heritage, with the occasional faithful replica outnumbered by architectural mongrels that make a mockery of Russia’s great past.”
Marcus Binney, Chairman of SAVE Europe's Heritage
“This report is an expression of heartfelt appreciation of Moscow's architectural heritage, but also a call to cherish it and realise it's full potential.”
Clementine Cecil, MAPS
“Moscow's leaders must start to value their city's remarkable heritage, not interfere with it. It is in their power to encourage others to see the potential of Moscow’s historic fabric, to work with it not against it, to ensure that the world is graced by a city that thrives from this much needed and deserved attention.”
Adam Wilkinson, SAVE Europe's Heritage
“The main reason for the destruction of some of the oldest buildings in Moscow is pressure from commercial organisations that obtain the rights to them and have no desire to spend money restoring them. State building safety organs provide falsified reports in return for backhanders and the department for building conservation, for reasons one can only conjecture, grants permission for demolition and construction of a sham replica as the only possible means of restoration. Moreover, a few years back permission would be granted by the mayor of the city personally.”
Rustam Rakhmatullin, journalist, Izvestia newspaper
“As a result of these losses, the wealthy city of Moscow becomes poorer every day. Mediocre and banal buildings are replacing unique and expressive architecture all over the city. The next few years will decide whether Russia is willing and able to save its most precious contribution to world architecture - Moscow’s avant-garde legacy.” Dr. Franziska Bollerey, professor of the History of Townplanning and Architecture at the University ofTechnology in Delft. Axel Fohl, Head of Industrical Monuments for the Rhineland.
Media Reaction to the report.
“A devastating report by the valiant Moscow Architectural Preservation Society, cataloguing the loss not just of major monuments but of hundreds of
courtyards, terraces and quaysides.” Simon Jenkins in The Guardian, 27/04/07.
The report was supported by Paulsen Editions (Moscow/Paris), The Matthew Bown Gallery UK, The World Monuments Fund UK, and SAVE Europe’s Heritage.
Adam Wilkinson +442072533500 adam@savebritheritage.plus.com
MAPS was formed in May 2004 by a group of international journalists and architects. We work in close cooperation with preservationists, historians and architects within Russia and abroad to raise awareness about the present destruction of the city’s historical buildings.
SAVE Europe’s Heritage was founded in 1995 by preservation experts from all over the world to campaign for Europe’s historic buildings. Save Europe’s Heritage has written two reports on buildings in France and Hungary. Their previous report, “Unforgiveable Assault on a World Heritage Site” led to a court case that successfully postponed the construction of a motorway across the Veneto in Italy. “Moscow Heritage at Crisis Point” is SAVE Europe’s Heritage longest and most ambitious report to date.
www.savebritainsheritage.org
