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The Star: Canadian to design Russian opera house

Congratulations to Jack Diamond, though I find it amusing that we're all paying homage to Diamond for getting the Russian commission when the Russians are typically ridiculed for their appalling architectural taste.
 
Well, the fact that Perrault's overblown golden spud design was given the old heave-ho shows that isn't always the case.
 
I do wish a render of the interior was available. That's what an opera house is about -- the interior. Has anyone else found one?

The exterior is outright over the top for Diamond & Schmitt. Nice work.

A few people are expressing doubts that this building will see completion, but I have no doubts about it -- once in a great while, humankind gives forth an artistic force such as Gergiev, an awesome artist who ultimately possesses a large amount of political power. It would be appropriate for Russia to accomodate Gergiev's wishes.
 
Looks like they're following their standard template (for the exterior) with some modifications and many more flourishes. Shouldn't they lose points for simply creating spectacle?
 
Looks like given a few extra bucks, Jack is able to produce more interesting items than what he's given his home town.
 
But it's what D+S have done here that positioned them to get the commission. The Russian government has a long tradition of funding the arts properly, with St. Petersburg a cultural showcase, yet the COC's modestly-funded new hall was the model they've adopted ... regardless of how much they're spending on Mariinsky 2.

And will it be better for all that, despite the huge friggin' circular doodad on the roof shown in the architectural model?

http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=4&photo_id=7681
 
Hello everybody,

I was born in St Petersburg, Russia and lived there for a long time. I've got a strong opinion that the theatre of S&D is totally unsuitable for the environment it proposed to be built in. This is how it is going to be.
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I really can't blame the architects much: they had to adopt there ideas to the Mr. Perrault's building, which was already under construction for a couple of years, having been altered by whoever was responsible.

However I would have appreciated if S&D had designed just interiors or if they had designed the building for one of the modern areas of St Petersburg which are desperately lacking cultural establishments.

It was Gergiev's best dream to erect a new stage next to existing one. He saw his chance with Putin emerging into power in 1999 and had got His Excellency's support but then it all went wrong. The theatre is situated in the very special part of St Petersburg which we could call the Venice Of The North in particular.
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All main events of Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment happened just around and there are more links with Russian literature and classical music in this district.

An outstanding number of socially active people in the city hate the very idea of modernist intrusion into the historical quarters. They did not allow Moss
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they grimed when Perrault failed to win in the struggle with corrupt officials.
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With S&D totally plane building, lacking any statement, they are going to be furious. And the greedy bureaucrats are still there. So I am not that sure about the future of the project. Sorry if my mistakes made reading uncomfortable.
 
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It was a bloodless coup, and you'll just have to get used to the idea that Torontonians have taken over the cultural heart of your city, Mike. That's all there is to it.
 
We're not the wimpy Goths or the wussy Vandals, Mike ... we're the Hosers. Hear us roar!

Look to the west and you'll see us, wave upon polite wave of well behaved urbanists, swarming towards you ...

Moss? We ate Moss for breakfast. Perrault? We flipped his Golden Potato into the river.
 
I've searched in vain for any construction shots of Mariinsky2 on "SkyscraperCity St. Petersburg". Mostly, they post pretty pix of the old buildings, with the occasional panorama of commie blocks, and don't seem as culturally interested in new construction as we are here.
 

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