Editorial material
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How should we build on the coast of Lake Baikal? Better never to build than to build like we do it at present. Or it would be better if a human being does not interfere in the lake area at all?
This thought occurs more often as it becomes evident that people's presence on the coast does not do any good to Lake Baikal. It was reckless of the tsar to encircle the lake with the railway on the southern side. It was cynical of the «central planning» regime to press it from the north with the second iron hand. Now the oil pipeline is coming closer to Lake Baikal while guaranteeing technical perfection. Why not? This action keeps to the logic of previous ones. Consumer civilization is skillfully seizing the lake: settlements, industry, communications, and today's passion for country houses, and tourism…
Remaining unique both naturally and mythologically, Lake Baikal is under growing anthropological pressure. To prevent it from losing its inherent uniqueness we probably cannot do without architects as «synthetical» specialists.
How should we build on the coast of Lake Baikal? Better never to build than to build like we do it at present. Or it would be better if a human being does not interfere in the lake area at all?
This thought occurs more often as it becomes evident that people's presence on the coast does not do any good to Lake Baikal. It was reckless of the tsar to encircle the lake with the railway on the southern side. It was cynical of the «central planning» regime to press it from the north with the second iron hand. Now the oil pipeline is coming closer to Lake Baikal while guaranteeing technical perfection. Why not? This action keeps to the logic of previous ones. Consumer civilization is skillfully seizing the lake: settlements, industry, communications, and today's passion for country houses, and tourism…
Remaining unique both naturally and mythologically, Lake Baikal is under growing anthropological pressure. To prevent it from losing its inherent uniqueness we...
How should we build on the coast of Lake Baikal? Better never to build than to build like we do it at present. Or it would be better if a human being does not interfere in the lake area at all?
This thought occurs more often as it becomes evident that people's presence on the coast...
Vladimir Bukh2-2
News items
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Spatial arts, including sculpture, exist in the material sphere of culture and model the spatial aspects of the universe by themselves…
Dmitri Budazhabe's sculpture appeared to link the epochs of the old oriental cultures to the modern life. His works are decorative objects and at the same time the rite symbols, which contain deep aspects of the Buddhism.
The sculptures and vessels for incense bravely model the interior space and simultaneously play a leading part in it. They are maid artistically and first of all evoke peaceful feelings. The small steam of the incense smoke, coming out of special channels, continues to create the environment even beyond the vessel, involving the observer in the rite. The oriental images invite us to make philosophical conclusions and to search for eternal truth…
Dmitri Budazhabe's works are performed in bronze moulding.
Together with exotic forms, each sculpture has particular meaning. Thus the names sound lyrical and romantic: «The Treasure that Fulfils Wishes», «Sarasvati (The Goddess of the Morning Star)», «The Warrior of Shambala» etc. Flexible sculptural bodies, plastic compositional decor and fleshy bulging forms recall melodies of the mysterious East and the eternal secret of the hidden symbols, that one's curious mind aspires to reveal.
Dmitri Budazhabe's works are often designed for Buddhist temples, made by special request and used for rites. At the moment the author is finishing the work, which he considers to be of great moral importance: it is a 2 meter sculpture of Buddha for Dazan. When watching his work the sense of time disappears… There is no past; presence merges with future–only Aspiration for perfection moves the author's hands.
Spatial arts, including sculpture, exist in the material sphere of culture and model the spatial aspects of the universe by themselves…
Dmitri Budazhabe's sculpture appeared to link the epochs of the old oriental cultures to the modern life. His works are decorative objects and at the same time the rite symbols, which contain deep aspects of the Buddhism.
The sculptures and vessels for incense bravely model the interior space and simultaneously play a leading part in it. They are maid artistically and first of all evoke peaceful feelings. The small steam of the incense smoke, coming out of special channels, continues to create the environment even beyond the vessel, involving the observer in the rite. The oriental images invite us to make philosophical conclusions and to search for eternal truth…
Dmitri Budazhabe's works are performed in bronze moulding.
Together with exotic forms, each sculpture has particular meaning....
Spatial arts, including sculpture, exist in the material sphere of culture and model the spatial aspects of the universe by themselves…
Dmitri Budazhabe's sculpture appeared to link the epochs of the old oriental cultures to the modern life. His works are decorative objects..
Nadeshda KomarowaXII-XIII -
On the 10th of August, 2005 in Tartu (the second biggest educational and cultural city in Estonia) Stanislav Nechvolodov's exhibition was opened to show the 5-year cycle of his work, traditional for the author and his admirers. At the opening ceremony Nechvolodov said that the exhibition was the last one and appointed on his 70th anniversary.
