Tag: Architecture

JRL RUSSIALINK: “Katherine Zubovich’s Magnificent ‘Moscow Monumental’; The story of Moscow’s skyscrapers and the lives they changed” – Moscow Times

History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Moscow State University file photo

“In its 874-year history, Moscow has grown from an obscure twelfth-century military outpost into a world-class capital city of over 20 million inhabitants. Along the way, the city has been reinvented over and over to suit the needs of its rulers. Ivan the Great made Moscow “The Third Rome” after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, raising stone cathedrals inside […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Stalin’s Soaring Moscow Towers Sorely Need Body Work” – New York Times/ Neil MacFarquhar

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog
Moscow State University file photo

“… Most of [Moscow’s] so-called ‘Stalin high-rises’ – both residential and government buildings – desperately need renovating. … stuck in limbo … over who will foot the substantial bill. Since the residential apartments were privatized in the 1990s, the government considers the owners responsible. The residents, particularly … impoverished elderly who inherited apartments from … now deposed Soviet elite, believe […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Restoring Old Churches Inspires a New Philanthropy in Russia” – New York Times

JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Religion
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

In a country where the state has traditionally maintained extensive control, private charity is still in relative infancy. Foundations and groups that receive funds from abroad usually must register as foreign actors. Restoring churches is one area where Russians have seized the volunteer spirit, however. Both churches in Tarusa have been restored with a mixture of state, church and private […]

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Deconstructing Moscow’s Constructivist Legacy

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats
Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola Cichowlas – June 9, 2016) [Photos here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/deconstructing-moscows-constructivist-legacy/571579.html] When Moscow city deputy Alexandra Parushina asked the men in bulldozers if they had permission to tear down a 1920s housing estate in her constituency on June 6, security guards threw her to the ground. While they held her down, injuring her leg, the demolition began. […]

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Moscow’s Chief Architect Envisions the City’s Future

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Vanina – April 29, 2016) [Photos here themoscowtimes.com/business/article/moscows-chief-architect-envisions-the-citys-future/567455.html] For many years, Triumfalnaya Ploshchad was a nondescript square across from Moscow’s beating heart. It was an occasional meeting point for anti-regime protesters, a space to get across to reach somewhere else. Today, however, it is an example of modern design, a beautifully lit Scandinavian oasis […]

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U.S. professor unveils Russian ‘Architecture at the End of the Earth’ in DC

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

William Brumfield presents new book on cultural heritage of Russia’s north. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANNA SOROKINA, RBTH – October 23, 2015) William Brumfield presented highlights and stunning photos from his new book Architecture at the End of the Earth: Photographing the Russian North on Oct. 15 at the headquarters of the American Councils for International Education […]

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William Brumfield: ‘We see things in Russia we never expected to see’

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Ferapontov Monastery file photo, adapted from wikimedia commons image at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferapontov_Monastery_020509.jpg, posted by Enotovidnii

What Americans know about Russian architecture is mainly thanks to the work of one man, who has photographed the country since 1970. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Lara McCoy Roslof, RBTH – September 25, 2015) It’s not easy to get William Brumfield to talk about himself. For Brumfield, 71, the foremost authority on Russian architecture in the U.S., […]

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Russians fight to keep derelict church from sinking beneath the waters

Environment, History, Soviet Union, Religion
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

Volunteers from all over Russia are working in the Vologda Region to save a unique monument of 18th-century architecture – the Church of the Nativity in the village of Krokhino – from destruction. For 50 years, it has been surrounded by water after the village was flooded during the construction of the Volga-Baltic Canal in 1964. (Russia Beyond the Headlines […]

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Architects Clash Over Vladimir Monument

History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 29, 2015) On Monday evening, Rustam Rakhmatullin, the coordinator of the social movement Archnadzor, brought together eminent architects and architecture experts to discuss the proposals to erect a 24-meter monument to Vladimir the Great in the capital. Also present was Yury Nikiforov, a representative of the Russian Society of War History, which has started […]

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Interfax: Voting system invulnerable, but will require Russian-made software in future – Churov

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) – The head of the Russian Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, has confirmed the invulnerability of the state automated voting system “Vybory” (Elections) but added that in future the system will require Russian, not foreign, software to counter potential threats to it from abroad. “Currently our system (“Vybory”) is invulnerable, but we cannot do the next cycle […]

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Apparatchik Apartments: Behind the facades of the House on the Embankment

History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Back side of House on Embankment (central part), view from Patriarshy Bridge pedestrian walkway, from Wikimedia Commons, user NVO, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moscow,_House_on_Embankment_back_side.jpg

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitriy Romendik, RBTH – April 16, 2014) This huge apartment block across the river from the Kremlin is one of the enduring symbols of the Stalin era. In the 1930s the apartments inside were allocated only to senior officials and the Soviet elite, but when many of them fell from favor, a grim […]

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Import of Goodwill: Ex-expat fighting for Moscow’s buildings

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – November 19, 2013) This year, as part of the Moskovskiye Novosti’s New Intelligentsia Awards, The Moscow News is giving out a special prize honoring expats who perform community service/work for public benefit in Russia. Our prize is called Import of Goodwill, and Clementine Cecil is one of the 2013 nominees. A former […]

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Reminder: Call for Nominations Klebnikov Fellowship Program [by September 15]

Education, Academia, Jobs, Opportunities, Calls for Papers, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
Columbia University Campus with Main Building

Subject: Reminder: Call for Nominations Klebnikov Fellowship Program From: The Paul Klebnikov Fellowship at the Harriman Institute <lch2111@columbia.edu> Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:06:20 +0000 Columbia/Harriman Institute Dear Friends and Colleagues, We write to ask for your help in identifying extraordinary candidates for the Harriman Institute’s Paul Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellowship for the 2013/14 academic year (much gratitude to […]

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Architectural Preservation’s Politics

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – July 9, 2013) The battle over the preservation of Moscow’s architectural heritage has become visibly political in recent weeks, as prominent opposition parties criticized acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s policies. Several candidates have promised to address the issue in the run-up to this September’s mayoral race. The primary catalyst in the debate has […]

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