"With anxiety and amazement"

Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation
V.R. Medinsky

Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation on Culture
V.I. Tolstoy

Moscow, September 15, 2014

Dear Vladimir Rostislavovich!
Dear Vladimir Ilyich!

We, members of the professional architectural and museum community of Russia, art historians and historians of architecture, consider incompatible with the status and mission of the culture of the Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Schuseva, whose employees on August 13, 2014 invaded the house-master-famous Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov, a monument of architecture of federal significance. Without waiting for the final execution of the court decision on the full transfer of the house to the state ownership to create an architecture museum at its base, the withdrawal of the house from the housing fund, the resolution of the conflict situation with the heirs of the architect, the museum’s employees entered the house, taking advantage of the lack of legally residing there E.V. Karinskaya - granddaughter of the great architect, performer of the will V.K. Melnikova, thereby violating the principle of inviolability of the home. Further actions of the museum of architecture - the change of locks on the house, the installation of round -the -clock protection of the ChOO house (private security organization) with dogs, regular workplace of premises, a ban on visiting E.V. Karinskaya relatives and the restriction of access to it even doctors, forced conducting the inventory of memorial objects mixed with personal things - we consider unacceptable.

We believe that on the basis of Melnikov’s house, the State Museum should be opened according to the will of V.K. Melnikova, however, without a doubt, not a single museum can be created on the basis of doubtful acts, direct violence, as well as haste. The plans of the Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Schuseva is a speedy opening of a house for visitors (in November 2014), although this cannot be done before a scientific restoration. Without restoration, the house may die in a short time; This position of GMA named after Schusev contradicts the main goal of creating the Melnikov Museum - the preservation of a unique building.

Due to the fact that the Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Schuseva now carries serious reputation losses and thereby destroying the reputation of the future museum K.S. and V.K. Melnikovs, as well as due to the fact that the leadership of the museum turned out to be incapable of the peaceful completion of the complex hereditary case and negotiations (for which much was done in previous years by the former director of the museum of architecture D.A. Sargsyan and the architectural community), we consider it necessary as necessary: ​​in the shortest possible time:

1) suspend any actions in Melnikov’s house, with the exception of urgent measures to preserve the monument; Remove ChOO. To evaluate from a legal point of view of the action of the Museum of Architecture. A.V. Schusev and all participants in the conflict, make the relevant personnel decisions.

2) to collect a conciliation commission with the participation of lawyers representing the parties to the conflict, and museum experts to develop a compromise phased plan for the creation of the K.S. and V.K. Melnikovs.

3) to create an expert council where experts in architecture of the twentieth century, restorers, museum experts and designers who will evaluate the concept of the museum and will be able to make adjustments based on the current situation.

Melnikov’s house is a world property; The situation around the monument with anxiety and amazement is now observing the entire architectural community. We ask you to follow the peaceful settlement of the conflict, thereby preserving the country's cultural heritage and the reputation of cultural and architectural community institutions in Russia.

Sincerely,

Evgeny ACS, architect, artist, rector of the architectural school march

Andrey Batalov, Doctor of Art History, Professor, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, member of the Presidium of the Scientific and Methodological Council on Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

Alexander Brodsky, architect, artist

Anna Bronovitskaya, candidate of art history, associate professor of Markhi, member of the heritage section of the Soviet period of the Federal Scientific and Methodological Council on Heritage

Nikolai Vasiliev, art critic, general secretary doComomo -Russia

Evgenia Gershkovich, art critic, journalist

Yuri Grigoryan, architect

Maria Gulida, architect

Alexander Danilova, art critic, curator, deputy head of the art department of the XIX -XX centuries of the A.S. Pushkin

Natalya Dushkina, Professor Markhi, founding member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Heritage of the twentieth century

Valentin Dyakonov, critic, curator, observer of Kommersant Publishing House

Egor Egorchev, architect

Julia Zinkevich, General Director of the Agency "Communication Rules"

Anastasia Izmakova, architect

Olga Kazakova, candidate of art history, senior researcher at the Research Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning

Oleg Karlson, architect "Asb Carlson and K"

Anna Karneeva, architect

Maria Kachalova, architect

Evgenia Kikodze, art critic, curator of the Moscow Museum

Natalya Kopeleanskaya, museologist, expert of the creative group "Museum solutions"

Olga Kosyreva, design critic, co-founder of the design assembly

Maria Kravtsova, art historian

Victoria Kudryavtseva, architect

Fedor Lavrentiev, director

Olga Lebedeva, leading architect Vauhaus;

Irina Mack, art critic, journalist

Lyudmila Malkis, Creative Director of Archipeople , General Director of the Communicative Bureau of Malkis LLC

Anastasia Maslova, architect

Anna Medleva, architect, member of the Union of Architects of Russia, laureate and diploma of Russian and international competitions

Natalia Melikova, photographer, author of the project The Constructor Project

Mikhail Molochnikov, artist

Anna Muravina, decorator, design bureaus Mugu Interiors , Executive Director of ODI (interior decorators)

Sergey Nikitin, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Culturology, NIU HSE, head of Moskultprog.

Elena Olshanskaya, filmmaker, journalist

Igor Palmin, photographer

Yuri Palmin, architectural photographer, teacher march and British Higher School of Design

Maria Panova, architect

Boris Pasternak, certified expert of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Scientific and Methodological Council for Cultural Heritage under the Moscow City Highest, Chief Architect of the Center for Urban Planning Studies

Alexey Petukhov, art critic, senior researcher at the Mlime of Museum of Sciences. A.S. Pushkin

Maria Podoyapolskaya, Architectural historian, guide

Anna Prizhutova, architect

Grigory Revzin, art critic, architectural critic, professor of the Higher School of Urbanism NIU HSE

Anna Rodionova, architect

Evgeny Romanov, architect

Tatyana Romanova, architect

Denis Romodin, local historian, secretary of the Moscow branch Docomomo -Russia

Eduard Rusenko, GAP LLC Vauhaus, artist

Natalia Self -Stol, historian

Vladimir Sedov, Doctor of Arts, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Alexandra Selivanova, S.N.S. Research Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning, Curator of the Lecture of the Moscow Museum

Evgenia Sidorova, architect

Tatyana Skibo, architect

Olga Soldatova, architect, artist, designer

Evgenia Stakhanova, culturalist, co -author of the project "Find out Moscow"

Julia Tarabarina, art historian, journalist

Nikita Tokarev, Member of the Board of the Union of Moscow Architects, Director of Marsh

Natalya Tolstaya, senior researcher at the Moscow Museum Development Center, member of the ICOM Presidium of Russia

Natalya Troskin, art critic, member of the Moscow department ICOMOS

Maria Troshina, art critic, editor -in -chief of the journal "Project International "

Valentina Fedotova, architect-restorer

Bella Filatova, architect

Olga Khokhlova, architect

Marina Khrustaleva, historian of architecture, member of the Coordinating Council of the Public Movement "Arkhnadzor"

Alexandra Chertkova, architect

Tatyana Efrussi, art critic, researcher at the Museum of Marsh

Alexander Yakut, artist, curator, galleryman, architect

Marina Yarmarkina, architect