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Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by toyg on Friday September 21, 2018 @08:21AM (#18039143)
It looks really nice, but this picture is revealing: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1/2018/09/19/16/4396738-6185497-im...

The bit on the left, I assume, is the modern terminal. Notice the scale. The old building is small, for modern use. If it gets preserved, they must find a way to generate some additional income, because it's probably too obsolete to do that as an actual airport.

Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by athenot on Friday September 21, 2018 @10:13AM (#18039811)
At first glance, it looks like something from Star Wars. I do miss the bold architectures that were more than a glorified warehouse.

This reminds me of CDG-1, AKA the "Camembert", which is way smaller and in many ways terribly unpractical compared to CDG-2 but has that mid-century futurist vibe that makes it quite charming if you happen to be into architecture.

Outside: https://www.planitecbtp.setec.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/...

Travel through time and space: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4YQxmQXUAInJRM.jpg

This feels like it's from The Jetsons: https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2899/13922331726_fd05d69d1f_...

Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by gregoriol on Friday September 21, 2018 @09:15AM (#18039427)
The old building is likely small, not adapted to modern security, equipments, facilities and will cost much more in refurbishment and use. It also probably was not that well built and/or degraded for years. Just replace it, new will be better in this case.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by dmos62 on Friday September 21, 2018 @10:21AM (#18039866)
> replace it

The movements for preservation of architecture would likely have something to say about that. A lot of people are tired of the whole demolish-build shtick, and yet others find it insulting in its disregard for what they find to be monuments. In my opinion, some of the most inspiring uses of space and architecture today are happening in ex-abandoned, ex-unused industrial buildings.

An example I've visited recently is the former Peugeot factory in Brussels [0] that is currently used for exhibitions, concerts, or just hanging out at the bars and food courts that have installed themselves there following a doctrine of minimal intervention. Shortly it will be transformed into a museum of modern art as an outpost of Centre Pompidou [1]. To quote the architects whose proposal won: "We want to radically engage with and trust what is there." That sentence pretty much sums up the trend I'm pointing out.

Another example is Rijeka, a city with a unique history, that has a heritage of an abundance of industrial architecture and very unique urban planning. Many of its industrial complexes lie abandoned, within earshot of city centre. Some of them are being brought back to life, spurred, in large part, by the European Capital of Culture 2020 that is happening there. This summer EASA took place there [1]. It used the revitalised Export building (in the photos look for the building that has "exportavo" witten on it). 600 people slept in the same hall for two weeks. I was there, it was a cool experiment.

[0] http://kanal.brussels/ [1] https://www.dezeen.com/2018/03/23/car-factory-transformed-ar... [2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/107959684@N04/sets/72157670142...

Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by gregoriol on Friday September 21, 2018 @11:01AM (#18040182)
I'm not saying that all old buildings should be replaced: there are a lot of good examples around, we have many here in Paris too, also thinking of the famous Saarinen TWA Flight Center (still have to see some transformation results on this one though).

However, this one, compared to other projects you mention, won't likely be usable for art or other entertainment as it is located within the airport area. It won't likely work again as an airport facility either, since too small and not adapted to modern requirements. It could maybe become a hotel like the TWA building, but that would likely cost a huge lot of money seeing the current state on the pictures, and the need has to be justified, "tourism" like for the Saarinen building won't probably be enough.

I'd be happy to argue "for" preservation, but the article does not show any viable projects either: it seems like people want to preserve, but without a clear idea about what to do with it.

On the "against" side, there are a lot of new projects replacing old buildings that have been a huge success.

Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by ams6110 on Friday September 21, 2018 @10:20AM (#18039850)
I agree, it looks like it was all made cheaply from poured concrete that is now cracking and disintegrating.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by mamikonyana on Friday September 21, 2018 @08:46AM (#18039265)
The old Terminal is really small, but the new terminal is not that much bigger. Having flowed out of both I don't think the size is the problem. The problem is lack of desire to invest (probably justifird financially) in presercing the building.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by dsfyu404ed on Friday September 21, 2018 @09:39AM (#18039581)
I would be very surprised if refurbishing it and adding more modern terminals is more expensive than a new airport. Just the process of figuring out what to build and how you're going to build it costs a lot.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by sparkling on Friday September 21, 2018 @08:44AM (#18039251)
Given that the new terminal is just a few minutes aways, its probably safe to say that security is very tight and urban explorers cant enter the old building? Maybe someone from Armenia has some details?
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by mamikonyana on Friday September 21, 2018 @08:49AM (#18039280)
It is technically still part of the airport, so it's private property and you can't enter there. Haven't tried how tight the security is myself.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by sparkling on Friday September 21, 2018 @09:08AM (#18039388)
Most lost places are technically still private property... im just asking what the chances are of sitting in an Amrenian jail when sneaking in.
Re:A Soviet-era airport, once the height of luxury, faces de... by chr1 on Thursday September 27, 2018 @08:26AM (#18083784)
chances of sitting in jail are not very high, as it is completely abandoned and empty, see https://web.facebook.com/100010579710319/videos/702215633474... https://web.facebook.com/100010579710319/videos/702222733473...