The so-called “Flying Saucer” building in Kyiv received government protection on Oct. 8. For over three years, this iconic piece of Soviet modernism near Lybidska metro station was in danger of being swallowed by a mall under construction behind it.
But just weeks before the Oct. 25 local elections, state and local government agencies tried to outrace each other in reporting that they have added the Saucer to their registers of protected objects. The state agencies are associated with the ruling Servant of the People party, while the local agencies are associated with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his Udar party. Both parties are running in the upcoming elections.
The activists of the Save Kyiv Modernism initiative have been desperately fighting for the Saucer’s protection for years, receiving no support from the authorities. Given the timing of the move, it appears to be a political stunt ahead of the elections.
The activists believe that, in any case, the reason behind the decision is secondary, while what’s important is that the building might be safe.
“Even if it is so, this led to the restoration of justice for the object that should have had this status long ago,” activist Oleksiy Radynski told the Kyiv Post.
The race
Oleksandr Tkachenko, the minister of culture and information policy picked from the Servant of the People faction, was the first to report the news at 10 a.m. on Oct. 8. On Facebook, he said that the ministry’s expert council has added the Saucer to the register of monuments of architecture and monumental art.
Tkachenko also taunted Klitschko and the Kyiv City Council by telling them to add the Saucer to the city’s register of protected objects. Tkachenko said that this should be done to protect it from the so-called “accidents” – deliberate arsons used by developers to free up space for their constructions.
“You have five days. The clock starts now,” Tkachenko said.
Seven hours later, the Kyiv City Council’s Department of Cultural Heritage Protection announced on Facebook that it had added the Saucer to the local register of the newly discovered objects of cultural heritage. But it said that it had done so the day before.
At the same time on Facebook, the Kyiv City Administration said that the next step should be made by the Ministry of Culture, ignoring the ministry’s earlier announcement.
Klitschko is running for re-election as Kyiv mayor. He currently leads in the polls with 43.6% of support among decided voters, according to the Sept. 15 poll by the Rating Group sociological agency. His Udar party also leads the polls with 23.6% of support for the seats in the Kyiv City Council.
One of Klitschko’s main rivals is Iryna Vereshchuk, a candidate for mayor from the Servant of the People, who currently ranks third in the poll with 6.9% of support. The Servant of the People party is second for the seats in the Kyiv City Council with 13.6%.
Renovation, not reconstruction
The activists of Save Kyiv Modernism have been fighting against Saucer’s inclusion into a mall being built behind it and its possible reconstruction. The newly acquired status of an architectural monument and cultural heritage object should at least protect the Saucer from reconstruction.
“With some restraint, this can be called very good news,” Radynski says. “But it should have happened a long time ago to prevent some processes that happened to the building itself and its form of ownership.”
The Ministry of Education has owned the building since Ukraine’s independence, but in 2016, it rented it out for some 20 years to the Mandarin Plaza Group owned by the major developer Vagif Aliyev. Under the contract, the developer pledged to renovate the building and create a science museum there.
Radynski says that the company signed the lease before the building acquired the new status, so it might affect its future.
“It is a monument now, and I very much hope that this will be an important step in preventing this building from being absorbed by the shopping center,” he says.
Florian Yuriev (R), the architect of the so-called “Flying Saucer,” speaks at the presentation of the activists’ “renovation and development” project of the building, aided by architect and activist Alex Bykov. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Since 2017, the developer has been building his new Ocean Mall behind the Saucer but has not done much work on the building itself, except for removing the audience stands inside. But the activists believe that it was a matter of time before the developer would start reconstructing the building as an entrance to the new mall looming behind it.
“What’s being built behind the Saucer destroys its city-planning composition,” activist and architect Alex Bykov told the Kyiv Post last year. “Changing its function from a community center to a mall reception hall is destruction too.”
The activists of Save Kyiv Modernism were especially concerned because the developer had not revealed his construction plans. So they designed an alternative renovation and development plan, which would preserve the purpose of the building and expand its functions.
Radynski believes that the Saucer’s new status is a big step towards renovating the building under the activists’ plan. While reconstruction of architectural monuments is forbidden, their renovation is allowed. What’s important is finding investors who will be ready to fund the renovation of the Saucer.
The activists’ renovation plan was designed under the guidance of the Saucer’s original architect Florian Yuriev. At the age of 91, Yuriev can finally see his creation becoming a monument and an object of cultural heritage.
Radynski says that he hasn’t been able to reach Yuriev yet, since the architect is undergoing medical treatment now.
“But I’m sure this is a great joy for him,” the activist says.
