In 1996 – 1997, with the participation of the Academy of Urban Environment (Vyacheslav Glazychev, Moscow) Vadim Khvan launched an extensive programme with the aim to study the urban fabric of Kaliningrad’s city centre, which resulted in a large-scale linear city centre rehabilitation project and changing of the urban planning management system in the city administration. A mass campaign raising public awareness of the project was launched and, as an example of open public actions, welcomed by the mayor of Kaliningrad Vitaliy Shipov and his successor Igor Kozhemyakin. The group of architects from Kazakhstan under the leadership of Vadim Khvan proposed the development project for the city centre for the whole length of Leninsky Prospect from Pobedy Square (Victory Square) up to Kalinina Square. The primary focus was not on the specific architectural and sculptural designs but rather on the change of project paradigms as well as the management paradigms that should have realized these projects. Nevertheless, the general public, which conventionally does not recognize an architect “without pictures”, insisted on a pre-sketching phase. Figure 29 illustrates the proposals of Khvan’s team in respect of Korolevskaya gora.
Fig. 29. Proposal for the House of the Soviets renovation by the architect V. Khvan.
3.3. Igor Shelepov‟s project (2002) In 2002 an architect from Kaliningrad Igor Shelepov took an initiative to submit his vision of the future of Korolevskaya gora. He proposed to reconstruct the King’s Castle while preserving the House of the Soviets. According to his version, the inner courtyard of the castle would be covered with glass, and a congress hall would be built between the uncompleted building of the House of the Soviets and the restored hall of Moskovites. A vast covered space could equally host Christmas tree parties for children, international trade exhibitions and a variety of fashion shows and popular events intended for a large number of people. It was planned to decrease the number of floors at the House of the Soviets and to place a hotel of Hilton class on the site between the House of the Soviets and the Wedding Palace. Among other Russian projects, Shelepov’s project was awarded a golden prize at the international architectural exhibition-biennale “Monument”. There were 580 works by architects from 40 countries presented at the competition. As newspapers wrote at that time, “The Kaliningrad architect’s concept brought together eras and generations by granting everybody a right to leave their imprint”. Korolevskaya gora: projects and intentions for its development
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