M.I. Babanin’s apartment house: ongoing transformation

M.I. Babanin’s apartment house (Klimentovski pereulok 6), constructed in 1912 by the architect Ernst-Richard Niernsee, a masterpiece of Moscow Eclecticism, combines Classical elements with the aura of Art Nouveau. The house has been an integral part of the architectural landscape of the historic Zamoskvorechie area. The destiny of this building is characteristic of those lucky remnants of old Moscow that escaped demolition or reconstruction. More and more shops and offices are placed in basements and ground floor apartments, while entrances are sometimes broken through the main brick wall. According to the Law, all non-residential rooms and premises in a house, including basements, are in condominium of all apartment owners. Placement of shops and offices occurs without their knowledge and consent (which is a direct violation of the Paragraph 4 Article 36 of the Housing Code of Russian Federation), and no recompense is paid to them. Some apartment owners, on their part, illicitly hire out their flats without paying taxes. Moreover, in spite of the No-Entry signs (fig. 2), the space before the house is flooded by commuters’ cars coming to the city center, so that inhabitants sometimes find no place for parking. For that reason, garbage removal occurs at nighttime, which is accompanied by considerable noise. Defective car alarm systems, sounding day and night, add their share to the noise. Big investors purchase one apartment after another, demolish the old interior, perform “Euroremont” (see related articles) and hire them out. As a result, neighbor apartments, sewerage and other communications are sometimes damaged (fig. 4). Compensation mechanisms function with great difficulties in such cases. External repairs of the house are planned for the future. Like in other old Moscow houses, stucco décor can be replaced by new copies.

Fig. 1, 2 External facade. Replaced window frames indicate that Euroremont has been made in the apartment.
Fig. 3 Adjacent houses were demolished and replaced by pseudo-traditional buildings.
Fig. 4-6 An apartment with a relatively well-preserved original interior.
Fig. 4. A crack on the wall is seen, which arose as a result of the Euroremont in the appartment upstairs.
Fig. 7 Euroremont in action. Demolishing the interior, the workers did not cover the lavatory pan. Unprofessional working while replacing lavatory pans can result in waste water conduit obstruction, for example, by pieces of broken flooring tiles.
Fig. 8 Complete re-layout of an appartment for an office.
Fig. 9 Final state: the Euroremont is done.
All images 2010