To applause from some, and boos from others, the veil came down on Nov. 29 on the reconstructed façade of the Theater on Podil (Teatr na Podoli) – a building that has caused controversy even before its doors have opened.
According to the project architect, Oleg Drozdov from Kharkiv, the reconstructed building retains the physical dimensions of the original building, aside from minor alterations.
But Kyivans have complained that the blocky exterior, consisting of a dark gray metal plates on the upper half of the building, with the lower half made out of beige brickwork, clashes with the older architecture on Andriyivskiy Uzviz.
Facebook user Yaroslav Yemelianenko was among those unhappy with the building’s look. In a post made on Facebook on Nov. 27, which has been shared almost 4,000 times, he wrote that the building looked like “a crematorium or a Chornobyl Power Plant block, not a theatre located on Kyiv’s top tourist street.”
“This is damaging to the international image of Kyiv. And the whole of Ukraine,” he added.
Many have supported him, and a petition was created on Nov. 29 calling for the demolition of the building. The petition already has over 5,000 signatures.
Drozdov believes that the negative reaction to his design is due to people sharing photographs that do not properly convey how the building will look when it opens.
“Half of the building is covered with construction tarpaulin and there is also a fence around it, which will be not be removed until March next year for safety reasons,” Drozdov told the Kyiv Post on Nov. 28.
“The people who are upset are those who haven’t seen the project,” Drozdov added.
Kyivans have complained that the blocky exterior, consisting of dark gray metal plates on the upper half of the building, with the lower half made out of beige brickwork, clashes with the older architecture on Andriyivskiy Uzviz. (Maria Romanenko)
The backer of the reconstruction, the director of “Roshen” Confectionary Corporation Viacheslav Moskalevsky, announced the project in a January 2016 interview with Ukrainian news website Liga.Biznes.
The original construction of the theater, located on Kyiv’s historic Andriyivskiy Uzviz, was started in 2004 by the then Kyiv mayor, Oleksandr Omelchenko. The theater was to have opened by the end of 2006, but the project stalled, and the building was left uncompleted.
It is now scheduled to open its doors in March 2017.
Work on the project started in mid-2015, and all the construction documentation was finished in April 2016.
And despite the criticism, Drozdov is positive that the exterior design of the theater fits into the architectural style of Andriyivskiy Uzviz.
Moreover, the architect highlights the rarity and importance of the building:
“It is the first theater to be built in Kyiv in the last 150 years, and it is going to be a big and important cultural institution.”
Oksana Talanychka, the head of the literary department of the Theater on Podil was also positive about the new theater building, which can accommodate audiences of up to 300 people.
“The building that we (had) only accommodated 50 people, so we couldn’t have big performances there. There was also no appropriate lighting.”
Talanychka also said that the theater administration fully trusts Drozdov with the design and construction process.
“It is up to everybody to decide whether they like it or not, but we are the ones to work in it, and the building serves all purposes (in terms of) functionality,” she said.
“And the fact that it’s modern… Maybe it’s the future of Ukrainian architecture,” she added.
