Now the Perm Art Gallery is located in the 19th century cathedral, which is about to be returned to the churches. To admit, in such a situation, museums often turn out to be the suffering side, they are forced out somewhere far away and forgotten. The Perm case, judging by the concept, is quite special - it was decided not only to build a new museum building, but also to make it a city-forming object, for the design right of which a loud international competition was announced, which is organized by the Moscow Center for Contemporary Architecture (CSA), and the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Minister of Culture and Youth Policy of the region O. E. Oshchepkov, inspired by the experience of museum centers in Bilbao, Abu Dhabi and others, sees in the modern museum building a source of investment and tourism development in the city. The museum building will be located on the banks of the Kama River and will become a kind of gateway to the city. The place is located not far from the center, but now it enjoys a reputation as a "bear's corner" - according to the minister, the construction of the museum will stimulate the development of the entire area. Thus, the main museum value of the Perm collection, the exposition of the cult wooden sculpture, will receive a super-modern and technological frame and will be supplemented by many thematic and educational centers.
It is easy to see that we are dealing with an attempt to inculcate on Russian soil a plot that has been rolled out many times in Western architecture, the classic example of which is the already mentioned Bilbao, which, after the construction of the new Guggenheim building by Frank Gehry, turned from a little-known town into a world-famous cultural center. This is the first attempt, highly commendable, and I would like to hope for its success. Although so far, alas, international competitions on Russian soil are not taking root well. However, all previous stories were associated with inviting foreign "stars" to a big city, that is, they were a game that was sufficiently reliable and outwardly win-win - and yet somehow ended in a scandal.
The Perm competition has a slightly different approach - it is not custom-made, but open. And also the double goal, which was voiced by Peter Zumthor at the press conference - not only to find a striking architectural project, but also to open a new star. Therefore, special attention was paid to little-known names and young architects. In the first round, the portfolio was judged - a set of buildings and projects of the architect, attached to the application and drawn up according to the same rules. The expert council, consisting of four people - the director of the CSA Irina Korobyina, the Minister of Culture of the Perm Territory Oleg Oshchepkov, the president of the Academy of Architecture Alexander Kudryavtsev and the foreign star Peter Zumtor, selected 25 participants, who will now be awarded a design assignment.
According to the members of the expert council, the approach was as follows - if an architect is already recognized, then in order to pass, he must have a completely unpredictable portfolio. Such, as noted by Irina Korobyina, was the case with Vladimir Plotkin. Boris Bernasconi became his "antipode" in terms of his young age. From "ours" also passed: Alexander Brodsky, Totan Kuzembaev, "Art-Bla" and "A +" from Perm. For the sake of fairness, we note that it is possible for Peter Zumthor among these names that there are unfamiliar ones, but for the Russian architectural community - practically none.
The journalists attending the press conference noted some discrepancy between the concept of the city's development, which needs a 100% star object, and the model of the architectural competition, which pays so much attention to new names. However, this contradiction is not absolute: firstly, it is not the name of the architect that is important, but what he will eventually build, and secondly, the high-profile international competition itself will already attract a lot of attention to the object and at the same time will allow choosing a landmark museum. One way or another, it must be admitted that the organizers and the jury set themselves the maximum task - to find a "star" project, to open a new "star" rules.
Aside, we note that seeing such an ambitious and delicate plan, the city authorities considered it necessary to hedge themselves - there is a clause in the competition conditions giving the local authorities the right to veto the project chosen by the jury - and in this unpleasant case, the winner will be awarded a double cash prize of $ 200,000.
The winners of the competition will be announced on December 6th.
Winners of the 1st round of the competition:
1. "A +" / Russia, Perm
2. Acconci Studio + Guy Nordenson and Associates LLP / USA, NY
3. Adjaye Associates / Great Britain, London
4. Aleksandr Brodsky bureau / Russia, Moscow
5. Asymptote Architecture PLLC / USA, New York
6. Coop Himmelb (l) au, Prix, Dreibholz & Partner / Austria, Vienne
7. Eric Owen Moss Architects / USA, Culver City
8. Esa Ruskeepää / Finland, Helsinki
9. Hans HOLLEIN / Austria, Wien
10. Kitagamura - Dendra / Japan, Tokyo
11. LOMA architecture landscape urbanism / Germany, Kassel
12. Meili, Peter Architekten AG / Switzerland, Zurich
13. Naga Studio Architecture / USA, Los Angeles
14. Nieto Sobejano / Spain, Madrid
15. NOX Lars Spuybroek / The Netherlands, Rotterdam
16. Odile Decq Benoît Cornette Architects and Urban Planners / France, Paris
17. OOO Bernasconi / Russia, Moscow
18. Schmidt Hammer Lassen k / s / Denmark, Aarhus
19. Søren Robert Lund Arkitekter / Denmark, Copenhagen
20. Tatiana Bilbao / Mexico, Mexico
21. Totan Kuzembaev Architectural workshop / Russia, Moscow
22. Valerio Olgiati / Switzerland, Shur
23. Vladimir Plotkin / Russia, Moscow
24. Zaha Hadid Architects trading / Great Britain, London
25. LLC "A - B" / Russia, Moscow
