Just when we thought we could forget about Guardian Moscow correspondent Luke Harding’s hackburgling habit, along comes the following juxtaposition from a reader in London. Is Harding unaware that his stuff sounds like everyone else’s, or does he just not care?

Reuters, August 31, 2007

UNESCO gives St Petersburg tower “yellow card”

St. Petersburg is at risk of being placed on UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites because of a plan to build a skyscraper near the historic centre, a senior official with the UN body said yesterday.

Russian state-controlled gas firm Gazprom wants to build a glass-and-steel tower nearly as tall as Paris’s Eiffel Tower near the centre of Russia’s second city. The plan has caused an outcry, with critics saying the project will ruin the city’s low-rise skyline of canals, cathedrals and Baroque mansions.

Guardian, Luke Harding, September 3, 2007

Skyscraper may see St Petersburg lose world heritage status

St Petersburg, Russia’s second city and former imperial capital, is in danger of being chucked off Unesco’s list of world heritage sites because of plans to build a 300-metre high skyscraper in its historic centre.

Russia’s state gas giant Gazprom wants to erect a glass and steel tower nearly as big as the Eiffel Tower just next to the 18th century Smolny cathedral.

The plan has prompted fierce local opposition. Critics say it will ruin the city’s unique low-rise skyline – and dwarf its neo-classical architecture, which includes baroque villas, flamboyant cathedrals and pleasant Venetian waterways.

This article was first published in The eXile in September, 2007.

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