The original architecture expressed a robust aesthetic –
unapologetically functional, yet elegant and miraculously transparent – as the
old images of the festival hall show. From an urban standpoint – the soaring
undercroft of the gallery level expressed in the architecture as a great urban
awning is a bold and visual tour de force.
Building on these historic aspects, the scheme for renewal embodies the following
components:
1] Restoration of the historic glass facade:
The original scheme of the glass facade should be restored
and transparency maintained instead of the glazing being used for banners. The lightness
thus achieved would immediately serve to connect the inside of the theatre with
the urban realm – thus making the inner life public as well as the city a part
of the movie-goer’s spectacle.
2] A New, Iconic Glass-Fibre
Fabric shell:
Stretched over a light steel exoskeleton not very different
from that of a dirigible, the simple new fabric skin would make for a bold
urban presence; amplifying the current undercroft and vehemently stretching the
visual lines skyward in the form of a large marquee or canopy. The whiteness of
the fabric will signify the ‘fresh’ new Pushkinsky – at night it shall glow to
form an urban marker in the skyline. Perceptually, the whiteness will blend
with the snow-covered urbanscape of the long Moscow winters.
3] Aluminium Cladding over the existing shell:
The old shell of the existing building will be stripped off
its existing cladding to be covered with the deep rich hues of burgundy and
wine. The choice of colour is guided by the
intention of the old skin glowing at night to become the ‘warm hearth’ of
Pushkin Square. In a snow-covered urban landscape, the warm deep red tones would
stand out against the white, and will beckon invitingly through the white
fabric exoskeleton.