Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is a city that fills my head with thoughts and imagination on how it will transform in the era it is currently in.【Read about Tbilisi in the previous article I wrote here】

Although 28 years has passed since the collapse of the USSR, a great deal of the buildings in Tbilisi stems from the Soviet era. When walking in residential areas, there are lots of reshaping being done, as well as new buildings being built in a way that makes it seem that the city is trying to get reborn. It’s both amusing and worrying to observe the unique scenery of Tbilisi is changing, and it makes me wonder how the citizens think about this transitional situation.

Even buildings where the appearance from the street is obsolete and sometimes falling apart is hard to judge. Once you enter, the inside is sometimes beautifully renovated and far from the image you might have made from seeing the facade. There are many buildings like this which seems to be crumbling apart on the outside.

Several hip hotels has been opening as a part of the growing tourism market of Georgia. Stamba Hotel opened its doors in May 2018 and was built as an extension of the luxury Rooms Hotel which opened a few years ago. Both hotels are renovated buildings that used to operate as print factories for publishers in the Soviet times.

The lobby of Stamba reminds of a library, and behind the bookshelves is the hotel casino. Looking to the ceiling, there is a still drying machine from the printing factory hanging.

The vigorously growing plants that rises from the basement through a hole in the floor of the lobby gives the concrete a lively decoration.

Café Stamba, located inside the hotels own facilities offer modernized Georgian cuisine. There is a courtyard for comfortably enjoying coffee outside.

Rooms Hotel opened its doors several years ago, and the facilities can be accessed through the basement of Stamba Hotel as well as from the street outside. Both hotels are conceived by the Adjara Group’s in-house creative studio.

The hip backyard hostel and event space Fabrika opened in 2017 in the facilities of a former sewing factory. Alongside housing a popular hostel, there are also a ramen shop, cafes and bars as well as a record shop, designer stores and a barber. In the evenings and on weekends it serves as a hub where local young people come to meet up, listen to music, dance and enjoying time off. The lobby has a big shared space with pleasant music being played and in the next room there is a popular breakfast buffet where anyone can come and eat.

Mikheil Saakashvili who assumed office as president from 2004 until 2013 seems to have a keen interest in modern architecture. During his time in office he built several controversial buildings CHECK on prominent locations around Tbilisi.

The Public Service Hall, opened in 2012, has a peculiar mushroom-like look from above. Not much further on the other river bank lies the Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall, resemblant of two thighs. Both are designed by architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas. Both are famous Italian architects, as well as Michele de Lucchi who designed the Bridge of Peace as well as other administrational buildings.

The Music Theater and Exhibition Hall started its construction in 2010 and as the building was almost finished in 2013 it was stopped, and the building still remains unused until today. Although the precise reasons for this remains in a mist, when Saakashvili, who ordered the construction, was taken out of office in 2013, the funding for the project was as well. However, because of the vast amounts of money already put into the project makes it difficult to imagine the building remaining unused, and a wine museum in the facilities are being discussed.

Many citizens seem to have been disgusted by Mikheil Saakashvili arguments, or lack of such, while driving tax funded projects seemingly for his own hobbies sake. Georgia was reunited after the USSR only some thirty years ago, and since then the debate of urban development hasn’t been a public discussion to any larger extent. It has though come to a time that more and more citizens begin to realize the impact this has on the cityscape and how it is being destroyed. This has caused the questions being brought up to debate by the founders of the first Tbilisi Architecture Biennale in 2018.

The Biennale took place in Gldani, a vast suburb on the end of the old subway line, about 30 minutes from central Tbilisi. On arrival, it is striking how there are lots of buildings which are on the verge of collapsing. These are all built during a ten year period in the mid 1970’s and has barely been updated since, at least exterior wise.

The Biennale was held under the title ”Buildings are Not Enough”. Gldani was a symbolic place to hold such an event where anywhere you turn, you are confronted with the realities of the Soviet heritage. The atmosphere is very different from central Tbilisi here.

This is an exhibition that invites visitors to several rooms and whole apartments in a general resident building. The spaces are hosted by the actual inhabitants and nothing is staged. The experience of seeing the spirit of Gldani in these Soviet buildings brings light on how the Soviet life was in the homes of people.

Around Gldani, there were several art pieces being put out around for experiencing while seeing the area. Some of these were not completed works, due to the lack of funding to the constructing architects, artists and craftsmen. Some works were hard to notice unless carefully looking around for them. The local ladies seemed to be unpleased with some of these, saying ”Why do you put these kinds of things around here? What is the purpose of this?” as we are being told by a laughing Georgian friend translating for us.

In the last building we headed to before sunset, Block 76, Japanese artis Reijiro Wada exhibited his works. The scenery of Gldani could be seen red wine in the windows on the 17th floor.

It might not be the best idea when it comes to safety, but there was a ladder leading to the roof of the building that was open for access. Mountains, the intense scenery of Gldani and central Tbilisi a little further away was visible from here. Although Tbilisi has a considerably high level of pollution, this spot was great for catching some air blowing in from the beautiful nature of Georgia.

In the center of Tbilisi there are still many old fashioned bakeries, book stores, restaurants etc. that remain intact from the urban gentrification that can be seen in some areas and in some developments such as Stamba Hotel and Fabrika. There are high rise glass buildings being rapidly built along the river while many of these actually remain uninhabited and that the standards of a suburb such as Gldani, or other areas, some of the neighboring the luxury apartments is being seemingly neglected. The urban development in Tbilisi was troublesome during Soviet times, and now it is suffering the heritage from those days as well as under the influence of rich investors and men in power who likes to play with money while citizens see only how their city is developing in a questionable way to say the least. For this reason among others, the new biennale is an important instrument to raise awareness on the topic, both nationally, but also internationally of a growing economy.

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All photo by Markus Oxelman
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Markus Oxelman & Natsuko Natsuyama

Met in 2017 in Copenhagen while they were both staying in the same shared apartment. They bonded quickly over both enjoying the travelling lifestyle, food, wine, art and music among other things. Both are based between Copenhagen and Tokyo but also spends occasional time in Georgia. Started writing about Copenhagen and Georgia in 2018.
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