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Month: July 2011

The Olympic Luzhniki Stadium Turns 55

On July 31, 1956 the Luzhniki Stadium was solemnly opened in Moscow. The idea to have a large stadium was first announced in 1935, but it was not until well after the war, in 1954, that it could be brought to life. The architectural plan was drawn and agreed in 90 days, and the construction itself took mere 450 days.
Since August 5, 1956 the stadium has welcomed many athletes from the (former) Soviet Republics, Russia, and foreign countries. In 1975-79 Luzhniki underwent a refurbishment that equipped the stadium to the Olymptic standard, and in 1980 it welcomed the Olympic teams.
By the late 1980s, Luzhniki was no longer a place to only hold sportive events: political meetings and rock concerts took place there, too. Between 1992 and July 2011 an outdoor market functioned there, until the municipal powers pulled their act together and ordered the peddlers to move their trade elsewhere.
The stadium will now be undergoing yet another refurbishment that will raise its standards ahead of the 2013 Athletics Championship and 2018 World Cup.
The Luzhniki stadium is located on the bank of the Moskva River, right opposite the Moscow State University building and the Vorobyovy Gory observation deck. As Muscovites, we love taking a stroll along the Vorobyovy Gory Embankment where we can see a magnificent rotund structure. My mother and I went to the stadium at least once, during the Good Will Games in 1986. And in the photos you can also see a view of the Olympic Stadium from the cableway that goes from the Observation Deck down to the embankment.

Roman Polanski’s ‘Carnage’ to Open 49th New York Film Festival – indieWIRE

Roman Polanski’s ‘Carnage’ to Open 49th New York Film Festival – indieWIRE

by Brian Brooks

The North American premiere of Roman Polanski’s latest film, “Carnage,” will open the 49th New York Film Festival September 30th, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which produces the anticipated annual event, said Friday.

Based on Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage,” the 2009 Tony Award-winner for Best Play, “Carnage” follows the events of an evening when two Brooklyn couples are brought together after their children are involved in a playground fight. Produced by Said Ben Said, the Sony Pictures Classics release stars Academy Award winners Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz and Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly.]

(continue reading at indieWIRE).

 

Moscow Summer: Mansion For Sale

A mansion up for sale in Moscow city centre

Moscow Summer 30, originally uploaded by loscuadernosdejulia.

Last week when I went on a river cruise we went past this curious sign. I have seen “flats for sale” in many places around the city, but mansions… The inscription does actually say “mansion”, not a “house”, “edifice” or “building”.

The building stands facing Prechistenka Embankment, close to Park Kultury and Frunzenskaya metro stations, in Moscow city centre. I am not sure I will be inquiring just yet… but if you want to have a place to live in the centre of the Russian capital, there is a phone number to call.

P.S. Let us know if you do inquire. And if you purchase it because of my blog post, please invite me to the housewarming party. Thanks 🙂

Tverskaya Street – The State Telegraph – Temperature

The photo was taken on Saturday, on the shady side of Tverskaya Street in Moscow. As you can see, it was +32C, which makes 90F. Hot? You bet. The good (bad?) news is that it’s +35C today and is forecast to rise to +36C on Wednesday. And the temperature is expected to drop to +25C on Saturday. And strong showers are also forecast, starting Tuesday. Needless to say, this is what many people are waiting for.

Moscow Architecture: The British Embassy in Smolenskaya Naberezhnaya


Moscow Summer 58, originally uploaded by loscuadernosdejulia.

When I was recently passing the building you see in the photo, I was not quite impressed. I even said to someone in my company:

– What an ugly building! What is it?

The person had a look and replied:

– Julia, you should not be saying this. You surely visited this building many years ago, when you were going to the U.K.

I am sure my face exposed all the thoughts and emotions that engulfed me at the realisation that I slagged off the building of the embassy of my second native country.

Well, things happen. I still think that it could be a more interesting design, considering what is erected these days in Manchester and elsewhere in the U.K.

The embassy was agreed to be built in 1994, and by 1997 the building had started. The architects on the project were Ahrends Burton and Koralek from ABK Architects. There are photos from different angles at the ABK’s official website. ABK have worked primarily in the U.K. and Ireland, submitting and executing designs for Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester and Stockport Town Hall and town centre. Apart from Moscow, their other overseas project proposal was Lafayette Street in New York.

Other companies included in the project were TME Engineers, Hanscomb, Landesign, and Ove Arup and Partners. The entire building process was overseen by The London Group, while the main contractors were Taylor Woodrow and Skanska.

