Moscow State Exhibition Hall ‘New Manege’

New Manege became a symbol of a new era in Moscow life, the era of electricity. Many Russians remember Lenin’s saying that ‘communism is a Soviet rule plus nationwide electrification’. However, electrification was thought as a basis for people’s well-being long before this proletariat’s leader. In 1888, by instruction of the City Duma Vladimir Sher, an architect built the first city electric station. The building was in historic style with old-Russian variations. In this way, its deliberate archaic became co-existent with high-tech achievements.

Sergei Khachaturov