Archinect - News

'Putin's Palace' architect won't return to Italy to face trial for variety of financial crimes

2023-01-13T12:10:00-05:00

Lanfranco Cirillo, an Italian art collector who designed a mysterious 18,000 sq. m Black Sea mansion supposedly built for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be tried in absentia by an Italian court on financial charges next month. In an interview published by the ANSA news agency on Friday, the architect said that he currently resides in Moscow and claimed that an Interpol Red Notice effectively prevents him from returning to Italy to defend his name.

As reported by The Art Newspaper, Cirillo is being investigated for an array of crimes, including fraudulent tax returns, money laundering, the illegal transfer of funds, and for violating the code of protection of cultural heritage.

Last year, Italian officials raided Cirillo’s villa near Brescia for failing to pay a €50m tax bill, which resulted in the seizure of assets worth $144 million, including jewels, cash, and approximately 150 artworks by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Wassily Kandinsky.

Cirillo claims that he was advised not to travel to Italy because of an Interpol Red Notice request that calls for his arrest pending extradition. His trial is set to open on February 23rd.

When it comes to building in Russia, Wolf Prix has no guilty conscience

2022-04-12T16:37:00-04:00

If we have to take the moral standards and political correctness into account, then we should instead be talking about where you can then even build at all. Then I can’t build in Russia, and I can’t build in China or Saudi Arabia. I’m not allowed to build for the Church, either, because it is morally depraved. My question for you is this: What am I supposed to do now?

In an interview conducted by Susanne Beyer and Ulrike Knöfel, Wolf Prix claims to be no “moralist” and explains why he hasn’t withdrawn from three gigantic construction projects in Russia, even as other Prominent architecture firms voice intent to suspend work in Russia as statements of solidarity with Ukraine.

The 'Putin's Palace' architect allegedly owes Italy a massive tax bill

2022-03-30T17:20:00-04:00

Lanfranco Cirillo, the designer of a mysterious 18,000 sq. m mansion on the Black Sea that many believe was built for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, is being investigated by the Italian authorities for allegedly failing to pay a €50m tax bill. Officials raided the 63-year-old Italian architect’s own sizeable villa in February, where they discovered and confiscated a treasure trove of works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, [and] Wassily Kandinsky.

The architect’s private helicopter was also confiscated by Italian authorities, who have been on a tear as of late, seizing yachts and other luxury items from Russian nationals associated with President Vladimir Putin.

Cirillo is well known as the man behind the biggest gem in Putin’s sizable real estate portfolio. In a popular video released in January of last year, imprisoned activist Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation detailed the opulence of the massive 191,000-square-foot Itialiante compound, which reportedly cost around $1.4 billion to construct.

A supposed floor plan for the palace. Image courtesy Alexei Navalny via YouTube

Despite a direct offer of citizenship from Putin, Cirillo has been residing in his native country for the past several years, bouncing in between his own ornate villas and collecting blue-chip art as he enjoys retirement.

“Like 92–93 percent of Russia’s population, I love our president, and I think he is the right man in the right place in the cu...

New media crackdown in Russia forces censorship of open letter signed by country's architects and urban planners

2022-03-04T20:43:00-05:00

The open letter by architecture magazine Project Russia, which included over 6,500 signatures of Russian architects and urban planners opposing military strikes in Ukraine, has been removed and replaced.

The original text from their open letter, which can be found in Archinect's previous coverage, is now replaced with the image of Picasso's "Dove of Peace" and the following statement:

Here was a letter on behalf of the architects and urban planners of Russia, expressing their position on the current policy of our country from February 26, when it was published, until March 4, 2022, more than 6,500 people signed it.

Unfortunately, under the threat of criminal liability under the law that came into force today, we were forced to remove the text of the letter. We are for peace!

The magazine's now erased statement was a bold expression of revolt against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Posts from the magazine's Instagram and Facebook as well as the use of the "Нет войне!" (No war!) graphi...

Over 6,700 Russian architects and urban planners pen open letter decrying their country's war with Ukraine

2022-03-03T13:56:00-05:00

UPDATE, March 4th, 2022: New media crackdown in Russia forces censorship of open letter signed by country's architects and urban planners

A new missive in the architectural community’s fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been launched as this time, a group from inside the Federation has issued its own statement condemning the Kremlin for its purblind and illegal attempt at prosecuting a war.

The group published the letter in a magazine called Project Russia and boasts more than 6,790 signatories who collectively expressed frustration with their government’s “unacceptable” actions.

The letter was originally published on February 24th. The full text of the web-translated statement reads as follows:

An open letter from architects and urban planners of Russia against military operations in Ukraine

We, the architects and urban planners of Russia, consider the offensive of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine unacceptable. Foreign policy issues must be resolved exclusi...

