Samara: Endangered City on the Volga a new report from MAPS and SAVE Europe’s Heritage was launched in Samara on 11thDecember 2009.
The press conference was chaired by the editors of the report Vitaly Stadnikov, Andrei Gozak and Clementine Cecil, and by contributor Natalia Dushkina. It was attended by over 200 people, including two deputy mayors and the deputy minister of culture for the region.
Vitaly met with the deputy mayor before the press conference to discuss with them the possibility of a restoration project with SAVE and MAPS. They said that they would give 90% of the financing. The house suggested for restoration is the Mashtakov House, a wooden building, a listed monument with fine wooden fretwork. It has stood empty for several years. Deputy mayor, Mr Arsentiev, confirmed this at the press conference. SAVE and MAPS are concerned about the neglected state of Samara’s wooden houses.
Marcus Binney, president of SAVE wrote to the Minister of Culture for the region, Olga Rybakova, prior to the press conference, the letter was showed to the press at the press conference. However, there seems to be a conflict between the regional and federal authorities in Samara, neither willing to take responsibility for the problems the city’s historic monuments are currently facing.
150 copies of the report were given and sold to the press, students and architects. Over 45 copies have been sold in Samara’s bookshops and are still selling well. Over 50 have sold in the UK and they are being quickly bought up in Moscow. In the UK they can be bought in Pushkin House (www.pushkinhouse.org) and in Moscow they can be bought in Garazh and Falanster bookshops.
Vitaly Stadnikov is in dialogue with Vyacheslav Glazychev, Chairman of the Commission for Regional Development in Russia’s Civic Chamber, about introducing a training programme for Samara’s civil servants in order to establish cooperation between the city’s various bureaucratic structures. Without greater cooperation between all stakeholders, Samara’s built heritage will continue to suffer. Glazychev’s training programme has been successful in many other Russian cities.
Another aspect of the Samara project, are plans to conduct a social survey of the inhabitants of Samara’s wooden houses, documenting their living conditions and attitude to their environment. We feel it is important to document life in the dwindling wooden quarters. These are Samara’s poor, and many of the houses are without conveniences, but many of their inhabitants are deeply fond of them and would like to seem them modernised rather than demolished. We believe that if modernised, these quarters would flourish as safe and pleasant places to live, and would be a credit to the city.
SAVE is gathering funds for the restoration of a wooden house in Samara. To donate, please write to info@savebritainsheritage.org
Links to press on reaction to the report:
LOCAL PRESS
http://www.time-samara.ru/news/20091215/14033.html
http://www.vkonline.ru/article/13931.html
LOCAL WEBSITES
http://www.journal.60parallel.org/ru/news/153
http://svoboda.tv/news/samara_nasledie_pod_ugrozoj/2009-12-13-289
http://samaralife.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/1341/ and then the Guardian which send you INTERNATIONAL PRESS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/07/russian-architecture-wiped-out-samara
http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/architecture/the-hammer-and-sickle-canteen/
