The Great Moscow State Circus operates in a 1970s building and demolition of the pavilion, which will be replaced by a new colourful structure, is due to begin this year. Moscow authorities have shown an updated design for the project, but the motley edifice has been met with criticism.
The Great Moscow Circus was built to a design by architect Yakov Belopolsky. It was officially opened on 30 April 1971. It is a modernist pavilion built on a circular plan, with a raised roof in the central part resembling a tent. The building is 31 metres high at its highest point. At the same time, circus shows can be watched by 3,400 people.
A distinctive part of the building is the glass walls at floor level, which let in a lot of natural light. The interior is decorated with granite, marble, wood and aluminium finishes. Thanks to a special design, the circus has five moving stages that can be changed in just five minutes. Interestingly, the venue had a special government box. An underground garage with a lift was built here for Leonid Brezhnev so that high-ranking officials could take their place in the audience without using the main entrance.
Today, the building is in a poor state of repair. Instead of a major renovation, the Moscow authorities plan to demolish the building. Visualisations of the new circus have been published by Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The new circus building will consist of several structures. The arena will be built in the part called “Monomakh’s Hat”. Its construction is expected to start later this year and be completed in 2028, the independent Russian news service Meduza reported.
The Russian architectural firm Apex, quoted as the author of the project, has in fact apparently reworked someone else’s design. It was created by a Singapore-based company that was involved in the redevelopment of the Olympic Stadium, another controversial construction project in the capital, the Meduza article reads.
When publishing the visualisations of the circus, the mayor of Moscow argued that “the new complex will fit naturally into the surrounding landscape and buildings”. Paradoxically, he may be right, but in this case it is not an asset. Instead of a modernist pavilion, the people of Moscow will get a kitsch building that is difficult to assign to a specific architectural trend. The larger circus building resembles a military helmet from the time of Tsarist Germany, while the smaller auxiliary building resembles a capsule. The architects explain that their design is inspired by ‘circus architecture of the past’.
I am afraid to even begin to say what it is like, so many metaphorical analogies come to mind. For example, the dome of a temple located underground; or, as someone has already shown, a helmet; or some kind of porcelain lid for a sugar bowl; a carousel; an aluminium top…. In the latter, by the way, a contextual reference to the demolished Belopolsky and Vulutsky Circuses can be assumed, although, let’s be honest, this is unlikely. And the circus is so pathetic that there are no words. Undoubtedly, its demolition and the implementation of the chosen project will fully embody the Eastern approach to modern architecture,” concluded the editors of Archi.ru.
source: meduza.io
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source: Moscow Government Information Centre
