Money Growing: Give Them a Chance

In the last decade Moscow has transformed beyond recognition, and these changes are irreversible. The city’s current administration is evidentially not in favor of restoring architectural antiques, preferring to build new, more and multipurpose premises, with underground parking. This is better than the old as in, for example, Venice. There is an option to historically "reconstruct" the premises, as was the case with Tsaritsino palace or the Manezh. It’s better to completely demolish the monument before doing this, as was the case with the Moskva hotel. Many monuments decay and collapse, their ruins are ugly, to transform them into something useful is difficult and troublesome, and there is no money in the budget for restoration. However, some premises can even be sold. This is good when it is sold to someone who will not take it down but will restore it. Even if it be with the purpose of making profit in the future at least the building will not disappear off the face of the earth.

Narkomfin House has got a chance. The famous, former communal building that much resembles a steamer, is currently in a pitiable condition, although people still live here.

A 5* Commune

Narkomfin House is a unique monument of world architecture from the twentieth century, from the epoch of Soviet constructivism. It was constructed for the employees of the Ministry of Finance from 1928-1930 by architects Moisey Ginzburg (his workshop was in the building for some time) and Ignati Milinis. Engineer Sergei Prokhorov participated in the development of the design of the complex. Construction of the building was carried out with Nikolai Milyutin's support, the national commissioner of finance from 1924-1929, whose apartment was located in the building. In those days, besides him, 46 families lived in the building.

At the end of the twentieth century, the New Economic Policy (NEP) curtailed, and there was a return to communistic ideology and experiments with communes. The theoretical activity of that time on the creation of new forms of habitation led to the occurrence of several communal buildings. They appeared not only in Moscow, but also in Leningrad, Smolensk, Tashkent and Saratov. In the opinion of Doctor of Art and professor Vladimir Sedov, two of the top creations and constructions of communal buildings were the student hostel on Ordzhonikidze ulitsa, constructed in 1928-1930 and designed by architect Ivan Nikolaev, and Narkomfin House.

In the book "Dwelling" (1934) Ginzburg describes Narkomfin: "in the promotion of the fastest, most painless transition to higher social forms of farming, the following which was unnecessary but possible was designed: communal places to eat and do washing, a kindergarten and cleaning of the premises. In connection to this the construction of a separate communal building connected to welcoming residential building was planned. In the communal building there should have been a sports hall, kitchen, canteen with places to rest, a dining hall on the roof, a separate kindergarten and an a separate service yard (laundry, dryers and offices)."

"Narkomfin is an amazing poster-building, a most shining example embodying the imperialism of the USSR and the ultra-left desires of the Bolsheviks to reach real communism - in chosen, thought over, clear, and even elegant forms of new architecture," notes Sedov. Apparently, after being restored the building will embody the values of this new time.

5* Hotel

Boutique hotels first appeared in 1984 thanks to Ian Schrager, who reconstructed an old hotel in New York into an amazing design. Since then boutique hotels began to appear worldwide. In Russia this format has only just started to develop. As a rule, such hotels have 50 rooms (a maximum of 100-150), have cigar rooms or rooms for playing cards and are stylishly decorated throughout.

In this case the boutique hotel that will replace the commune will measure more than 4,000 sq.m and will consist of two buildings – a communal building and the main building (residential), which will be connected on the second floor. The area of the 8-storey main building will be almost 3,260 sq.m. After being restored, MIAN promises that the main building will have hotel rooms, a reception, a lobby, a cloakroom, a shop, a lobby bar, and staff rooms and administrative areas. The communal building will measure almost 800 sq.m, and according to the design, there should be a meeting room, business center, conference hall, foyer, restaurant, staff rooms and store facilities. Behind the hotel there will be a car park with 28-30 parking places.

Chairman of the board of directors at MIAN Alexander Senatorov has declared the volume of investments in this project at about $60 million. The restoration works are planned to be completed by 2011. The project should start making returns after approximately 10 years, which is characteristic for the hotel business in general.

