TWO THEATRES
Russian project for the XVIII International Architectural
exhibition at Venezia
(la Biennale di Venezia) |
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project for the reconstruction of
the Bolshoy Theatre
Unresolved issue
The reconstruction of the Bolshoy Theatre is not so much a single
finished design as a rolling process in which finished designs
continually replace one another. Mikhail Khazanov and Mikhail Belov
won the tender to reconstruct the theatre in 1999. Since then much
has changed including the theatre management, the Russian
government and president, and the urban-development concept for the
centre of Moscow. These changes have been reflected in changes of
plans for the theatre's reconstruction.
The Bolshoy is a national symbol, which means both that it is
affected by all changes of power in the country and that the general
public is extremely sensitive to any alterations to which it may be
subjected. For the last three years society has been unable to
decide what exactly is to be considered a national treasure — the
theatre building, which is a Russian federal listed monument, or the
organism of the theatre — the opera and ballet troupes and the 300
performances a year that are staged here. Both points of view have
artistic, public, and legal support and at present neither is able
to establish its superiority over the other. In accordance with the
first of these conceptions, the theatre must be completely restored,
all plumbing and wiring replaced, all lost reception rooms
recreated, and all Soviet additions to the building dismantled. This
will result in the theatre becoming what would almost be a museum to
19th-century theatre art. The second conception, on the other hand,
takes the view that if the theatre troupe is to function normally
and if the Bolshoy is to stage productions that meet modern
standards the stage will have to be completely reconstructed,
scenery storage space developed, underground parking built, etc. The
theatre's development as a creative organism depends on these
changes, but as an architectural monument the theatre building will
suffer. Thanks to this ongoing debate, the architects are still
unable to get their hands on a clear design brief. The tender was
originally won on the basis of a brief envisaging reconstruction of
the theatre. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture and the theatre's
management switched to support of restoration. Currently, the entire
project concept is being re-examined.
It may sound paradoxical, but whatever decision
is finally taken regarding the strategy to be adopted for
restoration, it will have little impact on the architectural concept
already developed. The architects' main idea is to change the
theatre's position in the city — by turning the square in front of
the building into a focus for intense urban life (the theatre will
turn its face towards the city, becoming a kind of scenic backdrop
for large-scale public events). This is the part of the concept that
the two authors are agreed on (the architects' clients, however, are
not so sure). With regard to every other aspect of the upcoming
restoration, though, they have sharply differing opinions. Mikhail
Belov is in favour of building 'eternal' architecture that will
constitute a worthy addition to this national monument. Mikhail
Khazanov prefers a light high-tech structure made of glass, so as to
avoid all conflict with the magnificence of the existing old
building. In spite of such difficulties with the architectural
design brief and differences in the two architects' conceptions, a
resolution of the Russian Government stipulates that reconstruction
of the Bolshoy must be completed within the next two years.
Grigory Revzin
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