Architecture today

A lot of buildings that added zest to the architecture of Kazan have appeared in the city recently. One of such constructions is “Pyramid”, this object is unique not for Tatarstan only. Today it’s the only cultural and entertaining center of this kind in Russia. This splendid translucent construction in the shape of a pyramid was built according to the European standards. It is 31meters high and its area is 160 thousand sq. meters. This building is located in the center of the city, not far from the Kazan Kremlin. At the top of the “Pyramid” there is a restaurant and several bars, so that their visitors can have bird’s eye view of wonderful sights of Kazan. And below… - what is not there! This amazing building was designed in such a way, so that its visitors could enjoy all kinds of amusements and entertainments.  There is a casino, a bowling, a disco hall, a beauty salon and a fitness-center with the most up-to-date equipment here.

And the most interesting novelty is the 2-level hall-transformer, which be turned into a large disco hall, a variety show, a concert hall or a banquet room. This hall can seat 1200; and the whole cultural and entertaining center can receive 2500 guests at a time. The building is equipped with special ramps and facilities for invalids.

It took four year to build “Pyramid”. The authors of this project are Kazan architects Gulsine and Victor Tokarevs, but other specialists from France, USA and Turkey also participated in the elaboration.

One more building that beautifies the city is the mosque  Kul-Sharif.  Its construction began in 1996 on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin according to the project of a group of architects from the firm “Tatinvestgrazhdanproject”. The complex of the mosque is symmetrically arranged. The building of the mosque itself is in the middle of the yard and on each side of it there are 2 pavilions. The complex of the mosque includes the mosque itself, museum-library, publishing house and imam administration.

In Kazan one may observe not only construction of new modern buildings, such as “Basket-Hall”, but also reconstruction of such well-known objects of Kazan as Opera and Ballet Theatre, the hotels “Sovet” and “Kazan”, Kekin’s house and others.