At the press conference devoted to the reprofiling project of Narkomfin, it was emphasized that it will be a scientific reconstruction, preserving and restoring the historical shape of the building, with the maximum possible use of the materials and technologies that were used in those days. The concept has been prepared by the main architect of the project Alexei Ginzburg, who is the grandson of Moisey Ginzburg.

The building’s current 46 apartments have a total area of more than 2,000 sq.m. According to the press service of MIAN, 15 owners of the apartments remain to be allocated new housing. Seven of the remaining apartments are the property of the city. What will happen to the residents of these seven apartments is not clear yet. Negotiations on choosing new housing with proprietors of eight apartments are currently taking place, the press service has confirmed. Within 2008 it is planned that together with design workshop Ginzburg Arkhitekts, the town-planning documentation on the restoration and adaptation of Narkomfin into a hotel complex with 40 luxury-class rooms, will be drafted. MIAN says that such a concept will save the building. The parking zone adjoining the building will also be saved. And the infrastructure will function exactly as was planned initially.

Currently, according to Oleg Rubin, general director of MIAN-Development, the pre-design suggestions on the restoration and adaptation of the residential monument into hotel purposes has been approved. The prefecture of the Central Administrative District, the chief architect of the Moscow expert-advisory committee, the Moscow Committee of Heritage, and the Moscow Committee of Architecture have all approved it. The government of Moscow have issued order 24.04.2007 323 on the accommodation of a hotel in the Narkomfin apartment building.

The First of its Kind?

For Senatorov this project is significant: it is the first time a commercial project of scientific restoration of a constructivist monument will be realized, he says. "For me not only the commercial side of the project is important. MIAN has an opportunity to return a building with historical value to the city. It is interesting from the point of view of the complexity of the works. And, of course, to recreate such a building is to recreate a slice of our history," considers Senatorov.

Senatorov understands that the restoration of the Narkomfin building is not simple from a technological point of view. The building combines various innovative engineering solutions from a time gone by. The organization of the residential space is very specific and cheap building materials were used. All this, in Senatorov’s opinion, represents greater complexity for the scientific restoration, but will mean that they get great experience connected with the process of restoring a complex architectural monument. Senatorov does not exclude that the Narkomfin building could be the first of more projects for MIAN. Probably, the company will undertake similar projects in the future.

Alexander Ortenberg, general director of Shtrabag, says that observing ancient technologies is an expensive business and extremely labor-consuming. For example, restoration using technologies from the 17th and 18th centuries is almost completely carried out manually with the use of absolutely different building materials. "And what is so unique about the technologies and materials that were used in 1928?" asks Ortenberg. He does not see the sense in using them in the restoration of the Narkomfin building: "If there are wooden overlappings why would we keep them?" Most likely it is a question only of keeping the elements of the layout. He was unable to estimate the sum of investments. Although, according to him, a boutique hotel project is expensive. In view of the conditions it is necessary to invest even $5,000 per sq.m. "It is necessary to spend $20 million, but $60 million would be difficult to spend," Ortenberg says.

In every monument there are elements that are protected by legislation, the top manager explains. This may be the facade, the lobby, or unique arches. But not a brick partition or a roof covering. "This is unlikely," he says.

Ortenberg gives an example. Shtrabag restored a monument of architecture during a project by architect Shekhtelya (this was put into operation last year) at 7 Cherkassky pereulok. The company was engaged in its reconstruction, and wooden overlappings were replaced, because they were not a monument of architecture". And it is only necessary to restore Narkomfin, by completely observing the technologies of that time and using the same materials, if the Moscow Committee of Cultural Heritage demands it. But it is unlikely a building of that year of construction will be more interesting than buildings constructed 2-3 centuries ago, he sums up.

