Online Route into the Future
January 2010

Route into the future was suggested to the journalists by the State Hermitage, Studio 44 and Intarsiya Ltd.: a press-walk along the Eastern Wing of the General Staff building took place on January, 21.
A twenty-degree frost did not frighten off masters of pen and camera who with great pleasure strolled along a large-scale and impressive construction site. More than 30 people took part in the press-tour. Spotlights shooting rays at the shaded parts of the building, huge window openings giving views of the yards, reconstructed skylights letting in pale sun rays - these effects of the light and dark could have done an honour to a surreal black-and-white film. Yet, the frost-bound though snowless yards of the General Staff building were humming with activity: various kinds of machinery were operating loudly, people in overalls and safety caps were drilling, welding, grouting and peeling off layers from the walls of future halls.
The route suggested to the journalists for the purpose of familiarizing them with the progress of works went through the 3rd and 4th large yards, which would become the entrance area of the museum. From here the stairs lead to the first floor. On the second floor of the building along the Moyka River there are halls intended for the contemporary art. The large hall with two tiers of windows occupies the second and third floors. This hall, which already impresses with its dimensions and proportions, will become the biggest exhibition hall. Ceilings that appeared during the Soviet times have been dismantled, but the original wall with a metal cramp has been preserved and will become a part of the interior in its primordial form.
It takes only to strain the imagination and to divert the attention from wind chimes in chimneys (restorers use them to create ventilation ducts) and from the effects of the light and dark in the dusk, and it will not be hard to imagine the Impressionists' exhibitions in the halls of the third floor where their works will be displayed when the restoration of the building is completed. In this gallery the works from the Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov collection shall also be exhibited.
The design of Karl Rossi provided for skylights in the halls of the Enfilade along the Moyka River; now they have been recreated in accordance with the original dimensions. As all of them have different geometry, it was impossible to produce details according to one template: almost every part of the construction had to be measured separately. In the chamber halls of the Court Gallery the lights are modern. (By the way, the construction of new concrete ceilings with lighting fixtures has not increased the load on the walls.) In the process of the reconstruction it has also turned out  that the building has no identical window openings, and all the window units (there are more than 150 of them) have been made to individual dimensions. Meeting with the future has heated up the imagination of the journalists, and the hour and a half of the trip involving some mountaineering passed insensibly.
The press-walk was finished with a round table talk.
Opening the press-conference, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage, showed encaustic tiles found while removing the floor. Earlier, in the course of reinforcing foundations, ceramic fragments, leather shoes and construction tools of the 18th - 19th centuries were found. The most interesting discoveries will be included into the future museum of history of the General Staff building construction. The Director noticed gladly that now everything in the General Staff building looks just like in the Hermitage . Amsterdam centre some year and a half or two years ago when the centre was just opened after the reconstruction in summer 2009.
Nikita Yaveyn, Head of Studio 44, underlined that the General Staff building resembled a whole city, a city that had to be carefully restored and adapted to modern conditions and new purposes rather than re-built from scratch. In his opinion, this is where the biggest difficulties and the biggest interest lie. The building, according to the architect, turned out to be in a worse condition than it had been expected to be. Unfortunately, it was impossible to foresee that, because the problems began to appear as the restoration works progressed, from the removing of the floors till the wall reinforcement. Many things were resolved with respect to the circumstances, and compromises were reached. In particular, there was a difficulty with the original interfloor staircase that had double curvature. It did not go without experiments: for example, the large doors of the Great Enfilade represent a construction at the intersection of architecture and mechanics. Nikita Yaveyn is satisfied with the design of the Enfilade halls with skylights. The results have surpassed all hopes.
Natural illumination is not enough when daylight hours are short, and the skylights will be provided with additional artificial illumination.
According to Viktor Smirnov, representative of Intarsiya, unlike other similar projects (restoration of the Synod, the building of the Central Naval Museum, etc.) the General Staff building is in a much worse state of preservation. Its intended purpose was changed too frequently in the 20th century, and some of its parts were rebuilt. It became known when 100 per cent of the plaster layers were removed. A large amount of crumbling bricks was replaced with new bricks, and almost all the walls were reinforced and are now encircled with metal braces.