An arts complex in Tbilisi, Georgia, is being razed despite protests from its architects and some members of the local community. Following approval by Tbilisi’s city government in June, demolition work on the Rike Park Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall—colloquially known as Rike Tubes—began at the end of July and is scheduled to be completed by December.
The news was reported by Reuters following a photo-essay documenting the destruction of the complex and that of a second landmark, a Brutalist former flour mill known as Silo, published in Civil Georgia.
The Rike Tubes are a connected pair of glass-and-steel structures designed by Fuksas Studio, an Italian architectural firm led by husband-and-wife architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas. Built in the final years of United National Movement (UNM) rule (2004–2012), their ultracontemporary design symbolized the pro-Western approach of the UNM’s leader, Mikhail Saakashvili.
The current governing party came to power in 2012, and the complex, reported to have cost about 75 million lari ($29 million US) of public money, never opened. The 108,000-square-foot site was privatized, and the current owner—a subsidiary of Maqro Property called Rike Dom—is planning to build a hotel on it, though details have not been released.
While members of the public and the architectural community have criticized the Rike Tubes for altering the character of Tbilisi’s historic old town, some favored relocating them to a more suitable setting rather than demolishing them. But protests—including appeals from the architects, who offered to help authorities repurpose the complex—have failed to halt their destruction. The worry now is what may take their place.
