Just before Christmas I took a break from blogging in order to clear up a backlog of obligations that had piled up. I wrote a couple of book reviews, attended yet another conference, finished a book proposal, and ploughed through a collection of grant applications. [I also spent time in front of the TV watching some fantastic college football.]

Although I managed to get a quite a bit done, it’s meant that things around here have been quiet for rather longer than I had intended. Sorry. Then again, what d’ya expect for free?

I’ll get back in gear with an aviation-related post early next week.

In the meantime, one of the more interesting stories to have emerged from Russia over the last month was the mid-December announcement that the Moscow city government has given the go ahead for the construction of the world’s largest building: a mega-structure known as “Crystal Island.”

The brainchild (or hellspawn, you pick) of the London-based architectural firm Foster + Partners, Crystal Island will enclose nearly 27 million square feet of space within a 1,500 ft. tall multi-use structure that will feature 900 apartments, 3,000 hotel rooms, an international school for 500 students, cinemas, a theater, a sports complex, and more. A 16,500-space underground parking lot is intended to accommodate visitors.

And there’s more! As the folks at the architecture and design blog Inhabitat note:

[The] building will also incorporate a number of sustainable design features into the overall scheme. The exterior facade will be solar responsive and will include solar panels which, along with wind turbines, will generate electricity for the huge tower. Natural ventilation will be provided thanks to numerous strategically placed large atriums. The internal environment will also have dynamic enclosure panels slotted into the structural framing that will allow daylight to penetrate deep into the heart of the structure; the panels will also be controlled to modify temperature inside the building – closed in winter for extra warmth and opened in summer to allow natural ventilation. Energy management is at the heart of this structure, several on-site renewable and low-carbon energy generation projects are planned.

The project has gotten quite a bit of coverage on-line among news services and bloggers. Although most recognize it as stunning statement of Russia’s hydro-carbon fueled economy, opinion appears divided as to the meaning of the statement. Does Crystal Island speak to Russia’s resurgence as a cultural and political force? It’s self-confident faith in a radiant future? It’s penchant for hubristic excess? All (or none) of the above?

Interestingly, few seem to be aware that Crystal Island is simply the latest (though, admittedly, largest) in a series of Putin-era architectural mega-projects recently completed or still under way. Others include Triumph Palace, the “Moscow-City” business complex, and the Kurkino micro-region. Then again, ambiguously symbolic, large-scale architectural projects are hardly unique to the government of Vladimir Vladimirovich. The Yeltsin administration oversaw the completion of several as well. The most famous of these was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior: a concrete and plastic reproduction of Imperial Russia’s largest church. The original Cathedral was itself obliterated in 1931 to make room for a colossal Stalinist-era architectural project: the never completed Palace of Soviets.

As far as Russia’s architectural legacy is concerned, Crystal Island is certainly news. But it isn’t exactly new.