Coming Up · Moscow · Education

The Lyubimovka young playwrights' festival opens an educational programme: you will be able to meet screenwriters and directors, and if you have never heard of Lyubimovka, the names of the guests, such as Kirill Serebrennikov and Mikhail Durnenkov…

The organisers have announced that this year authors submitted 815 plays to the competition. The plays that passed the selection will be presented from 5 to 12 September in the form of directors' staged readings, followed by wide-ranging discussion, at the 8/3 venue in Moscow.

Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · Society

Demolition of the Chernikov apartment house of 1914 on 2nd Neopalimovsky Lane in Moscow

This is how Chernikov's house on 2nd Neopalimovsky Lane looks now, although formally the demolition, the result of fraudulent dealings by a band of black-market developers, was not due to begin until the second half of September. The comrade swindlers are in a hurry to destroy an

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage

After decades of neglect and ruin, the legendary Northern River Terminal, which, like many of our architectural monuments, was only a couple of years ago under threat of collapse, now looks like this: restoration work is in full swing…

After decades of neglect and ruin, the legendary Northern River Terminal, which, like many of our architectural monuments, was only a couple of years ago under threat of collapse, now looks like this: restoration work is in full swing, and they are preparing to open the building in time for

A golden metal star with a hammer and sickle set with gems stands on a support at a building site behind a mesh fence.

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Reportage

Completion of the 2.5 billion rouble reconstruction of the Northern River Station and the star for its spire

Came to see the completion of the reconstruction of the Northern River Terminal, at a cost of 2.5 billion roubles. The star will not be hoisted onto the spire today because of the squally wind. The gemstones of the hammer and sickle all seem to be in place

Archive · Moscow · Museums

The website of the State Historical Museum now offers a million digitised exhibits from 16 collections: precious metals, fine-art materials, archaeological monuments, early Russian painting, wood and furniture, ceramics and glass, numismatics and…

The website of the State Historical Museum now offers a million digitised exhibits from 16 collections: precious metals, fine-art materials, archaeological monuments, early Russian painting, wood and furniture, ceramics and glass, numismatics and much else besides. And that is not all: the museum promises to add a further 5

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations

Moscow's Nineteenth-Century "Modern": A Residential House of the 1830s-1850s in Maly Kislovsky Lane

Moscow's nineteenth-century "modern": a residential house of the 1830s-1850s in Maly Kislovsky Lane. It is the only mansion in the city in the form of a tower, strongly reminiscent of Victorian building, and was turned into an apartment house at the start of the

Architecture · Art · Moscow · Observations

Five podcasts about Moscow to listen to while walking around the city

A little more on the subject of podcasts: they really are universal, and can prove useful in the most varied circumstances. Here is a selection of podcasts to listen to on a walk. For example, “A Walk around Moscow with Kazimir Malevich” invites you to go round the places where

Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage

Konstantin Melnikov's house of two cylinders in Krivoarbatsky Lane and the museum inside it

Melnikov's best-known work is his own house on Krivoarbatsky Lane, two cylinders of unequal size, built in 1927-29 for himself and his family. Unrepeatable and striking in its simplicity, its form and its handling of light, it stands today in good condition and houses an excellent

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage

Another brainchild of Melnikov: the Gosplan Garage on Aviamotornaya Street, 1936

Another brainchild of Melnikov: the Gosplan Garage on Aviamotornaya Street, 1936. Originally the main floor space of the garage was given over to the departmental cars of Gosplan; from the 1950s it housed the 8th taxi depot, and since the 1990s it has been home to assorted organisations, car workshops,

Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · People · Reportage

Today marks the 130th birthday of the Russian architect Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov

Today marks the 130th birthday of the Russian architect Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov. In honour of the jubilarian, my team and I from the Shchusev Museum of Architecture visited the surviving Moscow monuments of his work. A sorry picture, it must be said. All of them, with the exception of the

Stacks of books and issues of Seans magazine with black-and-white and colour covers laid out on a dark floor, including issues 64, 66 and 69.

NB! · Cinema · Books · Moscow · Observations

Sale of Seans publications at the Falanster shop

Falanster is holding a sale of Seans publications. There are some interesting things; I am reserving Varda and Barskaya

Architecture · Art · Moscow · Heritage

Not exactly a treasure, one might say, but still a fairly rare mosaic of a longship and the Kremlin on an ordinary prefab block in Moscow at 22 Yablochkova Street

Not exactly a treasure, one might say, but still a fairly rare mosaic of a longship and the Kremlin on an ordinary prefab block in Moscow at 22 Yablochkova Street. The building is being demolished under the renovation programme, while activists from among the residents of the Butyrsky district are