The Russian Academy of Sciences and ACM Group invite you to a joint seminar of the Caucasus Ethnography Department on February 5, featuring presentations by ACM Group historians on “Comprehensive Research on Medieval Architecture in Mountainous Ingushetia.”

The venue is the Kunstkamera Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences at 3 Universitetskaya Embankment in St. Petersburg.

ACM Group continues its work to identify unregistered historical buildings and monuments in the mountainous region of Ingushetia and add them to the Unified Electronic Database of Monuments in Ingushetia, which is being created by the company with the full support of the SAFMAR Charitable Foundation. Buildings that have the characteristics of cultural heritage sites must also be entered into the Register of Cultural Heritage Sites of Ingushetia for their legal and actual protection.

The ACM Group team has completed work on identifying and studying the buildings and steles at the Beini Tower Complex. The existing register contains 12 cultural heritage sites, including towers and crypts. ACM Group specialists have identified 90 more historical monuments at the Beini complex that have the characteristics of cultural and archaeological heritage sites, including towers, crypts, walls, and 60 steles.

ACM Group has sent 90 applications to the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites in Ingushetia to include the identified sites in the Register of Newly Identified Cultural Heritage Sites in Ingushetia. We hope that within 90 working days, another 90 objects will legally become identified objects and take their rightful place among other unique monuments of the Russian Federation. ASM Group is ready to provide all additional necessary assistance to legally protect the towers, crypts, and steles of the Beini Tower Complex.

On February 6, the State Institute of Art Studies will open its 24th photo exhibition, “The Unknown Province: Temple Interiors of the Late 18th and 19th Centuries: Vanishing Treasures.”

This year, the exhibition, based on materials from expeditions by the Russian Architectural and Monumental Art Monuments Register, presents masterpieces of iconostasis construction and temple interior decoration from the Russian provinces.

The consortium of TO BE Architects and ACM Group has been selected for the closed competition for the Veshchy Oleg historical and cultural park in Staraya Ladoga.

The Agency for Strategic Initiatives has prepared a “Cheat Sheet for Investors” to simplify business operations involving cultural heritage sites. This step-by-step guide consists of seven consecutive steps corresponding to the investment cycle:

- analysis of the property: status, restrictions, condition, and risks;

- methods of acquiring rights to the property;

- design and selection of a contractor;

- approval of project documentation;

- organization of work to preserve the property;

- commissioning of the property;

- working with the public, branding, and marketing.

This document will help investors understand:

- what is permitted and prohibited at a specific property,

- how to assess the condition of the property before buying or renting it,

- when scientific and design documentation is required, as well as who has the right to develop it,

- what approvals and expert reviews are required and in what order,

- where mistakes and additional costs most often arise,

- how to move from restoration to sustainable operation of the property.

ACM Group is beginning preparations for exhibition projects for the IX All-Russian Architectural Heritage Festival, which will take place this year in Rostov-on-Don.

Recently, there has been much debate about what is better and more appropriate for cultural heritage sites—restoration or conservation? Or perhaps—leave them alone!!!—let them remain as they are.... There is also a belief that restored objects lose their status and therefore cannot be included in certain registers of cultural heritage objects, including the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Of course, either option is possible - both restoration and conservation are legitimate approaches to monuments. However, let us remember that it was precisely after the large-scale restoration and reconstruction work carried out after the Great Patriotic War that the almost completely destroyed suburbs of Leningrad, such as Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk, and others, became the most visited places for tourists and were unanimously included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990. Theoretically, it was possible not to restore them... the ruins would have remained, and probably would not have remained at all...

The former trading floor of the Wawelberg Banking House on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg has been restored and transformed into what is arguably the city's finest multifunctional hall, the WAWELBERG Hotel, as part of a comprehensive project by ASM Group.

Today at 3 p.m., the Caucasus Ethnography Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences will hold a conference entitled “The Caucasus: Crossroads of Cultures” at the Kunstkamera on Universitetskaya Embankment, 3, in St. Petersburg. The presentation is entitled “Comprehensive Studies of Medieval Architecture in Mountainous Ingushetia.”

The organizers are the Russian Academy of Sciences and ACM Group.

The speakers are historians from ACM Group.

Two trucks delivered 155 lacquer panels to Tsarskoye Selo, recreated in China using traditional techniques. They were originally created for Catherine II's private apartments in the Zubovsky Wing of the Catherine Palace. The panels were lost during the Great Patriotic War, and it took two years to restore them. The total area of the paintings is almost 170 square meters. Their installation in the interior of the wing should be completed by this summer.

St. Petersburg is perhaps the most mystical city in Russia. Its streets hold stories of sudden disappearances, curses, and fatal secrets. Here, the urban environment itself heightens the sense of mystery: courtyards like wells, cold stone, and dark, smooth water.

On February 27, Wawelberg Hall will host the first lecture of the Lev Lurie House of Culture this year, dedicated to the legends and myths of St. Petersburg. The lecturer is Alexander Dedikin, art critic and architectural historian.

ACSM Group continues its work to identify unregistered historical structures and steles in mountainous Ingushetia and add them to the Unified Electronic Database of Ingushetia's Monuments, which the company is creating with the full support of the SAFMAR Charitable Foundation. Structures that exhibit characteristics of cultural heritage sites must also be included in the Register of Cultural Heritage Sites of Ingushetia for their legal and practical protection.

