Baku (cinema)

The cinema was opened in 1974. At that time in Moscow there was a tradition to devote new cinemas to the union republics. So the cinema on Usievich street was called "Baku" ^[3] .

In the mid-1980s, there were 7 cinema clubs and cinema lecture halls in the cinema, including the School of the Car Amateur and Cinema for Children ^[4] .

In Soviet times, the Baku cinema was state owned, and in 1991 it was made a municipal enterprise. Funding from the city budget ceased, and the cinema began to experience difficulties. Part of the premises was occupied by tenants. To improve the financial situation of the enterprise, the director of the cinema, Lyudmila Sedova, suggested that the Azerbaijani community hold their meetings in the cinema. The ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia Ramiz Rizayev was often present at these meetings. With his assistance, the cinema was renovated in the first half of the 2000s ^[5] . In 2004, the renovated Baku cinema celebrated its 30th anniversary ^[6] .

Representatives of the communist opposition periodically gathered in the cinema. There were held contests "Songs of Resistance", evenings dedicated to the birthday of IV Stalin and other memorable Soviet dates ^[7] . On Fridays, the cinema hosted meetings of veterans of the Airport area ^[5] .

In 2004, when a congress of the All - Russian Azerbaijan Congress was held in Moscow, some delegates lamented that there was no longer a Baku restaurant on Tverskaya Street . Mayor Yuri Luzhkov answered this: “ But there is a Baku cinema, take it! ". Such a broad gesture did not find support among many politicians. “ You’re scattering something in Moscow’s property, ” President Vladimir Putin responded ^[5] . As a result, the Azerbaijani diaspora never received the cinema ^[8] .

In 2005, there were plans to erect a monument to the President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev , in the square near the Baku cinema. The Movement against Illegal Immigration actively opposed this. Together with the residents of the district, the movement held several rallies ^{[9] [10] [11]} . On September 19, 2006, the commission on monumental art of the Moscow City Duma decided not to erect a monument ^[12] .

In 2007, the “Baku” cinema was transferred on a management right to the State Unitary Enterprise of Moscow “Moscow Cinema”, which concluded a lease agreement with the Baku Concert Complex LLC. In 2008, a cinema was organized at the cinema with an extension to the shopping arcade building. This market was liquidated by the district government as illegal ^[13] . In 2014, the cinema was purchased at an auction by Edisonenergo ^[14] .

In 2017, “Baku” was included in the city program for the reconstruction of cinemas. It is planned to rebuild it into a district multifunctional center. The reconstruction project involves the construction of the fourth and minus the first floor. A multiplex will be placed on the fourth floor, galleries with retail premises will occupy the second and third floors, and a supermarket will be on the minus first floor. The main entrance to the reconstructed cinema will be from the side of Usievich Street, there will be a spacious glazed foyer. After reconstruction, the building area will be 12 763 m² ^[15] .

The architects took as a basis the model design of the cinema and did not bring significant changes to its premises. At the same time, they were able to carry out an original space-planning construction, combining additional functional amenities and a bright individual look of the building ^[3] .

The cinema was conceived as a community center of the district, it is located in the depths of residential buildings far from metro stations, and there is no heavy traffic near it. Nearby is a square and a small outpatient pond . The surrounding buildings are quite heterogeneous, in addition, the building of the covered Leningrad market, built in the 1960s, is nearby. A cinema was built on the shore of the pond at the corner of Usievich and Aseev streets. The asymmetrical building has several different facades. The complex volumetric and spatial composition of the building includes terraces, galleries, open areas and stairs, water gangways. The main entrance is from Aseeva street. A wide staircase leads to the main lobby. The building is surrounded by an open gallery, connected by stairs to the basement. The cinema is faced with light travertine ^[3] .

Despite the merits of the project, the architect N. Pekareva in her article in the annual book “Architectural Creativity of the USSR” criticized the design of the cinema based on the traditional Azerbaijani buildings. In her opinion, the lancet arch, niches and other motives of Azerbaijani architecture look like unnecessary decoration and were made just to justify the name of the cinema ^[3] .