Norman Foster to reconstruct main Russian fine arts museum
Published: 25 March, 2009, 15:22
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will be reconstructed under the project of Sir Norman Foster. The $US 1billion project is expected to be completed in the next 8 years.
The tender for the reconstruction of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts was formally won by the Russian Sergey Tkachenko. Sir Norman Foster is to be considered the associate contractor according to the terms of the tender. But officially, the authors of the project are Foster and his architectural bureau.
The tender was held at the end of January among three projects. Two of them were presented by state organizations – the Centre of Restoration of the Russian Ministry of Culture, and the Research & Development and Design Institute of the General Layout of Moscow, headed by the same Tkachenko, in co-authorship with the head of the Russian Union of Architects Andrey Bokov.
Norman Foster
Norman Foster was born in Manchester in 1935 into a poor family.
In 1967 Foster Associates was founded now known as Foster + Partners.
Since then, the architectural bureau has received more than 190 awards and has won over 50 national and international competitions.
His remarkable buildings and urban projects have transformed cityscapes. Among the most renowned projects are the City Hall, London, UK, (1998-2002), the Reichstag, New German Parliament, Berlin, Germany (1992-1999), McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, UK (1998-2004), Hearst Headquarters, New York, USA (2000-2006) and many more.
However, the tender’s jury has chosen the most expensive and long-term project. The ambitious reconstruction provides for a five-fold expansion of the museum area. Irina Antonova, the director of the museum, said at the end of last year that Foster’s project has no worthy alternatives.
Appealing the results of the tender was only possible until March 24. Therefore, the victory of Foster’s projects now appears assured.
Norman Foster has received the order for reconstructing the Pushkin museum in 2006. The initiative came from the Fund of assistance to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts headed by Mikhail Kusnirovich (Bosco Group).
The project has been approved by the then-First Deputy Prime-Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The sum of approximately $US 1 billion was allocated and despite the unfolding crisis was not cut as the economy worsened.
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