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'We shall soon have the newest ancient heritage in the world': The Rise of the Sham Replica under Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and its Implications for Russia's Architectural Heritage
Abstract
This article seeks to show how reconstruction and the creation of 'sham replicas' have become the normal approach to treating historic buildings in Russia. A sham replica is the near-total demolition of a historic building and the re-creation of something approximating the original but with new proportions, using modern construction methods and incorporating modern features, such as underground car parks. Former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov presided over the establishment of this practice, which became the catalyst for an escalating scale of abuse of the historic environment and is increasingly reflected in towns and cities across Russia. The practice has established itself in post-Soviet Russia thanks to a particular set of economic and political circumstances. The study demonstrates that Luzhkov's approach stems from practices that were already present in Russia and the Soviet Union, and are also connected to a growing international acceptance of reconstructions. The preservation movement in Russia is vigorously protesting against such treatment of historic buildings, and although at present unlikely, it is possible that the practice will be discredited in the future.
... Architectural authenticity is a subject recently raised by Clementine Cecil in her account of the rise of the sham replica in Moscow. 28 However, it is with interest that Adam draws our attention to The Donation of Constantine, a key historical forgery, the construction of which may itself be considered an important and illuminating historical event: 'This is history, not false or pseudo-history, and is historically informative'. 29 The French experience of historic urban landscape management is outlined by heritage conservation architect and town planner Daniel Duché. ...
Natural and human disasters continue to destroy historic urban fabrics worldwide. While residents would often like to see their cities rebuilt "as they were," most scholars of heritage fiercely reject identical reconstructions by arguing either that they are "fake" simulations, or that they epitomize undemocratic urbanization processes. Challenging these arguments, I first draw from literature on theming to argue that it is precisely "fakeness" that allows people to construct a sense of authenticity in rebuilt urban spaces. Next, I show how preoccupations with participation and justice can paradoxically lead professionals to advance the same universalistic, undemocratic heritage approach that they claim to contest. By enabling diverse people to negotiate a sense of the past, confront each other, and share new aspirations for the future, identical reconstructions are heritage as much as, if not more than, other "historic" urban fabrics.
According to the Austrian art historian Alois Riegl (1857–1905), cultural heritage possesses age value ( Alterswert ) based on the perception of an object’s visible traces of age. His 1903 essay “The Modern Cult of Monuments” became a classic, and age value has ever since been constitutive for cultural heritage. Closer scrutiny, however, reveals that clever copies, reconstructions, and imaginative inventions can possess age value too. I therefore suggest “pastness” as a useful term for denoting the perception that a given object is “of the past.” Pastness is not immanent in an object but, rather, results from its appearance (for example, patina), its context (for example, in a museum), or its correspondence with preconceived expectations among the audience. In this article, I review the concept of pastness and discuss its implications for the global heritage sector. Age value emerges as being less universal than Riegl thought and was linked to a very particular intellectual and cultural context.
Despite covering most of the Eurasian continent and recently reclaiming its position as a geopolitical heavyweight, the (world) heritage agenda of the Russian Federation remains relatively unexplored. In an effort to fill this gap, this paper seeks to uncover some of the main threads that define the politics of historical sites in Russia through contextualising Russia’s most recent addition to World Heritage Site: the archaeological site of Bolgar (Federal Republic of Tatarstan). Within this exercise, specific attention will be given to the ideological pathways, asymmetric power relations and shifting geopolitical alignments that define the sociocultural dimensions of the site. Popular heritage themes such as ethno-nationalism, post-colonialism, neo-liberalism, representational practices and branding will be scrutinised. Besides contributing to the globalisation project that is expediting the theoretical maturing of heritage studies, at the end of the paper some theoretical opportunities will briefly be explored. This paper concludes that heritage in Russia is far from neutral, and that international heritage organisations and researchers involved in Russia have more consideration for foster reflexivity about their actions and particular position in relation to governmental institutions. Cultural remains are important political commodities in Putin’s asymmetrical federation. Especially now that the sector has evolved into a multi-million business, the integrity of heritage practitioners is threatened.
In a contemporary climate in which reconstruction in a historicist style is regarded negatively by heritage specialists as inauthentic, there is a need for better guidance and greater clarity about what reconstruction connotes, when it is admissible to carry it out in a style or form reflecting so far as possible what has been lost, how it should be done, and what authenticity actually means. In this paper, we review the current situation and existing charters and terminology, and suggest ways forward. Experience within the Council of Europe has shown that reconstruction after the wars in the former Yugoslavia will take place whether or not it is approved by the international heritage community. Guidelines are needed and we suggest in an Appendix the form which these might take.
The paper outlines the principles, outcomes, and impacts of the Council of Europe's heritage-rehabilitation project in South-East Europe, the Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan/Survey of the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IRPP/SAAH). It is suggested that, although the project began in 2003, before the adoption of the Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, it anticipated many of its themes, so in effect was putting theories into practice. The lessons learned from this continuing heritage project will contribute to future discussions on the theory and practice of heritage-led regeneration, in which the conservation of heritage is not an end in itself but a means to an end of social and economic development.
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