The architectural and building society in Irkutsk remembers Stanislav Nechvolodov as an architect working on dwelling and civil buildings in 1960-70s. Below are some extracts from the Estonian press.
«Postimees» newspaper, December 1993. The interview «Expressionistic naturalist, conservative Nechvolodov» by journalist Eric Linnumyagi. He asks about all the details and describes the troubles experienced by Nechvolodov during the perestroika period in Estonia, for example: the Tartu University refused to install the sculpture of Socrat, the art school refused to engage him as an instructor, the sculpture of Socrat moved to Vrotzlav, Poland, and Nechvolodov moved to Poland to read lectures there.
«Tartu» newspaper, November 2000. Mats Oun, artist, says in the article «Nechvolodov: a man of Renaissance»: «Nechvolodov works in Estonia, his works are placed in many local and foreign museums. Regardless some insignificant faults, he deserves a high estimation, and his manysided open exhibition can be an example for other artists. He is a man of Renaissance».
On the 10th of August, 2005 in Tartu (the second biggest educational and cultural city in Estonia) Stanislav Nechvolodov's exhibition was opened to show the 5-year cycle of his work, traditional for the author and his admirers. At the opening ceremony Nechvolodov said that the exhibition was the last one and appointed on his 70th anniversary.
The architectural and building society in Irkutsk remembers Stanislav Nechvolodov as an architect working on dwelling and civil buildings in 1960-70s. Below are some extracts from the Estonian press.
«Postimees» newspaper, December 1993. The interview «Expressionistic naturalist, conservative Nechvolodov» by journalist Eric Linnumyagi. He asks about all the details and describes the troubles experienced by Nechvolodov during the perestroika period in Estonia, for example: the Tartu University refused to install the sculpture of Socrat, the art school refused to engage him as an instructor,..
On the 10th of August, 2005 in Tartu (the second biggest educational and cultural city in Estonia) Stanislav Nechvolodov's exhibition was opened to show the 5-year cycle of his work, traditional for the author and his admirers. At the opening ceremony Nechvolodov said that the...
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«SAUMA. Design as Cultural Interface»–this is the name of the exhibition of Finnish design works that took place in the new building of the Embassy of Finland in Washington. Specialists consider it to be the most intriguing collection of the contemporary Finnish design exhibited in Washington since 2001. The Finnish word «sauma» means junction, boundary, and in the colloquial language–a chance to try something new. The «SAUMA» project is 2 years old. It involves innovational individual works.
After its opening in October 2005 in Washington, the exhibition will move to New York and then people of the north American cities will have an opportunity to visit it during two more years.
«SAUMA. Design as Cultural Interface»–this is the name of the exhibition of Finnish design works that took place in the new building of the Embassy of Finland in Washington. Specialists consider it to be the most intriguing collection of the contemporary Finnish design exhibited in Washington since 2001. The Finnish word «sauma» means junction, boundary, and in the colloquial language–a chance to try something new. The «SAUMA» project is 2 years old. It involves innovational individual works.
After its opening in October 2005 in Washington, the exhibition will move to New York and then people of the north American cities will have an opportunity to visit it during two more years.
«SAUMA. Design as Cultural Interface»–this is the name of the exhibition of Finnish design works that took place in the new building of the Embassy of Finland in Washington. Specialists consider it to be the most intriguing collection of the contemporary Finnish design exhibited...
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Alexei ChertilovXXVI-XXIX
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Short articles
Articles (before 2013)
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Building, planning, engineering facilities of the inhabited places of Lake Baikal and organization of the recreational areas for tourists, as well as organization of the particularly reserved natural territories should maintain everlastingly untouched the beauty and the cleanness, the natural diversity and the uniqueness of the nature of Lake Baikal, that makes it glorious and attracts tourists and inhabitants so much. Is it possible? And how to combine technical conditions of civilization, to which we have got used so much (energy supply, canalization, asphalt roads, automobile transport, oilpipelines, developed cities and villages), and aspiration of many investors, who would like to organize a profitable tourist business, together with the goal to protect the nature of Lake Baikal.
To protect or to develop the landscapes of Lake Baikal, and which landscapes to urbanize and which to restore, and how to equip the developed territories, and how to maintain the protected natural landscapes–these questions compose a complex national task. Its accomplishment is firstly based on studying and maintaining the diversity of landscapes of the region and its importance as the global natural heritage. Secondly, the stable development of the region is possible only when solving the conflicts of landutilization motivations in a right way at the expense of building the rational network of the Baikal landscapes from the reserved to the urbanized ones.
