Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Crusader for Moscow architecture dies aged 62

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Crusader for Moscow architecture dies aged 62

    Crusader for Moscow architecture dies aged 62

    MOSCOW, January 7 (RIA Novosti)

    David Sarkisyan, director of the Schusev Museum of Architecture and
    campaigner for Moscow's architectural heritage, died in the Russian
    capital on Thursday aged 62.

    Born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1947, Sarkisyan was a man of many talents,
    first working as a biologist and developing a drug used in the
    treatment of Alzheimer's, then in the 1980s turning his hand to film
    as the writer and director of more than 20 documentaries.

    Finally, in 2000, he became the head of the Museum of Architecture.

    Recognizing that the walls of the grand old building on Vozdvizhenka
    were the perfect backdrop for architectural exhibitions, he
    transformed the obscure venue into a first-rate exhibition space.

    But his work extended beyond the small courtyard not far from the
    Kremlin. He fought against what he saw as the destruction of some of
    Moscow's most important architectural monuments, not least the Hotel
    Moskva just off Red Square, which was demolished in 2004 so that a
    new, nearly identical hotel could be built in its place with modern
    materials and techniques.

    The original building, designed by Alexei Schusev, for whom the
    architecture museum is named, is memorialized in an online exhibit on
    the museum's web site.

    In the wake of the 2004 fire that nearly destroyed the Manezh next to
    the Kremlin, Sarkisyan published an open letter to the Russian
    authorities calling for "immediate action for salvation of the
    architectural heritage of our country."

    He warned of a "cultural catastrophe" that would rob Russians of their
    historical memory, saying that the disruption of Moscow's
    architectural past was having a destructive influence on other cities,
    which were also losing their appearance.

    His latest campaign, against the planned demolition of the Central
    House of Artists on the Moscow River near Gorky Park, seems to have
    failed to save that building, with the city apparently pushing ahead
    with plans to redevelop the site.

    Sarkisyan was not universally critical of the development of the
    Russian capital, however, praising the creation of the Moscow-City
    business district on the edge of downtown.

    Arrangements have yet to be made for Sarkisyan's funeral.

    The museum's current exhibition is devoted to the creation of Russia's
    pavilion at the Paris Exhibition of 1937, which included the "Worker
    and Collective-Farm Girl" monument.
Working...
X