Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) was founded in 1976 in New York. The firm employs over 500 architects in New York, London and Shanghai with a diversified portfolio of projects: skyscrapers, museums, universities, banks, hotels, exhibition centers and airports around the world. David Leventhal joined KPF in 1979. Together with Lee Polisano, the current president of the company, David founded the London office of KPF in 1989. David Leventhal has created a number of internationally recognized projects: academic buildings at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the Houses of Parliament and the National Theater in Cyprus, and skyscrapers in North America, Europe and the Middle East. These projects are an example of the economical use of energy resources and the company's commitment to creating sustainable architecture.
KPF is currently working on three major projects in Moscow. In 2006, the company was invited to participate in a tender for the project of a new administrative complex for Gazprom in St. Petersburg. However, the idea of building a 400-meter vertical near the historic center of the city met with bewilderment from David and his colleagues. Refusal to participate in the competition for the design of a skyscraper where it does not belong has become a matter of morality and principle for KPF partners. Our interview with David took place at the company's multi-story office in the historic Economist Building, the headquarters of the magazine of the same name on 57th Street in Manhattan.
You went to Harvard Art School and graduated from architecture. What determined your choice?
I was born and raised in Boston, and if you live in Boston, then everyone expects you to go to Harvard. In the first years I could not decide whether to study to be a museum curator or an architect. After completing my bachelor's degree, I decided to try this and that. Going to New York, I first decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum, and then to the office of Pietro Belushi, a famous American architect of Italian origin. After choosing architecture, I returned to Harvard. The best professor for me was Michael McKinnell, a fantastic teacher and author of the City Hall in Boston, which I consider to be the best 20th century building in the city.
How did you hear about KPF?
I graduated in 1978 and drove back to New York, where I came across the original new ABC television center building on 67th Street. I found out that its author was a very young company, KPF, at that time. I was interviewed by the founders of the company, Eugene Cohn and William Pedersen. They liked my work and we enthusiastically discussed the architecture of Alvar Aalto. But at that time, the company did not hire people, and I was offered to visit again after a while. For nine months I worked for another firm. It contained unique original drawings by Charles McKim, one of the most prominent American architects of the 19th century. Once a professor at Columbia University, having heard about these drawings, asked his partners to give them to him. Which they did, showing their indifference to architecture as art. This was the signal for my departure. I called KPF and 30 years later I am still here.
Ever wanted to start your own company?
Never! From the very beginning at KPF, I was surrounded by people with similar views. My voice was heard, my opinion was taken into account, and whenever I find myself face to face with a client, I can speak on behalf of the company. I could always say - "we" and this is the main thing for me.
Let's talk about skyscrapers. Are they still the main focus of the company?
They are just one of our directions. We continue to work on very tall and stunning skyscrapers. For example, the World Financial Center in Shanghai has 101 floors. Its main form is formed by the intersection of a square volume with two extended arches converging at the very top into one line. The top of the skyscraper stands out with a huge square through aperture to relieve wind loads. The building is already close to completion and will soon become a new image in the skies over Shanghai. On the other hand, we not only design symbolic towers, but above all create an organic urban environment. Of course, skyscrapers make up a large part of this environment. It is important for us to be aware of the impact our buildings have on urban life and especially how people live and work inside these buildings.
What projects are you working on in Russia?
We have three major projects in Moscow. We were ordered two objects and we won one project of a business complex as a result of a competition. We are doing the first project for the development company Horus Capital. The second one is called “Park-City” on a huge area of 15 hectares on the banks of the Moskva River next to the Ukraine hotel. We are developing a master plan and several new buildings. In both cases, we were invited by the American real estate development company Hines. The third project is formed by several high-rise office buildings along Kutuzovsky Prospect for Alfa Bank and CJSC Inteko.
What are these projects?
The project for the Horus company is located on the Garden Ring. First, we designed a high-rise, and when we presented it, it turned out that our site does not involve a high-rise building. I had to start everything from scratch. Outside, our complex has a strict look, and inside is an organic space that resembles an oasis. Dynamically curved glass panels create the impression of a powerful energy explosion. The hall of the complex is open for visiting restaurants and shops. We are collaborating on this project with designer Ron Arad, who is working with us on a very expressive sculpture designed to bring together many of the architectural elements inside.
In the “Park-City” project, we proposed two main organizing urbanistic gestures - a new boulevard parallel to Kutuzovsky Prospekt and a diagonal axis that picks up the corner of the historic building of the Badaevsky Brewery. The diagonal axis crosses the coastline above the motorway and hovers on a very dramatic 35m console. This dynamic structure will be surrounded by restaurants, promenades and observation decks with great city and river views.
