Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said no investor has been able to make the Rike Domes in Tbilisi functional, arguing that renovating the structure would cost significantly more than the value of the building itself.
According to Mdinaradze, specialists who have assessed the building claim it was focused mainly on appearance and would require major additional investment to install proper systems, including cooling and ventilation. He compared the project to other problematic public buildings, saying the structure had serious technical limitations.
Mdinaradze said the current owners are ready to dismantle the building and give its components free of charge to anyone willing to rebuild it elsewhere. He added that no interested party has so far expressed readiness to take on the costs of relocating and reconstructing the structure.
The Tbilisi Architecture Service recently approved the demolition of the 14,591-square-meter building located in Rike Park. The so-called Rike Domes, designed by Italian architectural studio Studio Fuksas, were built between 2010 and 2012 but never opened for public use. The decision has sparked criticism from the architects, who are calling for the demolition process to be halted.
