MAKING AMENDS by Melkon Charchoglyan Photography Alex Wolfe

EXPO

Rather than erase all evidence of Georgia’s Soviet past, the country’s architectural community is keen to preserve its history and give the once-foreboding buildings another – happier – lease of life. MAKING AMENDS By Melkon Charchoglyan Photography Alex Wolfe

Comedy and tragedy on the façade of the Kakhidze Music Center

no123 — monocle — 207 Earlier this year Tbilisi’s mayor convened a meeting on Restorations such as this are often funded by private the fate of his city’s Soviet mid-century apartment blocks, companies or charities; the government rarely has the known as khrushchovkas (a reference to the premiership money or the will to get involved. “The government of the USSR’s Nikita Khrushchev). The buildings are no needs to do more,” says Teona Kakhidze, who helps runs longer wanted by the Georgian capital’s government. Yet the Kakhidze Music Center in the heart of new Tbilisi. while these small, typically crumbling quarters can trigger Named after her father Djansug Kakhidze who founded memories of harsh times under a dictatorship, some citi- the space, the 1980s concert hall would likely be a pile zens have come to cherish the apartments’ spacious court- of rubble now had it not been for the charitable Cartu yards and family-oriented design. Now people are calling Foundation, part of Georgia’s Cartu Bank, which funded for their repair rather than their replacement, pointing to a restoration in 2010 (including €1.7m for an organ). Leri a significant shift in attitude: Georgians are learning to Medzmariashvili, who designed the building with Murtaz appreciate their nation’s Soviet-era architecture. Chachanidze, is now 83. He sports a fearsome grey mous- Helping turn the tide is a keen emerging architectural tache and shows us around with the contented air of a community. In October last year, in the neighbourhood of man whose work is done. “We wanted to create something Gldani, known for its neglected Soviet towerblocks, some of that reminds you of classical music,” he says of the concert its members staged the first Tbilisi Architecture Biennial in hall’s style, a post-modernist wonder featuring neo-gothic independent Georgia (the last one took place in 1988). The turquoise arches, retro ornate brass lamps and marble aim was to forecast the future of the capital’s cityscape while reliefs of buxom goddesses. considering its Soviet past. Blueprints, photographs, poetry and artwork adorned the dilapidated walls; crowds moved Further south, not far from Tbilisi’s old town and over- around nodding in approval in between sips of beer. “The looking the Mtkvari River, sits another grand Soviet struc- awareness of preserving these buildings is becoming present ture undergoing a reappraisal. Victor Jorbenadze’s Wedding in society today,” says Tinatin Gurgenidze, one of the bien- Palace (also known as the Palace of Rituals) was com- nial’s four co-founders. “But we’ve lost a lot of buildings. pleted in 1984 and took inspiration from Le Corbusier’s It’s like the new government is trying to erase the past.” curvaceous Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France, The building that originally sparked much of this con- earning him the nickname “Jorbusier”. Even though versation, and the one that conservators use to illustrate the USSR was secular, people still yearned for ceremony; the new life that hides in old spaces, is the now widely Jorbenadze’s building is one of the grandest “wedding pal- photographed Bank of Georgia HQ. Designed in 1975 by aces” that mushroomed across the Soviet Union to cater architects Giorgi Chakhava and Zurab Jalaghania, it served to these spiritual cravings. as the Ministry of Highways until 2006, long after the As Monocle drops by the palace for a visit, many USSR’s collapse. It’s a quixotic structure: a blur of Russian couples are perusing the space and considering it as a constructivism, brutalism and Japan’s postwar metabo- possible wedding venue, dazzled by its sci-fi stylings. lism. It’s been immaculately preserved by its new owner Younger generations – who have often been more lib- and its fantastical shape has become the poster-child for erally educated and are less embittered by a past they the odd and strangely enchanting modernist architecture can only experience secondhand – are the most fervent of this city. Most importantly, it’s very well used. The over- embracers of Soviet architecture. Alexander Bagration- lapping blocks on its façade create multiple terraces for Davidoff, a photographer and journalist, has staged communal use. Come breaktime, bank employees gather several raves in abandoned Soviet buildings across for coffee and cigarettes, reposing on outdoor chairs and Georgia with a view to espousing a new, positive meaning sofas. One terrace even has mini-golf. to the architecture. “Georgia is fighting against its history. The Bank of Georgia HQ was built in 1975 and sums up Tbilisi’s oddly enchanting brand of modernism

