On October 19, the Japanese architect Kionori Kikutake arrived in Russia. His visit was organized by an initiative group consisting of: magazine ARX (Publishing House "Building"), architectural bureaus "Archi Those Who" (Murat Sakhtariek), Art Group "Stone" (Vadim Grekov), "RAUM Architects" (Rishat Mullagildin), with the assistance of the Union of Architects of Russia and the Moscow Union of Architects. Within the framework of the Zodchestvo festival, an exhibition of the most famous projects of one of the most eminent architects of our time and the author of the theory of metabolism, Kionori Kikutake, was presented. The spatial composition of vertical wooden racks with tablets has become one of the most interesting expositions in the Manezh exhibition hall.
On the first day of the festival, October 20, Mr. Kikutake held a press conference in the Manege, at which he spoke about his vision of the development of architecture and how relevant his theory of metabolism may be in the future. Mr. Kikutake was introduced to the guests by the editor-in-chief of ARX magazine Pyotr Kudryavtsev. The Japanese architect, his contribution to the theory of architecture and his projects became the main topic of the first issue of the new ARX architecture magazine.
On the same day, in the evening, a lecture by Mr. Kikutake took place in the large hall of the Central House of Architects. The main topic of the lecture was the theory of metabolism, the history of its appearance and examples of its use in the master's projects over the past 50 years.
The next day, October 21, Mr. Kikutake and his wife were received by the Chairman of the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning, the chief architect of the city of Moscow, Mr. A. V. Kuzmin. Alexander Viktorovich introduced the guests to the promising plans for the development of the city. As an illustration, the chief architect of Moscow showed Mr. Kikutaka the project and the first stage of the construction of the Moscow City complex. A short excursion to the Federation Tower site ended with a meeting with the management of MIRAX GROUP.
Kionori Kikutake spent the next few days in St. Petersburg. There, he also gave a lecture and examined the architectural sights of the Northern capital. These events were organized with the participation of the PRO ARTE Institute and the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.
On October 25, Mr. Kionori Kikutake left for Bashkortostan. In Ufa, he met with the Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Belarus Rafael Baidavletov and the Minister of Construction, Architecture and Transport of the Republic Khamit Mavliyarov. Several projects were discussed at the meeting, in particular the development of slopes at the southern entrance to Ufa and the reconstruction of the Akbuzat hippodrome.
The prospects for cooperation between the Japanese architect and the Russian side and the possibility of constructing objects according to his designs were constantly raised during Mr. Kikutake's visit to Russia. It is possible that soon we will be able to announce real objects designed by the master for Russia.
For a long time Russia remained for the world architectural society Terra Incognita. Acquaintance with Russian architecture was limited to the period of constructivism. For our part, we felt a lack of up-to-date information about events, buildings and personalities influencing the development of architecture. The isolation from global processes has left us a legacy of a gradually eliminated inferiority complex and an insatiable interest in the world architectural experience. Each exhibition, visit, lecture and competition with the participation of foreign architects becomes an event and provokes more or less significant changes in Russian design practice. The current situation is interesting primarily because the integration processes are moving to the next fundamental stage. Western architects are moving from courtesy visits to the systematic development of our market. Whose it is: Perrault, Egeraat, Hadid or Foster, the building will be completed first is not so essential. Every year there will be more and more of them. And Russian architects will have to compete for the customer not only among themselves, but also with the largest masters of the whole world.