Building, planning, engineering facilities of the inhabited places of Lake Baikal and organization of the recreational areas for tourists, as well as organization of the particularly reserved natural territories should maintain everlastingly untouched the beauty and the cleanness, the natural diversity and the uniqueness of the nature of Lake Baikal, that makes it glorious and attracts tourists and inhabitants so much. Is it possible? And how to combine technical conditions of civilization, to which we have got used so much (energy supply, canalization, asphalt roads, automobile transport, oilpipelines, developed cities and villages), and aspiration of many investors, who would like to organize a profitable tourist business, together with the goal to protect the nature of Lake Baikal.
To protect or to develop the landscapes of Lake Baikal, and which landscapes to urbanize and which to restore, and how to equip the developed territories, and...
Building, planning, engineering facilities of the inhabited places of Lake Baikal and organization of the recreational areas for tourists, as well as organization of the particularly reserved natural territories should maintain everlastingly untouched the beauty and the cleanness,...
Andrei Bolshakov4-9 -
Some quotations: «A new disaster has been added to pollution of the unique lake–it is cottage development of the coast». «The trouble is that the projects are realized without even being seen by architectural society. Including the objects on the coast of Lake Baikal. We took Sergey Kiselev to see one of such objects, it was a halfcompleted building. Like other Moscow colleagues he admitted that it was an obviously conceited excess. In general almost every object recently built in Listvyanka represents a burst of excess… What is happening here with architecture and urban planning is absolutely inadmissible».
«Current capital development at Lake Baikal visually pollutes the coast, bringing alien elements to the landscape and view (for example, the cottages of pseudorussian style and cabin cars)».
Acting as a client of architectural and design project Russian mafia has a number of individual characteristics.
Firstly, an ordinary businessman is childishly confident that the architect's (or designer's) work is a very interesting and fascinating stuff. He believes that this work gives lots of pleasure and entirely consists of creative discoveries and triumph.
By the way already ancient Greeks considered creativity to be a sort of Eros. So the mafia client is eager to take part in such a pleasant thing. In spite of expressing his wishes clearly and giving the way to the professional, the client strives for being both a participant and a coauthor of the project. At best he is constantly bothering the architect with many pieces of advice and «valuable suggestions ». At worst the project, which is already finished, approved and even paid, is altered by the client during the process of its realization, while the author is not even informed about it. The building completed, the shocked architect sees a monster that has arisen from his project as a result of «the editing».
Secondly, any typical Mafioso finds it very important to persistently exhibit his aggressiveness and readiness to start the struggle end even to die. The cult of physical strength and defiance of danger is one of fundamental principles of the mafia corporate culture. The client's drive to provoke a quarrel and to explain «who is the boss» makes the relations between the architect and the client very peculiar.
Thirdly, a productive labour interdiction is another important feature of traditional mafia culture. This view is a variation of the famous «idle class» ethos brilliantly described by Veblen Thorstein in his classic work. The ethics of the members of the idle class, which is also called by Veblen a «predatory class», forbids them to work or to be involved in any productive labour. Instead it allows them to fight, to govern the state and to go in for sport. From the point of view of the predatory culture there are only two types of people. The first one includes warriors, fighters and bandits, they arouse «fair» emotions of anger and fury as rivals or companionsinarms on the field of battle. The second type is represented by bastards, brutes and plough cattle, they are worth nothing but contempt. Most citizens' opinion on the building is of no importance. Only what the respected people of the same type, that is mafia «good guys», say (or think) about it is taken into account.
The tendencies to erect such incongruous and ugly buildings on the coast of Lake Baikal can hardly be stopped easily and quickly. Those tendencies have very deep roots. They are based, though in a perverted and wry manner, on the old traditions of Siberian culture. So it is senseless to struggle, to forbid and to show anger and contempt towards an uncultured wilful client. As well as it is no good to have «what can I do for you?» attitude and to follow all the whims of the predatory class.
Some quotations: «A new disaster has been added to pollution of the unique lake–it is cottage development of the coast». «The trouble is that the projects are realized without even being seen by architectural society. Including the objects on the coast of Lake Baikal. We took Sergey Kiselev to see one of such objects, it was a halfcompleted building. Like other Moscow colleagues he admitted that it was an obviously conceited excess. In general almost every object recently built in Listvyanka represents a burst of excess… What is happening here with architecture and urban planning is absolutely inadmissible».
«Current capital development at Lake Baikal visually pollutes the coast, bringing alien elements to the landscape and view (for example, the cottages of pseudorussian style and cabin cars)».
Acting as a client of architectural and design project Russian mafia has a number of individual characteristics.
Firstly, an ordinary businessman is childishly...
Some quotations: «A new disaster has been added to pollution of the unique lake–it is cottage development of the coast». «The trouble is that the projects are realized without even being seen by architectural society. Including the objects on the coast of Lake Baikal. We took Sergey...
Konstantin Lidin10-13 -
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