The office complex on Kutuzovsky Prospect near Victory Park is a composition of organic towers with terraces winding at their bases. They are united by a single landscape with public space and an underground shopping arcade with access to the metro.
What other architects are collaborating with you on the Park-City project?
Rafael Vignoli is working on three residential towers along the river. Other buildings are being designed by an architect from Beirut, Nabil Golam, and a young architect from London, Brissac Gonzales, who trained in our London studio many years ago.
Many large projects are carried out in Russia by Western architects. What are your advantages over local architects?
I can only talk about KPF. We have great respect for the local culture. Most importantly, we know how to interpret local conditions based on our vast international experience. The portfolio of hundreds of successful projects of our company around the world is a clear confirmation of this.
How often do you visit Russia?
I work a lot with Horus directly, and we are starting to cooperate on several more projects. I visit Moscow at least once a month and have been there about ten times. On every visit, I try to see some area, museum, station, monument. Our client is in love with architecture and tries to use every opportunity, even in short breaks between meetings, to give us the opportunity to watch something interesting.
Can you name the buildings of recent years that you liked?
There is a lot under construction, but to tell the truth, what I saw is not very attractive. I suspect there are a lot of interesting things out there, but you don't see it when you drive around town. I am more attracted to constructivist buildings. Most of all I like Melnikov - his private house and clubs. They are made with a sense of fantastic imagination and a desire to take an existing program and invent something special. Here in New York, I have been to the exhibition of photographs by Richard Pare at MoMA several times. I have compiled a whole list of curious buildings. Every time I visit Moscow, I always try to visit something new.
Is it difficult to work in Moscow?
The main feature of Moscow is that everything changes there all the time. Even building codes are changing. The concept of what a high-rise building is is constantly being revised. What is an atrium in high-rise buildings has not yet been determined. Fire safety regulations are unreasonably conservative because the city has no precedents for many types of construction. Even with our extensive international experience, we have to continually prove that our solutions are safe. Often they simply do not believe us and do not give us the opportunity to prove the opposite.
How would you compare working conditions in Russia, China or the Middle East?
Each place has a different working conditions and depends on the level of development of each country. In the Middle East, cities such as Abu Dhabi or Qatar are significantly ahead of Russia. China follows immediately behind the Middle East. And Russia is following China. These countries have recently revised their building codes and are now, for example, working on specific building codes for high-rise buildings. In Russia, we are still faced with questions that no one can answer.
Are you seeing some shifts in your customers' demand for innovative architecture?
Curiously, our most innovative customers are located in the Middle East. For example, a client at ADIA headquarters in Abu Dhabi demanded that we create the best working conditions for our company in the world, and that people want to work together. Each floor features an open-plan layout and interactive meeting areas within a multi-story atrium with hanging gardens. We also tried to bring this high-rise building as close as possible to the local context. The tower's fluid forms are the answer to its proximity to the bay. The office floors are connected by an internal expressive staircase, which from the outside is presented in the form of an expressive glass tower. This very successfully reduces the massiveness of the building and proportionally evokes an abstract image of the minarets that are often found in the city. And the striped surface of the double glass façade with horizontal sun louvers is not only very economical but also beautiful.
Are we going to see significant changes in how skyscrapers will be used in the future?
The most populous cities in the world such as New York, Tokyo or Hong Kong are the most economical in terms of energy consumption. Even if we proceed only from environmental considerations, we need to live densely. Increasingly, high-rise buildings are used for different purposes, with hotels, apartments, offices and commercial structures on different floors or parts of the same building. This is the most economical way to use a particular site. This strategy leads to significant reductions in energy consumption and a more rational distribution of energy among tenants within the building. Tall buildings create new public spaces such as transfer floors or hanging gardens. Many cities in the Middle East are very sprawling, and it is the tall buildings that give the impression of an active urban environment. They are identified with progress and prestige, and people are willing to pay a very high price to live and work in them.
In other words, cities will grow skyward and Moscow is no exception
Of course. High-rise buildings are economically beneficial. When skyscrapers are grouped together and complemented by developed infrastructure and especially public transport, they form very exciting compact zones typical of many modern cities in the world. Therefore, Moscow needs to grow upward, but of course, each building must be sensitive to its surroundings. And the following should also be noted. The purpose of the skyscraper is to strive to connect the earth and the sky, this is a new dimension of the cities of our young age.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, KPF New York office
111 West 57th Street, Manhattan
February 26, 2008
