France: Construction of a Russian religious and cultural center in Paris
Two architects, one Russian and one French, won the international bidding for the contract to build a Russian religious and cultural center in Paris, the news agency RIA Novosti reported on March 18, 2011. The jury, which was made up of eight Russian and seven French representatives, decided on the project by the French architects of SADE (Manuel Nunez Yanowsky and Miriam Teitelbaum) and of Arch Group of Moscow, among the ten finalists whose proposals were presented on March 16 in Paris.
The new Russian center will include an Orthodox church, a seminary, a library, several multi-purpose rooms, lodgings for seminarians and a garden. It will be built on a 4,245 square meter [45,700 sq. ft.] parcel of land at the corner of the Quai Branly and Avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement in Paris, which until now has been occupied by Météo-France. According to Vladimir Kojine, Commissariat Chief of the Kremlin, the laying of the cornerstone will take place in early 2012. The construction of this center will be financed primarily by the Russian State and the Russian Orthodox Church. (Sources : apic/rian – DICI no. 233 dated April 16, 2011)
