St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller have chosen the project for Gazprom City’s skyscraper despite great uproar against the construction plans in Russia. RMJM London Limited is to build a 300-meter tower opposite the Smolny convent in St. Petersburg’s historic center.

The decision of the competition commission coincided with the choice at www.gazprom-sity.info which voted for RMJM, a British company with Russia’s Filipp Nikandrov on the architecture board. The project reminds a sail, a traditional symbol of Russia’s second-biggest city.

RMJM looks quite mediocre if compared with such famous competitors as Jean Nouvel, Maximiliano Fuksas, Daniel Libeskind, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meron and Rem Koolhaas.

Governor Valentina Matvienko underscored that all entries of the competition were real masterpieces. However, the commission and the vote did not prefer more sophistical projects of world-known architects and energy-saving wonders.

The construction is to be over by 2016 in the area of Okhta. St. Petersburg authorities are convinced that this skyscraper will become a symbol for new economic era of the city. Meanwhile, plans to build a skyscraper not far from St. Petersburg’s historic center have caused outrage in Russia. Major culture personalities lambasted the projects which, they believe, will change the look of the city center which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Gazprom CEO Picks New Symbol for St. Pete

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