208 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 209 The Chronicle of Georgia, conceived by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli in 1985, charts the country’s history

210 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 211 The Kakhidze Music Center was completed on the brink of the USSR’s collapse The postmodern design aims to embody classical music

212 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 213 Blink and you’ll miss it: the Wedding Palace is designed to resemble ovaries and a giant phallus Statues celebrating science adorn the grounds of the 1960s ExpoGeorgia exhibition centre Soviet art always conveyed a message. Here, knowledge soars at ExpoGeorgia

216 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 217 Touring Tbilisi: Thinking of planning a visit to the city? It’s at its most charming (and clement) in late spring and early autumn – and visiting the capital’s architecture highlights is simple. Sights such as The Chronicle of Georgia and ExpoGeorgia are open to the public and within a short taxi ride of one another. For more private locations, including the apartment blocks of Gldani and the Wedding Palace, guides such as Brutal Tours can open many doors. For the best food and bars – and a dose of 19th-century Tbilisi – head to the historic centre that’s directly south from Rustaveli Avenue instead. brutaltours.com

Vestiges of Soviet design Stamba juxtaposes industrial grit with contemporary design

Smartly dressed staff at Stamba Hotel

Intricate mosaics at ExpoGeorgia acknowledge Soviet scientific progress

‘Welcome to Tbilisi, madam’

A round of Moscow Mules, anyone?

218 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 219 Tbilisi State University’s Central Library looking resplendent in the autumn sunshine Unambiguously sexual imagery adorns the Wedding Palace

220 — monocle — no123 no123 — monocle — 221 Saint Nino keeps watch over Tbilisi

The architecture is the one good thing that we got from if they are to be appreciated in a modern light; Stamba the Soviet Union but people destroy it like it’s nothing,” and Rooms are the first spaces where young Tbilisians he says. can do just that (outside of his raves, of course). History An example of the positive effects that the repurpos- is unapologetically on show here, with concrete pillars and ing of these buildings can have is apparent at the recently an imposing original façade. But any connotations of com- opened hotels Stamba and Rooms. They’re both housed munism are dispersed by the tasteful reinterpretation of in a former 1930s printing press in Tbilisi’s upscale Vera the space – the grit looks charming beside banana plants neighbourhood. The old complex has been transformed and Danish Carl Hansen & Søn chairs. by entrepreneur Temur Ugulava over the past three years, Ugulava could have opted for a shiny new building but helping to rejuvenate the city’s nightlife. it would not have had the same effect. To create an authen- On a Saturday night in Stamba, a group of smart tic experience he wanted an environment with cultural and young patrons recline on blue banquettes and drink historical significance to his country. For better or worse, Moscow Mules from copper mugs. They interrupt each the Soviet period is an inextricable part of Georgia’s iden- other to greet friends, cousins or colleagues with a kiss on tity; to reappropriate a Soviet building properly is to come the cheek. In Tbilisi everyone seems to know each other. to terms with the past and thus celebrate the future. The Among the crowd is Bagration-Davidoff. “Nobody builds Georgian government is still struggling with this idea but like this anymore: even the concrete is different from that with positive examples set by the likes of Ugulava, there time,” he says, admiring the fine old bones of the building. are sure to be more intrepid individuals addressing and He adds that historic spaces must be directly engaged with reimagining the nation’s architectural history. — (m)

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