The building in Smolenskaya Embankment includes:
– 250 offices;
– 31 apartments for the embassy’s employees;
– medical centre and a nursery;
– shops;
– parking;
– an Atrium hall for cultural and commercial events;
– a conference hall with multi-media equipment.

UK artists contributed to the inner and outer decoration of the embassy, including Tess Jaray, Norman Ackroyd, Roman Halter, Michael Craig-Martin, and others. The furniture, armchairs and divans were designed by Robin Day, Ron Arad, and Luke Hughes, among others.

Queue Up For Art: The National Passion of Russians

It is widely believed that queueing is the British national passion. On numerous occasions we have been told that the British love making an orderly queue at the every opportunity. But there is one field where the Russians can easily compete with the Brits, and that’s standing in a museum queue.
Back in February 2002 the exhibition of Claude Monet was about to close at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. On the very last day I and my late husband went there. It was very cold, and the queue was extending for some 600 metres. We did actually queue up, and eventually we got in. I do remember the Rouen Cathedral series, but frankly I was more astonished by the fact that I managed the queue and got into the museum than by the invaluable canvasses.

Every time there is a must-see exhibition at the Pushkin Museum there is a massive queue of people standing outside, waiting to get in. No weather conditions seem to influence the choice: when it comes to art, we Russians can withstand frost and wind, heat and rain.

This time it is the final days of the exhibition dedicated to Christian Dior and his work (in Russian). And below is the photo of the endless queue of people who ditch the precautions and get tanned in the direct sunlight, while waiting to see the miracle of haute couture of the 20th c.
If you ask me, I would gladly see one of my main museums introducing a scheme similar to the one that was used at the National Gallery in 2004. The museum couldn’t cope with the influx of visitors who wanted to see Raphael. So people were issued with tickets obliging them to visit the exhibition at a specific time, neither earlier nor later. And, in my opinion, it would be a grand solution for the Pushkin Museum, too. But for now the Muscovites are being as British as they can and queue up.

The Views of Moscow from the River

Surviving the Moscow summer is no small feat, although this year it is bearable, compared to 2010 when there were forest fires, and the smog was penetrating every pore of any living creature. During the week I try to do as much as possible, so that at the weekend I could go to the park or even to another town. But sometimes you feel you’ve got to take a walk, so you go somewhere serene where you can unwind. On Thursday I walked around the Vorobyovy Gory a lot where my University is situated. And on Friday I had a wonderful time on board of one of those yachts that offer Moskva-River cruises. I have to say, it was absolutely amazing, but you can see for yourself: below are a few photos from Thursday and Friday.

 

 

The Olympic Games for Thor and Kolobok

Even before the world athletes flock to the Russian Sochi for 2014 Olympic Games, the regions of Russia are going to practise the Olympic fever by holding the Olympic Games for folklore characters.
Scandinavian, British, and Ukranian folklore characters will be invited to compete with the Russian ones. Imagine Thor exercising his stone-throwing skills, or King Arthur participating in a running contest. The competition will include 10 different sportive activities, and will take place in 2012 in the region of either Kirov or Yaroslavl.
Incidentally, Kirov has recently witnessed the marriage ceremony of Kirimora and Domovoy, the two well-known folklore characters. Although it was widely assumed that the two were married all along, it was only this year – and for the first time in history – that the happy couple “officially” tied the knot.
These and many other events are part of the project The Fairy-Tale Map of Russia, aimed at connecting the folklore characters with towns and regions on the Russian map. Apart from reviving the interest in Russian culture, the organisers also hope the project positively affects the Russian tourism industry.

St Basil’s Cathedral Marks 450th Anniversary

One of Moscow’s celebrated monuments, The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat, otherwise known as St Basil’s Cathedral, marks its 450th anniversary today. The celebrations will be held until October 14, the Russian holiday of Intercession.

The cathedral was built by two Russian master-masons whose names were only discovered in the 19th c. The cathedral commemorated the victory over Kazan in 1552 and was finished by 1561. The legend states that Ivan had ordered the masons to be blinded, lest they created anything similarly beautiful.

The cathedral indeed stands on the site where St Basil (Vassily), the ‘holy fool’, was buried, and hence bears his name as an alternative. In front of the cathedral, as well, is a statue to the heroes of the Civil War against the Polish invaders of the 17th c. – Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky.

Amazing as it may sound, the cathedral nearly perished during the Soviet times when its location interfered with Stalin’s plans for military parades. The architect Pyotr Baranovsky categorically stood up for this gem of Russian architecture and saved it.

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