A new report from The Classical City, a journal dedicated to preserving St. Petersburg, Russia, describes the destructive effects of the city's new plan and calls for architecture that is consistent with the city's character.
"Today the notions of real estate development and traditional architecture seem diametrically opposed to each other; they are, however, not. Only when developers espouse a defunct architectural style is real estate development at odds with traditionalism / classicism."
"The inhabitants of a city renowned for its rich architectural heritage undergoing a development boom should take care to both preserve and protect their city. Legislation that simply inhibits development or dismissively relegates it to a certain area without accounting for it in any other way merely shifts the problem around. It does not solve it."
"Rather, what is needed is a form of local legislation which judiciously regulates real estate development in a manner promoting both economic growth and architectural integrity."
Comments
The Biggest Threat to Classical St. Petersburg
This study just looks at what has already been built, so it doesn't mention the biggest threat to Classical St. Petersburg: Gazprom, Russia's energy monopoly, wants to build a high-rise headquarters there that would be taller than New York's Empire State Building.
You can sign a petition to save St. Petersburg from this highrise at
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petersburg/
Gazprom invited six avant-gardist architecture firms to submit designs for this project, none with experience in designing projects that respect their historic context. You can see the entries at
http://www.gazprom-city.info/competition/projects.
The winner was the RMJM design.
For more information, see
http://www.intbau.org/news.htm#GAZPROM081206
Charles Siegel