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Inteko, a firm owned by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov's wife, Yelena Baturina, is boasting the structure as a possible replacement for the Soviet-era Central House of Artists, which is home to one of the city's biggest and most popular art galleries, the New Tretyakov.

No one at the Tretyakov has heard anything about plans to redevelop the site, however, nor have the artists organizations who own part of the building.

"It came as a big shock," said Valentin Rodionov, director of the Tretyakov. "The first time I heard anything about the plans was when I saw something on television a week ago."

The gallery holds an indefinite lease on 60 percent of the current building, while the artists groups own the rest, and have leased the land on which it stands until 2025.

Inteko said it had done nothing wrong by publicizing the design, which was unveiled at a real estate exhibition in Cannes last month, and that the current building's residents will be housed in the new complex. Federal authorities, under whose auspices the cultural center falls, have not yet commented on the issue.