Press Release

Shukhov Tower Watch Day To Be Held On March 19 And 20 In Moscow

NEW YORK, NEW YORK/MOSCOW, RUSSIA, March 9, 2016— A two-day event will take place on Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20, 2016, in Moscow, Russia, to celebrate Shukhov Tower’s 94th anniversary and the launch of a petition to save the modern icon, which currently faces the threat of demolition. The tower is on the 2016 World Monuments Watch, World Monuments Fund’s biennial list of at-risk cultural heritage sites around the globe. 

A press conference on Saturday, March 19, at 3:00 p.m. (Moscow Time Zone) will be held to address Shukhov Tower’s current state and the petition to President Vladimir Putin on change.org to help save it. Events also include tours around the tower, a film screening, activities for children, tower reconstruction demonstrations, and more.

Shukhov Tower, known after the name of its designer Vladimir Shukhov (1853-1939), is a landmark in the history of structural engineering. Built between 1919 and 1922, it is an emblem of the creative genius of an entire generation of modernist architects in the years that followed the Russian Revolution. Currently, the tower suffers from corrosion, a process which was accelerated due to inappropriate repairs carried out in the 1970s. The tower also sits close to the center of a growing Moscow, and demand for land, coupled with its poor condition and lack of public access, have led to the looming threat of demolition.

The two-day event is part of Watch Day, a World Monuments Fund initiative that provides the extraordinary cultural heritage sites currently on the World Monuments Watch an opportunity to engage with their local communities to strengthen their appreciation of these important sites. Events are supported wholly or in part by World Monuments Fund.

Joshua David, President and CEO, World Monuments Fund, says: “Watch Day is an opportunity for the Russian community to engage with Shukhov Tower in a way that will help call attention to its current plight. World Monuments Fund joins the Shukhov Tower Foundation, DOCOMOMO Russia, the Constructivist Project, and other local advocates in calling for continued vigilance in the fight to save this icon of modern Russian history.”

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