Natalia Ditrikh
A chief architect of Yalta
A number of ‘outsiders’ grows in the Crimea - at the end of last year, Natalia Ditrikh was appointed a chief architect of Yalta, previously she held the same position in the Moscow Region. She took up the matter with great enthusiasm, and although little time has passed, in the upcoming tourist season, the residents and guests of the city will be able to see the long-awaited changes for the better.
The formation of the expressive architectural look of the residential and public buildings, including through the preservation, reconstruction and restoration of the existing buildings, the beautification and improvement of the public areas, the development of the transport infrastructure, the improvement of rain and flood water drainpipe system, and better use of the territory, this is a global challenge confronting the recognized professional. The chief architect of Yalta told EcoTourism Expert about her vision of the pressing problems of the Crimea’s resort capital and the main directions of its development.
- Let's start with the problems right away. In your opinion, what is the main thing that needs to be improved first?
- Our biggest problem is the city transport. After the construction of the Crimean bridge on the peninsula has been completed, there is a large inflow of personal cars, and these are mainly high-mileage cars that damage the environment. ‘Yalta is for electric cars!’ is our slogan in the near future. However, if urgent measures are not taken, the arriving cars will simply flood the city.
- It is known that the main streets of Yalta, parallel to Moskovskaya and Kievskaya streets, the main transport and pedestrian arteries connecting the bus station with the embankment, turn into traffic jams in tourist seasons. Are there any plans to make them wider, to channel the small Derekoyka river flowing between them via a pipe?
- Rivers in the city should be open, as ecologists explained, otherwise the processes of their natural self-cleaning will be disrupted, and there will be no river channels that are the ‘ecological corridors’ in the city. The Derekoyka river is an artery that conducts air from the sea to the mountains, and you cannot block it even partially. There is another solution - in order to prevent cars from creating traffic jams and polluting the environment with exhaust gases, it was decided to create a network of intercepting parking lots. Since December last year, the experts from the ’Moscow City Plan’ research and design institute have already begun working on improving the entire road network in Yalta, and on April 28, they presented their concept of a transport connection hub in Yalta.
- What else gives rise to concerns and requires immediate action? There are talks that Yalta, for example, needs to completely abandon multi-story buildings, what is your take on this?
- I am fighting against signs on the buildings, we have a lot of problems with the dilapidated dwellings fund, we need to repair the wastewater and storm water treatment system. After the authorities of the Republic of Crimea have recently simplified the procedures of demolishing illegal fences and other unauthorized non-capital facilities, it is possible to get rid of these ugly structures in the city. While earlier, the verification of such facilities took two months, now from the moment of their detection until the decree on their demolition is issued, five days are given, and the total time for dismantling was reduced from two months to two weeks. As the head of the Yalta administration, Ivan Imgrunt, told at a recent meeting, we should meet the May Day without fences that distort the memory of those who built and beautified our city in the pre-revolutionary and post-war periods, who defended Yalta.
However, I am not at all against the multistorey buildings, the question is in its rational layout. Each object in the city should follow a space and town planning to look much more attractive. Providing elevation drawings and blending the buildings into the natural landscape are part of the routine work of architects, but the main fundamental rule of any urban planner is not to harm the living organism of the urban environment.
- What infrastructure facilities would you like to add in Yalta?
- In my opinion, there are really not enough entertainment, theme parks, cinemas, large shopping and logistics centres. I would like the embankment to look like in the Chekhov’s time - an ideal promenade for ‘The Lady with the Dog’ (the Chekov’s story). But while there is no alternative to a sports and entertainment cluster in our city, we have to put up with the attractions and non-stationary shopping facilities here that help improve the leisure time for vacationers. It is necessary to entertain and treat the guests, which means that it is necessary to make these offers in the walking areas and be tourist-oriented so that the guests of our city would like to spend money in their leisure time in the humane environment, and the city could receive income and develop harmoniously.
- What is already planned to be build?
- Design specifications and estimates are being prepared for the construction of the Ice Palace with a swimming pool. The plans include a large aquarium, a centre for children vocational training and a support centre for women in distress with a temple complex, and the construction of schools and kindergartens.
Yalta was, is and will be an international centre of culture, science, education and recreation, and the new projects will mark its cultural and spiritual development. Among the tasks that we should also solve is to set up the V. I. Vernadsky museum and to institute the international prize named after him. It was also decided to lay the first stone in the foundation of the Spiritual Heritage Centre that will become a museum of architecture, design and arts. It is necessary to choose a place to build a monument to the 100th anniversary of the ‘White [Army] Exodus’, it is planned to intensify work to return the historical names to the streets of old Yalta.
- You have a lot of tasks and a huge scope of work to do, a lot of work remains to be done to change Yalta for the better, to reveal its beauty and charm in a new way, without losing the old features that are dear to the hearts of the Yalta people.
- The original, historical appearance of the building in the central part of Yalta had been created for many decades by talented architects such as Krasnov, Vincent, Gibert, Struve. Now the moment has come when we can make significant changes in the look of this beautiful Crimean city: on the one hand, to preserve its historical look, and on the other hand, to reconstruct its squares, parks, entire areas that have fallen into disrepair; demolish obsolete buildings and the ones sunk into decay, make spacious parking lots, and, finally, do away with dirty puddles in the city in rainy seasons. To achieve this, we have everything we need – the specialists, builders, designers, financing, and, most importantly, the active position of the Crimeans on the urban development and other changes in the environment taking place in the Crimea.
- What is the situation with the restoration of the historical architectural monuments? For example, the Swallow's Nest has been closed for the reconstruction for six months already. So far, tourists can see the main symbol of the South Coast of the Crimea from the sea only...
- The work on its reconstruction is done under the Federal Target Programme - the cost of the project is almost 80 mn roubles. The project provides for the restoration of windows and doorways, a chimney and towers, weathervanes, as well as historical elements of the faces of buildings, and the terrace fencing. They are carrying out facade and roofing works, have already fixed the foundations of two rooms of the palace, they have to fortify the rock, equip the castle and landscape the surrounding area. To date, the reconstruction of the symbol of the peninsula has been half done. The work will be completed after installing the architectural highlighting - illumination of the palace - and in September this year, the people will admire the Swallow's Nest in all its glory.
