The former chief architect of Omsk, who held this position for almost 30 years, is described as an outstanding architect of his time. His works have become city landmarks and are probably familiar even to those far from architecture. On the building on the street. Lermontova, 4b, not far from the Omsk ball, there is a memorial plaque to architect Albert Mikhailovich (Minikhanovich) Karimov (1941 – 2015). He lives here, in front of his house, a section of the Omi embankment was named after him in 2018. The day before, November 19, it had been ten years since Karimov died. Svetlana Shevchenko, Honored Architect of Russia: – We have had a lot of creative conceptual works. One of them – the concept of Omsk agglomerate formation – was recently published. That is, over the years you begin to realize how much a person has invested, how much of a global architect he is. This is especially lacking today. The level of experts currently being trained is not enough; Completely different thoughts. Recently Elena Grigorieva (vice president of the Russian Union of Architects – editor's note) came here, saw me and remembered how we came from Omsk, and everyone knew where it was. How proud I was when Albert Minikhanovich performed. Display of works by Albert Karimov at an exhibition within the framework of Architecture Days A native resident of Omsk, he studied his profession in Novosibirsk and Moscow (Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute (NISI) and Moscow Architectural Institute (MARCHI), where he defended his PhD) and always returned to Omsk, although he often attended international architectural forums and outside the city. In 1965-1971, he worked at the nationally famous Omskgrazhdanproekt, and from 1975, at the age of 34, he became the chief architect of Omsk, creating and coordinating the development of the growing metropolis. Additionally, since 2002 he has been chairman of the council of chief architects of Russian cities of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation. In 2005, he left this field, from 2008 until the last year of his life he headed the Omsk branch of the All-Russian Association for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIK) (the wooden Cossack Settlement was a place associated with his childhood). He led the professional organization – the Omsk branch of the Russian Union of Architects – for a short time, in 2011-2012. Alexander Begun, honored architect of Russia: – When we lived and worked under Albert Mikhailovich, it was not easy, in many different ways, but you always felt that you could come talk, explain and they would listen to you. Now this is not the case, unfortunately. So everything depends on us, if we unite and work for results, and not prove that one is smarter or more talented than the other, then maybe there will be something interesting. So instead of just Albert Mikhailovich, we have a strong Omsk organization of the Union of Architects. I want to wish everyone that architects will again be at the head of the process, not developers, managers or politicians. It depends on the power and how we work with it. Albert Mikhailovich succeeded. Now – it still doesn't work very well, because there are changes between generations, political and economic models. Well, stop complaining, remember how great it was. For example, among Karimov's recognizable objects in Omsk are the cinema and concert hall across the street. Lenin (though heavily rebuilt in the 2010s), the restored organ room across the street. Partizanskaya, the lost Saturn cinema in Amur, the Khimik cultural center in Neftyaniki, the House of Political Education on the street. Red Path (now a public relations center and regional concert venue), the interior and musical fountains and lights of the Musical Theater. Irina Stukaneva, chief architect of Grad ITP, professor at the International Academy of Architecture in Moscow (IAAM): – I learned a technique from his lessons – to give an opinion in a discussion about the project where everyone will be distracted and the idea you put forward will slip by. This is how we carried out our final project with him – the master plan for Ust-Zaostrovka. I was convinced that there would be no bridge over the Irtysh River. And he said: of course not, but people will start discussing this bridge and they won't pay attention to anything else. There are many such stories. He was a great man in the sense that he was not only an architect but also had a political mind. An era has passed for him not only in Omsk, but also in the whole country. Recent federal decrees talk about elevating the status of architects. This flywheel begins to stretch. Let's see where this leads. In any case, the absence of a generator capable of perceiving the entire city and its problems, has become obvious to the whole society. Concert hall building of 1967 (K. Savina, OGIK museum/goskatalog.ru), Dostoevsky monument and Lutheran church (archive “Omsk Here”) Many of the architect's projects can be attributed to Soviet modernism, the distinctive style of the era. Then (privately and jointly) a Lutheran church appeared on the street. Rozhdestvensky, Church of the Nativity on the street. Stepantsa, monument to Dostoevsky on the street. Spartakovskaya, old bank building on the street. Red Road in Green Island. Among the more global projects are street-level district planning projects. Marshal Zhukova, st. Labor, Omsk fortress and Omsk accumulation. As can be seen from the memoirs of his colleagues and students, scale and Karimov are synonymous. Valentina Bakumenko, coordinator of the program “Project 90” on the anniversary of the foundation of the Omsk branch of the Russian Union of Architects: – He thinks comprehensively and on a large scale, sets high goals and systematically works towards them. This includes opening a department at SibADI. Thank you for the lectures he gave, about events like the “Siberian Pyramid”, where our students were able to go to Italy thanks to an internship competition. It is nice to know that there are such prospects and opportunities, that there are world forums that our architects attend, that they have their own views on architecture. It's wonderful to have such a person in our city's history. The embankment was named after academician Albert Karimov and her difficult situation Photo: Ilya Petrov
