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Outcry against skyscraper plan

Tom Parfitt

THE DIRECTOR of St. Petersburg's Hermitage museum has spoken out against plans to build a 300-metre-high skyscraper in the heart of Russia's former imperial capital.

In an interview, Mikhail Piotrovsky said the tower would ruin the city's profile.

An exhibition of short-listed concept designs for the so-called Gazprom City development, which includes one by the British firm RMJM, opened in St. Petersburg this week. The plans by Russia's biggest energy company to build a tower opposite the 18th century Smolny cathedral on the Neva River have incensed local preservationists.

Mr. Piotrovsky said: "Some of the designs show genius, but putting it opposite Smolny would deform the historic skyline of the city."

Gazprom says it will "become a link between St. Petersburg's past, present and future and give the city a new image."

But Nikita Yaveyn, a former head of the city's architectural protection committee, said: " Can you imagine if I constructed something higher than 300 metres in the Champs-Elysees? " —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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