The Mergasov House in Kazan will be transformed into a luxury residential complex with two-level apartments.

      The prepared GZhF RT project for the preservation of the constructivism monument has passed state expertise

      What will the future hold for the Mergasovsky House? Photo: screenshot from the website https://okn.tatarstan.ru/

      What will be the future of the most famous constructivism monument? The Committee for Cultural Heritage published scientific and project documentation for the preservation of the Mergasovsky House and a historical and cultural expertise on it. The building may collapse, endangering neighboring structures. The proposal is to dismantle the building's emergency structures and then restore all constructions, as well as to arrange an underground parking lot and elevators. After that, new tenants will be settled in.

      "Selective dismantling is impossible"

      This summer brought two news items about constructivism monuments that rhyme in many ways. The Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka in Moscow has been decided to be dismantled, surveyed, and recreated, as the authorities claim, "using as many of the original materials as possible." It is reported that work will begin as early as October. Earlier, in the spring, the Main State Expertise of Russia approved the dismantling of the Shukhov Tower in Moscow. What will happen was described at that time by the founder of the "Moscow through the Eyes of an Engineer" project, Ayrat Bagautdinov, on his social media pages: "the tower is planned to be completely dismantled, all parts will be taken to a special site, parts whose load-bearing capacity has decreased by more than 5% from the original will be disposed of and replaced with new ones; what will happen to the remaining parts is unclear." A petition was created against this: "The engineering concept can be preserved in drawings, scientific research, and digital models, however, the monument of world and domestic culture exists only in its historical material and original construction. Today we have no right to lose this original."

      The fate of the Mergasovsky House in Kazan may unfold similarly: the RT Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage is proposing to completely dismantle the house and then recreate it. As noted at a press conference in July by the head of the RT Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Ivan Gushchin, the situation with the Mergasovsky House is dire: overall, its technical condition is emergency. The load-bearing capacity of the foundation's bases is not ensured, and the walls may collapse.

      — Selective dismantling of individual emergency sections without complete dismantling is impossible, as the walls are divided by major cracks into separate blocks that do not have a rigid connection with each other. Preserving any load-bearing structures without the risk of progressive collapse of the entire building is excluded, — the head of the committee quoted the report at that time.

      Today, two files have appeared on the committee's website. Scientific and project documentation for the house spans 342 pages and includes an expertise.

      Throughout its life, the layouts in the house have changed multiple times, and since 1987, many rooms have been leased, according to the documents.

      The six-story Mergasovsky House is proposed to be transformed into a building with 20 apartments and an underground parking lot for 37 cars. The apartments are expected to vary, including two-level ones. Elevators will be installed in the building. At the attic level, the project proposes the creation of usable spaces for apartments: a winter garden, summer kitchens, and storage rooms.

      Overall, the project proposes to restore the building to the state it was in at the beginning of construction, with the exception of some elements. Thus, it is proposed to fully restore the architectural appearance that formed in 1930. The site fencing — brick pillars with metal filling — is planned to be replaced with metal, as it was in the 1970s.

      House of the People's Commissariat for Finance. Radif Kashapov / realnoevremya.ru

      From a communal house to a dormitory

      — The problem lies not in the engineering condition of the building, but in the fact that legislation does not allow the demolition of an existing cultural heritage object under the guise of its "recreation," — sociologist, urban defender, and founder of the Institute of Urban Studies "Tamga," Maria Leontieva, reported on her Telegram channel, providing several examples of how buildings similar to the Mergasovsky House have been or can be preserved.

      The most famous example is, of course, the House of the People's Commissariat for Finance, which literally crumbled in 2017; curious observers could see insulation made of straw behind the plaster. Now the building has regained its original color, open terraces, and transitions. The sewage, ventilation, and heating networks have been hidden in historical boxes.

      During the reconstruction of the Gosplan garage based on Konstantin Melnikov's project, which lost its color and round lighthouse window on the main facade, glass was custom-made to reproduce the light refraction of the original from 1936, and the historical profile of the gates was forged by hand from surviving metal fragments.

      Another successful project is the Moscow communal house on Ordzhonikidze Street from 1930 by architect Ivan Nikolaev, consisting of sleeping, sanitary, and educational blocks. In 1968, it began to be rebuilt into a dormitory for the Institute of Steel and Alloys with the participation of the author. In the 90s, it was vacated, and in 2010 it suffered significant damage in a fire. Meanwhile, restoration began in 2007 and was completed in 2016. Architects reinforced the load-bearing steel frame of the sleeping block, restored ribbon windows with wooden frames, installed modern elevators, security systems, and replaced communications. At the same time, instead of triangular columns at the base of the building, oval ones appeared — these changes drew criticism from architects. The building houses a student dormitory for the Moscow State Institute of Steel and Alloys.

      Kitchen factory of the Maslennikov plant. screenshot from the video "Kitchen factory of the Maslennikov plant in Samara" from the channel "YET Samara"

      Yekaterinburg and Samara: not everything works out right away

      As for non-Moscow projects, the story of the Samara kitchen factory of the bankrupt Maslennikov plant in the 1990s is indicative. From above, the building resembles a hammer and sickle. During the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, its facades were distorted by siding, extensions, and partitions, and its load-bearing supports were destroyed. The restoration of the ribbon glazing was not easy, as many windows had been bricked up. During the restoration, craftsmen recreated the finishing, poured concrete floors with marble chips, and also a wooden window in the inner courtyard. The concrete ceilings were left open. Now a branch of the Tretyakov Gallery operates here, although initially, they planned to open a center for Russian avant-garde art.

      The White Tower from 1929-1931 is one of the symbols of Yekaterinburg. In 2012, it was taken on by the public organization "Arch-group PODELNIKI," which conducted its conservation, resulting in the installation of windows and doors, a roof, and flooring. This was purely a volunteer project! Electricity was brought to the tower, and events began to be held here. In 2020, a pre-restoration study was conducted with a grant from the Getty Foundation for $180,000. The restoration and adaptation project was prepared by the architectural bureau "Rozhdestvenka." The project also involved the A.V. Shchusev Museum of Architecture. In particular, the restoration involves reinforcing structures with carbon fabric, creating inconspicuous drainage, and heating using electricity.

      This spring, the arch-group was asked to vacate the building, which is being transferred to the management of the DOM.RF development institute for investor search. Urban defenders fear that this process will be prolonged, negatively affecting the condition of the tower.

      It is evident that in all projects, the authors did not seek to turn old houses into "new" ones, but restored the lost strictly according to the original drawings, aiming to minimize prosthetics and conceal modern interventions regarding communications. Perhaps a similar approach can also be taken with the Mergasovsky House in Kazan.

      Radif Kashapov