ANN ARBOR—How do you take a city dominated by historic, centuries-old landmarks and renew it with bold, modern architecture without ruining its renowned aesthetic character? That large question, faced by St. Petersburg, Russia (as well as many aging cities), will be debated March 8 by some of the world’s foremost architects, designers and artists at an international symposium: Projecting Petersburg. The symposium marks the launch of a series of varied artistic events at the University of Michigan in honor of St. Petersburg’s 300th anniversary, including an exhibition of prized art from the Hermitage, as well as a full fall season of music, theater and dance.

Projecting Petersburg is the first extensive public examination in the United States of issues facing the legendary Russian city during its current effort to launch a bold new plan to revive the city’s historic center. St. Petersburg, founded as a “Window to the West” by Peter the Great, became the cultural capital of an empire, weathering revolutions and name changes, a 900-day Nazi blockade that left about 1 million people dead, as well as the rise and eventual collapse of communism. Mariinsky Theatre director Valery Gergiev, California avant-garde architect Eric Owen Moss, and other distinguished symposium participants will explore the juxtaposition of St. Petersburg’s past and present in the struggle to maintain a singular identity and character while adjusting to the pressures of a rapidly changing world.

Symposium participants will reflect on the capacity of institutions like the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum and particularly the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet, to expand and go through makeovers. While critics of introducing modern architecture strongly oppose changes to the historic center’s architectural legacy, proponents say the fear is unfounded.

More details are available at: www.umich.edu/stpetersburg Projecting Petersburg is sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Center for Russian and East European Studies, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, International Institute, Center for European Studies, and Office of the Vice President for Research, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

WHEN AND WHERE: Hale Auditorium, Assembly Hall Building, Business School, 701 Tappan Ave.

PARTICIPANTS: 

• Valery Gergiev, artistic director, Mariinsky Theatre 
• Eric Owen Moss, principal, Eric Owen Moss Architects, and director, SCI-Arc, Los Angeles
• Anatole Senkevitch, Jr., associate professor, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan
• Aaron Betsky, director, Netherlands Architecture Institute
• Alexey Leporc, assistant professor, Department of Art History, European University at St. Petersburg
• Valery Nefedov, professor of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture and director, Architectural Institute, St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering