R E A L E S T A T E8 ❖ Tuesday, June 8, 2004 The Moscow Times

By Galina StolyarovaS T A F F W R I T E R

ST. PETERSBURG — The Culture andPress Ministry has finally sealed a con-tract with French architect DominiquePerrault for the use of his design of amodern building that is to house the sec-ond stage of the state-owned MariinskyTheater.

Perrault won an international com-petition to design the building almost ayear ago, but the government has beenin no hurry to get things started.

Some insiders say this embarrassingprocrastination is due to a shortage offunds. Since the competition, the pro-jected cost of the building has risen from$100 million to $244 million.

Perrault’s design consists of an irreg-ularly formed oblong polygon. The ar-chitect has said that he sees himself as afashion designer, and his design wrapsthe black marble facade of the buildingin a light and transparent golden tunic.

The new building is intended to forma harmonious pair with the historicaltheater building constructed in 1860 ac-cording to the design of Italian architectAlbert Cavos. The two buildings are tobe linked by a bridge over the KryukovCanal.

While supporters of Perrault’s projectwelcome the idea, comparing the newbuilding’s silhouette with the goldencupolas of Orthodox churches, oppo-nents make totally different associations.

Many St. Petersburg residents havenot yet come around to the French pro-ject, criticizing the design as excessivelyrevolutionary, or at the very least, lack-ing in taste. One of the more harmlessnicknames applied to the new building is“the golden potato.” Critics say Per-rault’s design is too elaborate and out ofkeeping with the classical lines of theneighborhood.

Even after winning the contest andbeing in possession of a signed contract,Perrault’s plans are far from being exe-cuted. While assuring the audience thatSt. Petersburg would definitely acquire“the best theater in Europe,” GovernorValentina Matviyenko sounded a warn-ing note after the signing ceremony.

“What you saw is not the final ver-sion,” she said. “We are going to ask thearchitect to make his project a harmo-nious component of the part of the citysurrounding the historical building.”

MariinskyRevampApproved

By Denis MaternovskyS T A F F W R I T E R

Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Ha-did will design her first building inRussia, a housing complex in Moscowfor Capital Group, the company an-nounced last week.

The future complex’s exact locationis being kept secret, but it was an-nounced that the $180 million projectwill be located on a 1-hectare plot ofland, somewhere on Moscow’s em-bankment. The building’s concept anddesign will be made public in twomonths, a Capital Group representa-tive said.

Hadid, world-famous for her frag-mentary, radical and deconstructivistdesigns, collected the prestigious

Pritzker Prize — often referred to asthe Nobel Prize for architecture — inSt. Petersburg’s Hermitage museumlate last month.

At 53, she was both the youngestarchitect and the first woman ever towin the prize.

The $100,000 award was establishedby the Hyatt Foundation in 1979. Theannual ceremony is held in differentfamous buildings all over the world.Russia hosted the event for the firsttime this year.

Among Hadid’s famous designs,noted by the Pritzker jurors, are theRosenthal Contemporary Arts Centerin Cincinnati, Ohio, the Vitra fire sta-tion in Germany, and the Bergisel skijump outside Innsbruck, Austria.

Hadid has neverworked in Russiabefore, although,as she told thepress in St. Peters-burg, her work hasbeen influencedstrongly by theRussian avant-garde of the early

20th century.“It was critical for my work to learn

about new, different ways of organiz-ing space and order, so on this visit toRussia I’d like to thank the Russianavant-garde for really inspiring me,”Hadid said at the news conference.

Last week, Hadid traveled toMoscow, where she met with Mayor

Yury Luzhkov and Alexander Kuzmin,the city’s chief architect.

“I will be delighted if Moscow getsa building by an outstanding architectsuch as Zaha Hadid,” Kuzmin said. “Itis wonderful that there are now devel-opers that are advancing Moscow ar-chitecture.”

The Capital Group holding is oneof the few Russian developers thatwork with foreign architects. For ex-ample, it has commissioned work fromrenowned Dutch architect Eric vanEgeraat, who designed the CapitalCity skyscrapers that are currently be-ing built on the Moskva-City site, andthe ambitious Russian Avant-Gardemixed-use project that is now close toobtaining City Hall’s final approval.

Iraqi-Born Brit Has Designs on Moscow

By Galina Stolyarova S T A F F W R I T E R

ST. PETERSBURG — The YeliseyevPalas hotel, which opened last year,has become Russia’s first hotel to jointhe prestigious Leading Small Hotelsof the World association.

Completed in the spring of 2003,the hotel boasts 29 rooms and providesthe only opportunity in town to enjoythe old-world atmosphere of tsars andaristocracy.

The project has already cost $45million, and an additional $70 million-$80 million is expected to be investedinto expanding the building into a 100-room hotel by 2006. The Yeliseyev isowned by the Center for Humanitar-ian and Business Cooperation, thecompany that owns the Taleon Club,which is located in the same building.

The Leading Small Hotels of theWorld is a subdivision of the LeadingHotels of the World, an umbrellagroup uniting 420 hotels across theglobe. There are six members of theassociation in Russia, including theBaltschug Kempinski, Royal Meridienand National in Moscow, and theGrand Hotel Europe, Astoria andYeliseyev Palas hotel in St. Petersburg.

Most of the worldwide membershipof the association is made up of leisurehotels, and, according to Helen Lloyd,marketing director of the Tourism,Marketing and Intelligence agency inMoscow, the Yeliseyev, with its presti-gious location, careful preservationand obsessive attention to detail, has

set the standard for St. Petersburg’s fu-ture development.

“People mostly go to Moscow forbusiness reasons, simply because theyhave to, and so Moscow is not reallypromoted as a leisure destination,while St. Petersburg is a differentcase,” she said.

Lloyd said it would be very benefi-cial for the city to have more historicalhotels similar to the Yeliseyev, whereguests could plunge into the romanceand legend of the city, without it beingnecessary for them to be in the luxuryrange.

“The only thing to pay attention tois maintaining design both on the in-side and the outside of the building,”she said. “Preserving the facade is notenough for keeping the spirit.”

Each hotel willing to participate inthe Leading Small Hotels of the Worldassociation has to be evaluated on a1,500-point scale.

“For instance, breakfast alone isevaluated on 150 points,” said SvetlanaSamarianova, regional manager of theLeading Hotels of the World inMoscow.

“It is checked if the staff addresses

the guest by name, if the guest is of-fered a choice between a smoking anda nonsmoking hall, on which side thestaff chooses to place the napkin, andso on.”

An expert from the associationtravels incognito to the candidate ho-tel, sending back a report upon return.

“The decor was richly finished withlight-gold wall covering, cream-painted walls, ornate plasterwork fea-tures and hand-painted-effect peachand green border illustrations,” readsthe Yeliseyev report, describing theroom.

“Numerous pieces of good qualityreproductions, furniture with marbletops, inlaid decoration, and the giltwork [are remarkable]. Several high-back chairs, a caramel-brown leathersofa and coffee table were provided.The claret patterned carpet was im-maculate.”

The criteria are the same for all ho-tels, size notwithstanding.

No other Russian hotel is currentlybeing considered for membership inthe association.

“Quite honestly, I don’t imagineany hotel is ready to apply in the nearfuture,” Samarianova said. “The re-quirements are simply too hard tomeet.”

The hotel’s owner, AlexanderEbralidze, turned down offers frominternational hotel chains to managethe place, in the belief that Russianscould meet the highest industry stan-dards.

St. Pete Boutique Hotel Joins World’s Elite

FOR MT

One of the 29 rooms in the Yeliseyev Palas, which will expand to 100 rooms by 2006.

AP

Hadid