| An unknown company wants to get its hands on a masterpiece of Moscow constructivism Last Thursday, the thirteenth architectural festival “Zodchestvo”, organized by the Union of Architects of Russia, opened in the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall. The definition of “official” is most suitable for this event. Reviews of the architectural achievements of nomenklatura design organizations are especially unconvincing against the backdrop of what is happening with the great architectural heritage of Russia, in particular with the constructivist architecture of the 20s, which inspires many modern masters. Monuments created by the masters of the avant-garde Melnikov, Golosov, Ginzburg, and the Vesnin brothers are dying before our eyes. In particular, the matter with the famous house-ship on Novinsky Boulevard took a dangerous turn. Let us remember that the communal house, built in the 20s according to the design of the architect Moisei Ginzburg, was supposed to become a paradise for employees of the People's Commissariat of Finance. Everything in this house was imbued with the idea of “socialization of life” - in their small apartments, where there was a niche instead of a kitchen, the residents had to spend a minimum of time, in fact only sleeping. To organize leisure time, a public building was built with a dining room, a gym, a library, and a solarium was equipped on the roof. Also in the house-ship many of the latest technical solutions were used at that time - from the progressive layout of two-level apartments to quite successful attempts to use heat-saving technologies.
So here it is. A certain Belimar LLC, in exchange for 31 apartments in Mitino, received 28 apartments in the Narkomfin communal building, as well as another 12 apartments in lesser-known buildings in the center of Moscow. This follows from minutes No. 427 of the meeting of the city commission on privatization and management of the housing stock, held on September 22 of this year. An unknown company became the owner of half of the apartments in the most famous residential building of the Soviet avant-garde.
Now the house looks eerie, it is in disrepair, the communal building, which was once bustling with life, is empty, as are half of the apartments. The residents left them after about fifteen years, when they were provided with apartments in other areas of Moscow. In the other half of the apartments (most of which have been privatized) people continue to live.
Now the empty apartments, which were owned by the city, have been transferred to Belimar LLC. With this decision, the Moscow authorities actually relieve themselves of responsibility for the fate of the house, which is included in all textbooks on architecture, shifting it to an unknown LLC. It turned out to be impossible to find out directly from the Belimar company what they were going to do with the property in the former communal house; the company does not appear in any of the telephone directories. However, according to Vremya Novostei, Belimar will try to turn the famous house into a hotel, for which it will seek inclusion of the Narkomfin house in the Moscow government’s program for the construction of a network of hotels and tourist and recreational complexes in the city of Moscow.
The Moscow Cultural Heritage Committee learned about the change of ownership of half of the apartments in the communal building from Vremya Novostey. Commenting on the company's possible plans to create a hotel in the Narkomfin house, the head of the department of Soviet architecture of this department, Tatyana Razdolskaya, said that the investor will have to face a huge number of restrictions on this site, since the Narkomfin house is an architectural monument of regional significance.
No one knows how much the restoration of the famous building might cost. This is one of the main reasons why all previous attempts to find an investor for a communal house were unsuccessful. Investors are afraid to come to this property without knowing what the profit will be and whether there will be any at all. But the fearless Belimar LLC, apparently, is not afraid of obstacles and therefore energetically got down to business, for which it received the nickname Durimar from the residents of the former commune. The company has not yet registered ownership of the apartments, but through its intermediary, the Emiron company, is trying to come to an amicable agreement with the residents. Representatives of Emiron propose that apartment owners sign a certain order with a request to find them new housing instead of an apartment in a communal building. There have not yet been any people willing to draw up this “voluntary” document. But the fate of the unique house and its residents is now virtually in the hands of an unknown limited liability company. After all, the most influential player, the Moscow government, did not want to continue to burden itself with responsibility for the masterpiece of constructivism. Alexander ZMEUL |
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