Six architects have been invited to participate in an international competition set by the Kremlin for the rebuilding of the Mariinski theatre in St Petersburg. The move has been made in response to the controversy regarding the design by American architect Eric Owen Moss, winner of the competition set in 2001.

Moss’s design received some strong reactions (it was immediately christened “the rubbish bags”) and the opposition of the architectural authorities: Valery Gergiev, after an initial declaration of support, then said he supported the idea but not the design; city architect Oleg Kharchenko branded it as “a glass structure with no form”; whilst the minister for culture took a neutral position accompanied by a declaration of willingness to set a new competition.

So, seven months after the disagreements, the new architects invited to compete are: Mario Botta, Arata Isozaki, Dominique Perrault, Erick van Egeraat, Hans Hollein… and Eric Owen Moss himself.

https://www.muar.ru

Related articles:
Moss and Ponti reckon with past (Mediawatch, 30.4.2002)