Regional architecture of Russia: Kazan - conflicts of the “old” and “new”

Abstract

Abstract The problems of preservation of the architectural heritage and development of the historical center of Kazan, a Russian city on the Volga with a thousand-year history, are considered in this paper. The main approaches in the architectural practice of Kazan were revealed: 1) restoration of monuments of federal and international significance; 2) eclectic imitations, based on historical styles in the architecture of new objects built in the historical environment; 3) modern architectural and constructive solutions adequate to the current historical time. Signs of a conflict of the «old» and «new» were established: the new buildings imitate the historical examples in stylistic, constructive and functional solutions. The “old” is demolished and rebuilt in materials and structures that do not correspond to the time of its creation. The ideas that the use of historical styles in modern architectural solutions is unacceptable, and that the need to identifying the authentic heritage of all the periods that the historical city went through were established. Unique architectural solutions should be applied in the construction of new facilities in the historical center.