Denis Kalinkin took part in the opening of the exhibition at the center for contemporary culture “Smena”

The exhibition, dedicated to the Dutch experience of working with cultural heritage, will host a workshop for architects and urbanists.

An educational workshop for architects and urbanists, organized within the framework of the exhibition “Transform. Adjust. Save. The Dutch experience with the cultural heritage", started in Kazan, in the center of contemporary culture "Smena". The head of Kazan Executive Committee Denis Kalinkin took part in the opening of the workshop and exposition.

Participants and experts of the workshop will have to create a comprehensive solution for working with the historical environment and the concept of development of the territory taking into account the local landscape, legal and urban context. The work will be carried out on the example of venues located on the territory of the Old Tatar settlement – the big bath house and the Krestovnikov plant. "A third of the city is situated in the industrial sector, where the old factories are located. We want to develop a new vision for them. These venues were chosen due to the fact that we plan to transform the boulevard on Fatkullin street and connect it with lake Kaban, the embankment of which is now experiencing a rebirth", – said Daria Tolovenkova, deputy chief architect of Kazan.

"Public spaces, which are given a special attention today, are adjacent to the historical venues, but do not interact with them," – D.Tolovenkova explained. - "Our Dutch colleagues have been very successful in this matter in the recent years. We decided to adopt their experience, methods, knowledge in order to make our city even more beautiful, unique and diverse in the future".

"Kazan is a city with a thousand-year history. But many buildings require a new thinking and approach. We are glad that you agreed to work with us to find new solutions", –Denis Kalinkin said, addressing the guests.

Deputy chief architect of Kazan added that the purpose of the workshop is not to develop the final project, but to re-think the approaches, training and search for a new driver for the development of architectural thought in general.

Dutch and Russian specialists became the tutors of the workshop. Experts are the deputy chairman of the all-Russian society for the protection of historical and cultural monuments Farida Zabirova, architect Oleg Maklakov, associate Professor of KSACU Layla Saifullina, deputy chairman of the RT Committee for the protection of cultural heritage Svetlana Persova, former chief architect of Kazan Tatiana Prokofieva, ecologist, senior lecturer of KSU Galina Yupina. The organizers of the workshop are the Executive Committee of Kazan and the creative team of the city administration.

The head of the Executive Committee examined the works presented at the exhibition, which is opened in "Smena" until November 22. "Here you can see 20 works on the transformation and adaptation of historical buildings. Among them – the water tower, which turned into a hotel, the Church, converted into a bookstore and more", - said the curator of the exhibition Eva Radionova.

Earlier the exhibition has already visited Moscow, St.Petersburg, Ivanovo, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg and Tula.