The participants of the international competition, which was announced in February of this year, were tasked with coming up with a scenario for the phased transformation of New Holland from a closed military unit into a dynamic, diverse and organically fitting into the social and cultural life of the city. In addition to the function (it is cultural institutions that should prevail on the island), the requirements of protective legislation in relation to the existing buildings on the island and very tight design terms, the architects had practically no restrictions in their work. For example, they did not consider TEPs and did not rack their brains over the economics of the project - on the contrary, the organizers deliberately protected them from such "mundane" things. Interested in as diverse as possible concepts and as unexpected perspectives for the development of the island, they have done everything to encourage the unconventional imagination of architects. And this strategy has paid off.
The Lacaton & Vassal Architectural Bureau presented the revived New Holland as an island of modernity in a city with 300 years of history. This project is dominated by glass - a transparent awning covers most of the area around the inland water body of the island, turning it into a place of all-season activity and communication. Mostly from glass, French designers propose to build a new center of contemporary art, whose volume will stretch along the Admiralty Canal, on the site of a hull designed at one time, but never built, for drying ship timber. By the way, it should be noted that almost all participants in the competition used this space for the construction of a new building. As for Lakaton & Vassal, even at the level of the layout, the idea of lightness and transparency of the renewed New Holland has been brought to the maximum: it is not only completely made of glass, but also raised on thin metal supports, thanks to which the island acquires a distinct resemblance to Swift's Laputa … It must be said that the expert council found the project just as utopian: it was not included in the short-list of Lacaton & Vassal.
The architectural bureau Dixon Jones also practically closes the perimeter of the island's development. True, the British do it more tactfully: the new building partially bursts into the ground, and its roof and facade, facing the island, are solved as a giant amphitheater. It is assumed that in the summer, at the height of the festival life, it will be filled to overflowing with the public. In order not to create a traffic jam of cars and pedestrians at the existing entrance to the island, the architects are throwing three new bridges to the "mainland". The round building of the sea prison (architect A. Staubert) Dixon Jones is being reconstructed into a hotel, and galleries, studios, shops and cafes are located in the buildings of the former warehouses. This project was also not shortlisted, but at the exhibition in the Central Naval Museum it invariably attracted the attention of visitors - the architects covered the model of the reconstructed island with a round glass cover, symbolizing, in their opinion, the exceptional position of New Holland in the urban fabric of a modern metropolis …
Rem Koolhaas treated the island much more radically. With the decisiveness and uncompromising character of the OMA in general, the architect proposed to dig another canal on the territory of New Holland and turn it into an archipelago of four islands, each of which will develop one specific function - trade, education, culture or social events. The fourth island, as you might guess, appears on the site of an unbuilt building, and in order to emphasize its double man-made and modern origins, the author gives it an emphatically rectangular shape. On the layout, it is marked with a piece of hardboard with a multi-colored substrate, which instantly recalls the "boards" of the master plan developed by OMA for the Skolkovo innovation city. Well, and the former warehouses (not all, but some) Koolhaas floods without any regrets - in the summer in the thick brick walls, in his opinion, there should be baths.
And finally, the last of the projects not included in the shortlist was developed by Yuri Avvakumov and Georgy Solopov. Here, the former warehouses are entirely dedicated to art workshops - studios with the possibility of living, various ateliers and laboratories, as well as galleries, showrooms and cinemas. The architects called the new theatrical and exhibition building the "House of Chevakinsky" - it is being built in the same place, along the Admiralty Canal, from glass and wooden structures, and its dynamic composition with hulls shifted relative to each other resembles a shipyard. “This is how we materialized in the form of a modern building the historical function of storing the mast timber,” Yuri Avvakumov comments on his project.
One British, one Dutch and one Russian bureau also ended up in the final of the competition, and the American company WORKac closes the top four, proposing to implement the principle of “city within a city” within the framework of the New Holland reconstruction project. In place of the non-existent building, the architects are building something like a hill, inside which various technical services and parking lots are dug. Its "slope" will function as an amphitheater, the main viewing platform during cultural events.
Small "ramparts" are poured along each of the historical buildings, and from above the buildings are covered with cone-shaped roofs that vaguely resemble cocked hats - the multi-layer structure created in this way is designed to provide a variety of functions. In particular, WORKac provided an arts center with a museum, a cinema and fashion center, a gastronomic boutique and a city market, a park and a sculpture garden as part of New Holland. And on one of the bulk platforms there will also be a platform for attaching a balloon, from which it will be possible to view the island and the city.
David Chipperfield's project turned out to be very recognizable in terms of the author's style. Laconic rectangular volumes, in some places cut into separate thin floor plates, are well known to everyone who has seen at least a couple of buildings of this architect. In the case of New Holland, Chipperfield deliberately relies on modern forms, believing that only they are capable of making the island the undisputed leader among the new public spaces of the city.
Some volumes are designed like ordinary parallelepipeds, others are rectangular "frames" - together they create a system of spectacular rectangular portals leading to the central square. But the architect willingly preserves the morphology of historical buildings: in his opinion, strong brick walls, arches and pillars will serve as an excellent basis for the vertical division of buildings into separate "houses", which will house cultural and commercial organizations, as well as housing.
The Dutch MVRDV concept presents New Holland as a fun and vibrant neighborhood that will gradually acquire the functions it needs. The contour of the island is closed, but the architects do it very tactfully: the new volume is faced with perforated metal and practically dissolves into the surrounding landscape.
All other structures on the island's territory are temporary, and in the MVRDV language they are called “activators” - these are such modules of different shapes and colors that can harmoniously combine with the appearance of New Holland and at the same time transform its territory for various kinds of actions. It is interesting that for each function the architects have developed a whole "line" of sizes: a small booth, if necessary, can be built up to a whole pavilion, and a bench under a glass cover that protects people from rain can turn into a dome. For the winter, the activators are supposed to be hidden in the existing premises - there they form a labyrinth, which can also be used for exhibitions and performances.
The only bureau that did not begin to build up the embankment along the Admiralty Canal was the St. Petersburg Studio 44. On the site of the unbuilt hull, the so-called Ship Grove, which will create a kind of "permeable wall" between New Holland and the outside world, has been broken in memory of the ship's wood that was once stored here. On the sides it is flanked by multifunctional pavilions made of light structures, designed for large-scale events. Everyday cultural life, whether it be artistic creation, classes in dance and music studios, etc., will be concentrated in the existing buildings of New Holland: Studio 44 interprets the former warehouse premises as a set of universal "boxes" that can be used as one, and combining with each other.
The inner triangular square of the island is interpreted by Nikita Yavein as the antipode of Dvortsova - unlike the venue for official parades and concerts, this space should become a place for informal relaxation and communication. “Contemporary art in St. Petersburg has always had an underground character, it did not exist quite legitimately, but a new cultural center created on the island is capable of radically changing this situation, making art more in demand, and making the city more democratic in relation to it,” the architect believes. “I’m probably overly romantic, but without romanticism, such concepts and contests are basically impossible.”