Prominent Russian architectural school, Strelka Institute, suspends activities in protest of Ukraine invasion

2022-02-28T14:53:00-05:00

As casualties mount in Vladimir Putin's war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine, the prominent Moscow-based Strelka Institute for Media Architecture and Design has issued a statement condemning the loss of life and announcing that it has suspended all academic activities until further notice.

The 12-year-old institute, which in the past has contributed to the country’s design for the 2014 Venice Biennale, is amongst the most influential architecture schools in eastern Europe and now joins several other academic and cultural institutions inside Russia in expressing their opposition to what the government still insists on calling a “special military operation.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Strelka Institute (@strelka_institute)

Strelka's Director of Education Varvara Melnikova and Program Director of The Terraforming Benjamin Bratton also shared their views via social media, joining a chorus of protests that has extended into academia and other...

Interview with the man who designed Putin's (allegedly) billion dollar palace

2021-02-28T14:42:00-05:00

Architecturally speaking, it’s not the biggest or best project I made. It’s nice neoclassicism – that’s what was asked for. As an architect, I build what the customer wants...But aesthetically speaking, it is very correct considering historical proportions. It is not kitsch...It's not overdone, but naturally it is rich, as it was supposed to be. And we used fantastic materials. I was proud of my job.

Christian Esch chatted with Lanfranco Cirillo an architect who has spent decades providing Moscow’s super rich with villas and Italian-inspired designs.

Putin pushes for strategic art museum complex in annexed Crimea

2018-09-07T18:07:00-04:00

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has ordered officials to speed up the construction of a cultural centre in Sevastopol, the historic naval capital of Crimea, which will include exhibition space for the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In May this year, Putin inaugurated a $7.5bn bridge to link the Crimean city of Kerch with the Russian mainland.

Vladimir Putin: 2018 World Cup stadiums overall on track, but delays "unacceptable"

2017-10-04T14:44:00-04:00

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned 2018 World Cup officials that delays to preparations for the tournament are "unacceptable", although they are not yet "critical". Russia will host its first World Cup from 14 June to 15 July using 12 venues in 11 cities across the country. Putin, 64, said that while work was "entirely satisfactory" overall, "there are nevertheless some delays".

With the world's biggest soccer event officially kicking off in June 2018, Russian President Putin is whipping his officials in formation to have construction on the twelve venues in eleven cities across Russia completed without any delays — and avoid the fiasco from the Sochi Olympic Games.

Not everyone's happy about the new stadiums though.

DS+R's high-profile Zaryadye Park project in Moscow vandalized only days after its grand opening

2017-09-18T19:16:00-04:00

The Russian President Vladimir Putin opened Zaryadye Park near Red Square on 9 September, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, creators of New York’s High Line, but what Moscow city officials are lauding as a “new symbol of Russia” preservationists are decrying as a travesty that impinges on the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral, two of Russia’s most sacred landmarks.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Zaryadye Park proposal for an ambitious replacement of the colossal Soviet-era Hotel Russia near the Kremlin in central Moscow won the international competition back in 2013 with a "wild urbanism" concept.

Rendering of DS+R's Zaryadye Park project in central Moscow. Image courtesy of Mos.ru.

The project has faced criticism from the city's preservationists, reportedly exceeded initial cost estimates, and already suffered a major act of vandalism shortly after its festive opening with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance.

One of Zaryadye Park's highlights is its V-shaped 'Floating Bridge,' extending far above the Moscow River. Image courtesy of Mos.ru.

Thousands protest in Moscow against planned demolition of Soviet-era housing blocks

2017-05-15T14:46:00-04:00

An interactive map of the former Soviet Union’s Constructivist architectural heritage went online just days before the city of Moscow published a list of 4,500 apartment buildings proposed for demolition as part of a plan to relocate up to 1.6 million residents. Describe by many residents as a property grab [...] the demolition plan has proven so unpopular that thousands turned up for a demonstration against it in Moscow on Sunday 14 May carrying signs with slogans like “My house is my castle”.

"The plan has also alarmed preservationists," The Art Newspaper writes. "Initially described as an effort to upgrade residents from pre-fabricated mass housing built under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the architectural targets have broadened and fears are mounting that it has become a carte-blanche for developers to destroy any building that stands in their way."

The Guardian's Alec Luhn calls the demolition plans "the most extensive Russian resettlement project in half a century," and some compare them to the forced collectivization of property under Stalin.

Russian pavilion commissioner for Venice Biennale fired for criticizing Putin

2014-04-10T17:58:00-04:00

Grigory Revzin, a respected architecture critic, has been fired as the commissioner of the Russian pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale (7 June-23 November). Writing on Facebook on Monday, Revzin speculated that the cause was his vocal criticism of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In a statement posted on its website, the culture ministry said on Tuesday that he was fired due to his “extremely active” public positions.