pushkin rolls over

Peter's okno b europa is likely to get a makeover from gazprom - at once ruining a city. the nytimes reports gazprom, already a company I dislike, has, rather than build a window to europe, elected to moon the continent and light a majestic natural gas fart in it's general direction - hermitage be damned... (oh, and the building codes that forbid the monstrosities proposed)

This hubris is exactly what is wrong with gazprom and exactly is wrong with Russia as it is currently governed (and I use the term losely). There is a business that wants something that's against the law so we'll change the law - never mind that it's ruining a historically significant city's aesthetic.

While I've come to expect this lack of respect for history and for culture from the current Russian government, I cannot find any room in my heart to excuse the architects who have decided to design buildings that are in violation of the historic city's building codes. Vainglory is a pathetic but often unavoidable side effect of great architects, but their reputation will always be scarred by their attempts (failed or successful) to ruin a great city in the name of vanity and hubris, be it their own or that of others.