The landmarks of the former Soviet capital are still there, but the face of the city is changing. It now has more square footage of shopping malls than London or Paris. And the grand communist boulevards have been augmented by pedestrian zones. Reuters
Moscow was long in the hands of criminals and the nouveau riche. Today, Europe's biggest metropolis is undergoing rapid change. It is becoming more open and more cosmopolitan, despite Putin's nationalism.
In his company's loft offices above the roofs of Moscow, along with the hammocks and Soviet-era memorabilia, Artemy Lebedev has a provocative piece on display. Guests who use the bathroom while visiting Russia's best-known product designer find themselves inside the Kremlin, so to speak, sitting between the battlements of the fortress walls, gazing out at Red Square and listening to the sounds of the city. The voices of pedestrians and the traffic noise are a recording, the buildings and churches are painted onto a mural and the Kremlin wall is made of red-painted wood.
The 41-year-old designer is Moscow's enfant terrible. Together with his studio, he has designed a microwave for South Korean company Samsung, rectangular traffic lights for Istanbul and, for the nerds of the world, a computer keyboard that has acquired cult status with its luminous keys.
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WNU Editor: Moscow may be booming, but in regards to investment opportunities .... still a problem .... Rubles will roll - Kremlin goes after business assets (DW).
Regular readers of this blog know that my nationality is Russian .... and I go to Moscow every 7 to 8 months to pay the taxes and utilities on my condo, meet family and friends, enjoy the restaurants and social scene, and to talk to my former colleagues at the FO or at the various think tanks that some of them now run. My cousins are also major property/commercial developers .... a company that my father and uncle started in the 1990s .... and I have to be there this July because one of my cousin's daughters is getting married .... so do not be surprised if you start getting inundated with news reports and commentaries on Russia during that time. My gut is also telling me that a lot of change is now coming to Russia .... some of it good, some of it bad .... and the Western mainstream media is missing out on this story. That .... probably more than anything else .... is why I feel that I need to be there right now .... plus the family/friends/good food/social scene/etc. .... :)
2 comments:
Some "nationalist". He occasionally makes slightly nationalist noises but doesn't care for the nation and represses the actual nationalists about as much as he does the liberals (if in somewhat different ways).
Speaking of booming...I know not all of these are Russian and most are probably not in Moscow but could the Editor give some insight into the experience of driving in Russia as the youtube videos are scarily captivating and most of us don't have access to someone who has driven in both worlds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr0gNIxRluE
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