The ACM Group team has completed its work identifying and studying the structures and steles at the Kashietti Tower Complex. The existing register includes seven cultural heritage sites, including towers and crypts. ACM Group specialists have identified 10 more historical monuments at the Kashietti Complex that exhibit characteristics of cultural and archaeological heritage sites, including towers, crypts, walls, and two steles.

ACM Group submitted 10 applications to the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of Ingushetia for inclusion of newly identified sites in the Register of Newly Identified Cultural Heritage Sites of Ingushetia. We hope that within 90 working days, another 90 sites will be legally designated and will take their rightful place among other unique monuments of the Russian Federation. ACM Group is ready to provide all necessary assistance to legally protect the towers, crypts, and steles of the Kashiyeti Tower Complex.

The report from the esteemed Kunstkamera of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the recent seminar dedicated to the study of Ingushetia's tower complexes.

https://www.kunstkamera.ru/news_list/science/kavkaz-perekrestok-kultur_2026/

Installation of a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the Chinese New Year continues at the Museum of Moscow. While the exhibition is an exhibition, ACM Group is still working on its design projects on-site.

The IV International Forum "Heritage Architecture" will take place tomorrow.

What's expected:

- 5 expert sessions: Russia's cultural code, architecture, rural estates, digital technologies, and successful cases of working with cultural heritage sites,

- a discussion on marketing and media promotion + pitching of new projects,

- 20 speakers: the Ministry of Culture, the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, the Agency for Cultural Heritage, Sber, Yandex, Tom Sawyer Fest, experts and practitioners, media, and bloggers,

- a screening of documentaries: "In Search of Andrei Rublev" and "Russian Heritage" with performances by actors,

- live interaction with speakers, case study discussions, and networking.

The exhibition "He Could Draw Like No One Else..." continues to run at the Brodsky Museum-Apartment at 3 Arts Square in St. Petersburg.

In the year marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of St. Petersburg's most important architects, attention is focused on the scale of his influence on the city. In the early 19th century, he initiated the redevelopment of the central districts, resulting in the emergence of a complex system of architectural ensembles uniting squares and streets along the main thoroughfare and the embankments of the Neva. These decisions shaped the appearance of the capital and established its classical harmony.

The master's legacy is a coherent architectural structure, where each building contributes to the overall space. The museum collections contain one of the most comprehensive collections of his graphic works, including designs for palaces, a theater, major city squares, and administrative complexes.

On February 17, St. Petersburg State University, the World Club of St. Petersburgers, and the organizing committee of the International Golden Trezzini Award will open the exhibition "Memory and Progress" in the exhibition hall of the Twelve Collegia building.

The exhibition will present projects in the restoration, reconstruction, and adaptation of architectural monuments and cultural heritage sites in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, recognized at the 8th International Golden Trezzini Award.

Unlike the general award program, which encompasses over 20 nominations, this exhibition focuses exclusively on the preservation of the architectural appearance of our region. This is a unique opportunity to see the "St. Petersburg cross-section" of the award: how experts from 35 countries evaluated the work on local architectural monuments. Notably, the exhibition will feature only completed projects, which were reviewed by the jury not only for the beauty and rationality of their design, but also for the quality of the restoration and adaptation work.

Completed projects from ACM Group will also be included in the exhibition.

As part of an ongoing, large-scale program to uncover historical data on medieval tower architecture in mountainous Ingushetia, ACM Group has acquired a private archive from 1970s expeditions, containing over 300 unique photographs of various towers, as well as extensive film footage.

The program continues with the full support of the SAFMAR Charitable Foundation.

The joint project between Tektonika and ACM Group for the major renovation and restoration of the regional cultural heritage site, the Auditorium Building of the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University on Mokhovaya Street, has received approval from the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage.

The former building of the Georg Landrin chocolate factory at 9 Rimsky-Korsakov Avenue in St. Petersburg has been designated a regional landmark.

It was built between 1876 and 1878 according to the designs of architect August Poirot, using eclectic techniques and neo-Gothic motifs. The building's base is clad in limestone and gray, veined marble, while the exterior façade is plastered and rusticated, alternating smooth and textured plaster.

Georg Landrin (Fyodor Matveyevich Landrin), according to some sources, began working as a clerk at the Wolf and Beranger confectionery shop. In 1848, he then opened his own confectionery business, which later became a successful enterprise manufacturing and selling candy canes (Montpensier).

The confectionery factory remained in the building until the 1990s.

Based on materials from the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of St. Petersburg.

The Russian Government has approved a long-term program, "Preservation of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Peoples of the Russian Federation," for 2025-2045 . Order No. 3773-r, dated December 12, 2025, includes not only an action plan but also a methodology for evaluating the results.

The document sets strategic priorities for state heritage protection policy over the next 20 years and outlines clear implementation mechanisms, from interdepartmental cooperation to annual reporting.

What does this mean for the professional community? Key areas of importance for designers, restorers, experts, and managers:

- Improving the regulatory framework and reducing administrative barriers - simplifying design and assessment procedures. - Development of digital systems for recording and monitoring objects, as well as the integration of registries;

- Personnel training: by 2030, it is planned to train at least 3,000 certified specialists;

- Bringing objects to a satisfactory condition and integrating them into economic circulation with an emphasis on preserving the value of heritage;

- Developing historical settlements as growth centers for tourism and the local economy;

- Investor engagement tools – creating clear conditions for business participation in heritage preservation.

The program shapes the institutional architecture for heritage preservation for decades to come and directly influences industry practices.