Hundreds of people rallied outside a 1920s-era former telephone exchange in Moscow, decrying a plan to demolish the avant-garde landmark and build luxury flats.
However, days later, developers started ripping out the building on a central boulevard anyway, watched by a disconsolate crowd of activists and locals.
“How can they destroy this, I don’t understand,” said local resident Yelena Khmelevskaya, walking her two dogs.
She lunged at a representative of the developers relaxing in a chair on the pavement, shouting: “Get lost!”
Passions are running high as activists and locals battle to save Moscow’s world-renowned constructivist buildings — some of which, like the telephone exchange, lack any legal protection.
The constructivist movement that espoused minimalism and innovative use of space flourished briefly in the 1920s when the Soviets supported such ideas.
Architects brought to life geometric designs with innovations such as communal dining rooms and rooftop solariums.
Many are now in a poor state and developers often prefer to completely rebuild them or pull them down altogether.
Another striking landmark, the 1930 Dom Narkomfina apartment building, has signs warning drivers not to park nearby because of chunks falling off the facade.
Designed for Russian Ministry of Finance officials, it was one of the first buildings to feature split-level living space, open walkways and a flat roof.
“This building has not once been fully renovated, of course it needs care, all the more so as a building of world significance. Nothing gets done, year after year,” said art historian Darya Sorokina, who leads tours of the residential building.
The telephone exchange that fell victim to developers was built in 1929 with soaring ceilings and distinctive slit windows, designed by architect Vasily Martynovich.
However, Moscow’s cultural heritage department ruled it was not worth saving, saying it was not functional or appropriate to the area.
The supervisor of the demolition works, Alexander Malinin, told reporters that “all the documentation was drawn up fully legally.”
“This is not a listed building, there is not one document that says so,” he said.
Activists complain that officials prefer period buildings with many decorative elements and fail to protect Constructivist landmarks, which are seen as too Soviet or simple-looking.
However, constructivism is one of the few styles born in Russia and is seen as a unique contribution to world architecture, preservationists said.
“It’s absurd,” Sorokina said. “In Moscow, the birthplace of constructivism and the avant-garde, with probably the most outstanding buildings of the time, we’re fighting against their demolition.”
However, activists count some successes. A government plan to demolish an iconic radio tower, the Shukhov Tower, was halted after an international outcry.
The public got wind of the threat to the telephone exchange only weeks ago and swiftly organized a protest via Facebook posts with a black-and-white stylized image of the building.
They gathered more than 35,000 signatures through a Change.org petition and persuaded top architects to sign an open letter to the mayor.
“We didn’t get any official answer from the owner of the building, and we didn’t get an official answer from the authorities,” architecture preservation group Arkhnadzor representative Lyudmila Malkis said.
Unidentified young people even tried to disrupt one of the protests against the demolition, throwing stones at the windows and setting off a smoke bomb.
The developers Lider Invest plan to build a seven-story neo-Art Nouveau apartment complex topped with owl sculptures.
“It just doesn’t make sense to demolish a perfectly good monument of constructivist architecture to build a fake historical building,” activist Natalia Melikova said.
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