The original version of the cinema and concert complex on site number 6 in Moscow City was created back in 2003 by the Canadian bureau David Brisbin & Co. It was his experts who came up with the idea to wrap the building with metal tapes, thereby hiding the engineering equipment installed on the roof: after all, all around the high-rise buildings and the view from the windows of prestigious offices and apartments should not disappoint. For a long time, the project existed only at the conceptual level. When it came to concrete solutions, the work was entrusted to ADM. The architects retained the idea with ribbons (this was a prerequisite), but rethought, transformed it, made it live a new life.
As it should be for a theater and concert building, the architects carefully orchestrated the impressions, starting not even from the hanger, but from the area surrounding it. Approaching the building, the viewer will see the iron ribbons parting in front of him, as if a curtain is being opened. Under a huge glass canopy, it will be possible to wait for a satellite, look for an extra ticket and feel the right atmosphere: through the glass stained-glass wall, the hall will be clearly visible, and in the glass "pockets" under the ribbons you can see the stairs and escalators located there (ribbons, thus, acquire another practical rationale). From inside, going down or up these stairs and escalators, spectators will be able to observe the usual bustle of the square. As a result, the theater is maximally open to the world, and the surrounding space freely enters the building.
The interior of the auditorium is also subordinated to the idea of "ribbons" - they are like smoothly curving balconies in the auditorium: one might think that the ribbons have penetrated from outside to inside, forming flexible "waves". The waves of the balconies are light gray, while the walls will be sheathed with acoustic wood-like panels (real wood in the decoration of such interiors is not recommended for fire safety). We managed to give the entire upper tier to the VIP-boxes, which is important for the City, but they rarely manage to do it near theater buildings, says Andrey Romanov, head of ADM.
Behind the three tiers of amphitheaters, there will be spacious foyers designed for exhibitions and corporate events; to illuminate them, the architects used light "pockets" behind the ribbons of the facades. To free up these spaces for spectators, the architects moved all technical premises (artistic dressing rooms, decoration workshops, etc.) to a separate seven-story block in the northern part of the site.
However, the main feature of this project is not its spectacular curves, but its universal multifunctional "filling". When designing the hall, the architects had to take into account many wishes. It was not easy, but then the architects came to the aid of the Mosconcert employees - the organization that will have to operate the building in the future. “We were pleasantly surprised by the literacy and technical awareness of Mosconcert specialists,” says Andrei Romanov, one of the heads of the ADM bureau. “They drew up a clear and competent technical assignment, and largely thanks to their efforts, it was possible to apply several really interesting solutions at once”.
For example, in order to host full-fledged ballet performances, the stage was made of a strictly defined size - 21 meters. But it is possible to hold (if desired) very small chamber concerts, accommodating everyone, both spectators and musicians, in the space of the stage: for this purpose, folding stands-blitzers are hidden in it. On the other hand, the chairs of the first rows of the stalls can also be folded - then a dance floor is formed, an integral attribute of musical shows. The floor of the orchestra pit rises if necessary, further increasing the stage space. Moreover, all these transformations should be automated and launched by pressing almost one button. The volume of the planned automated transformations of the gigantic hall (designed for more than 4,000 people) turns it into a kind of machine.
But the most difficult thing for the architects was to fit the new building into the space allotted for it. The fact is that this area is oversaturated with utilities. Under it, a huge shopping complex and a multi-storey parking lot go into the ground on 6 floors. In addition, two metro lines cut through this entire structure. It is not difficult to imagine what restrictions this already established system imposed on architects, what complex calculations they had to carry out. They even had to abandon the original idea and slightly rotate the building around its axis counterclockwise in order to remove the protruding part. Otherwise, the load on the columns of the underground floors would be excessive. And it was impossible to additionally strengthen them; the work of the existing branch would have to be stopped for six months
Needless to say, there are no such halls - large, modern technically and architecturally - in Moscow yet; in Moscow, with its gigantic population, there are very few such structures in general. A year ago, the concert hall was going to be built at the expense of the city budget. The project passed the examination, the ADM architects began to prepare the working documentation. Now, however (perhaps because the City is "no longer in vogue"), the city has refused to fund the construction. Most likely, an investor will be invited to the site, and he will already decide the fate of the cinema and concert complex.