At Narkomfin, they will at least replace the foundations and overlappings, "with an iron corset," says director of development at Benefit Engineering Yaroslav Kozlov. He explains that the environment has now changed. And the technologies by which it was built are not strong enough to sustain loadings which now rest upon a structure. In his opinion, full restoration is technically impossible. "Where will they find materials which were used at that time, and experts who will restore the building by those technologies?" says Kozlov. He thinks that it is "a too brave announcement."

There are an infinite number of examples of restoration and reconstruction, he argues. As a rule, they keep a small part of the premises completely as it is, but only for demonstration. Everything that can possibly be replaced is replaced. "And what else can be done? It is impossible to save old materials. For example, to restore old plaster. Probably, old decorative materials will be used, but they will be exclusively "cosmetic," says Kozlov. “And as for the design of the building it will be absolutely modern." "Are the owners really going to do repairs every 10 years? That can’t be true," says the expert.

We should we restore them in the first place? It is obvious: people are afraid that the image of the building will change, and the history of the place will be gone, which is what the guests of the hotel will be paying money for. Very few people are interested in simulation, imitation. Therefore, argues Kozlov, the idea of preservation has been thought up. "I doubt that it can be technically realized," he insists. "Narkomfin is a masterpiece, it is included in any textbook on the history of architecture both in Russia, and in the West," says David Sarkisyan, director of the A.V. Shchuseva Museum of Architecture. And John Stubbs, vice president of the WMF, thinks that it is extremely important that the restoration is carried out at the highest level. In his opinion, ideally executed details will be an essential element of the restoration of the initial aesthetics of the building. "Considering the awful condition and improbable importance of this building, its restoration duly becomes a present example of the preservation of a significant sample of early modernism in Moscow and beyond," says Stubbs.

"I would love to visit this building after it has been restored and see whether the minimalist design and the whole atmosphere of the building will be kept,” says Zelfira Tregulova, deputy director of the Moscow Kremlin Museum. Now when she visits the Narkomfin building she feels sad. "It is intolerable to see the depressing state of disintegration in such ruins," says the expert.

Not Only in Moscow

Of course, it is not only in Moscow that monuments are demolished and require restoration. St. Petersburg company Glavstroi-SPV (the St. Petersburg division of Glavstroi) will reconstruct the famous Apraksin Dvor, Vedomosti reported earlier.

In Kislovodsk, AFI Development is going to create a hotel from the former private residence of merchant Kalinkin, which was built in 1905. The building is located at 1 Volodarsky ulitsa, on the borders of the resort zone of the city. The facade of the private residence faces onto Kaskadnaya Lesnitsa, which leads to the famous Kislovodsk Resort park. In Soviet time the private residences, as well as the majority of pre-revolutionary buildings, was converted into the Krasnaya Oktybr rest house and sanatorium.

But in the last few decades the building has fallen into decay and has actually become ruins. In the beginning of the 1990s the building was officially considered a premises of cultural heritage of regional value. The obligations of the investor include the preservation of the main composition and spatial structure of the premises.

Businessman Lev Levayev, at a press conference of AFI Development announced that “nobody is going to knock down anything": it will be restoration and new construction. According to him, after it has been restored the private residence will become a luxury class hotel, with 53 rooms measuring 100-120 sq.m each (a total area of 11,000 sq.m). The project is called Versailles, and its territory covers 0.6 hectares. Work on the reconstruction has begun, and is supposed to finish construction in 2009.

The Konkor group is restoring the Znamenskoye Rayek Manor the Torzhoksky area of the Tver Region. The first stage of the park-palace included the transformation of the northwest wing into a maximum class hotel. Upon the completion of the restoration the manor is planned to transform into a cultural hotel complex, which meets all the requirements of UNESCO in regards to congress-tourism hotels. In due course, according to the company, international congresses, conferences, symposiums, concerts of chamber music, painting exhibitions and art auctions will probably be held at the manor.

Konkor has been engaged in the restoration of manors since 1998 and has already revived a 19th century manor in Kalyazin on the Volga. In the manor, the interiors and a picturesque garden have been completely restored and archives have been collected.