[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1203443679.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tAn arts complex in Tbilisi, Georgia, is being razed despite protests from its architects and some members of the local community. Following approval by Tbilisi\u2019s city government in June, demolition work on the Rike Park Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall\u2014colloquially known as Rike Tubes\u2014began at the end of July and is scheduled to be completed by December. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe news was reported by Reuters following a photo-essay documenting the destruction of the complex and that of a second landmark, a Brutalist former flour mill known as Silo, published in Civil Georgia<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Rike Tubes are a connected pair of glass-and-steel structures designed by Fuksas Studio, an Italian architectural firm led by husband-and-wife architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas. Built in the final years of United National Movement (UNM) rule (2004\u20132012), their ultracontemporary design symbolized the pro-Western approach of the UNM\u2019s leader, Mikhail Saakashvili.<\/p>\n \n\tThe current governing party came to power in 2012, and the complex, reported to have cost about 75 million lari ($29 million US) of public money, never opened. The 108,000-square-foot site was privatized, and the current owner\u2014a subsidiary of Maqro Property called Rike Dom\u2014is planning to build a hotel on it, though details have not been released.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile members of the public and the architectural community have criticized the Rike Tubes for altering the character of Tbilisi\u2019s historic old town, some favored relocating them to a more suitable setting rather than demolishing them. But protests\u2014including appeals from the architects, who offered to help authorities repurpose the complex\u2014have failed to halt their destruction. The worry now is what may take their place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/tblisi-arts-complex-demolition-sparks-protests-1234796125\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1203443679.jpg?w=1024″] An arts complex in Tbilisi, Georgia, is being razed despite protests from its architects and some members of the local community. Following approval by Tbilisi\u2019s city government in June, demolition work on the Rike Park Music Theatre and Exhibition Hall\u2014colloquially known as Rike Tubes\u2014began at the end of July and is scheduled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2116768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}