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.