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 Art Newspaper
"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.
4 Comments
I'm not really sure why people would be fighting to preserve these buildings. They are a blight on the landscape and would be considered sub-standard housing virtually everywhere. Many of them were also only built for temporary use until permanent housing could be built to replace them, but the replacements never happened in many areas and these buildings ended up serving long past the end of their useful life. The people should be happy that they are going to have a higher housing standard in their areas that is safer, cleaner, bigger, and has more amenities instead of having to live like they were still in Soviet times. They should be thankful to be rid of them.
welcome to archinect, JB!
Your statements are absolutely insensitive. I don't know anything about you, your background, or your life experiences, but I would bet that if you were living in a comfortable apartment owned most of your life, you would not appreciate being forced to move. Obviously thousands agree. I understand eminent domain but this smells like carte blanche discrepancy by the elite. Very sad.
can't tell the difference between what they're razing and raising ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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