The round table was held within the framework of the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, and Kalinka Realty's interest in the topic “Foreigners in Russia” is quite understandable: the company often acts as a consultant to large development projects, which involve Western architects and designers. Among the most recent examples of such cooperation are the projects Barkli Virgin House and Barkli Park, to create the interiors of which Philippe Starck's design company Yoo was invited, and it was they who were advertised in every possible way during the many hours of discussion. However, regardless of the commercial background of the event, it should be recognized as valid: a topic that has not left the professional community indifferent for ten years now has provoked heated debates this time.
The first to take the floor was Erik van Egeraat, who began by saying that at any meeting of cultures, conflicts are inevitable, however, as practice shows, it is international projects that turn out to be the most professional and interesting from the point of view of architecture. This was the end of the star's margin of tolerance, because then Egeraat switched to the sick: the absence in Russia of normal working conditions for architects, monstrously inconvenient and sometimes completely inexplicable from the point of view of logic standards, global unresolved transport and social problems. “You have been designing Moscow City for twenty years and for twenty years this place has remained the most awful and inconvenient in Moscow!”
The colleague was warmly supported by Sergei Tchoban: “Today in Moscow there are no conditions to design and build objects quickly and with high quality. There is no market for local materials, there is no opportunity to work for adequate money and be sure that your project will be implemented exactly as it was intended. It is enough to study the project of Erik van Egeraat, made for Moscow City, and then look at the constructed City of Capitals, to be convinced of the truth of my words. In general, the main paradox of the modern Russian architectural market is that you can only make a profit if you design poorly and quickly. Of course, Western architects are not ready to work in such conditions”.
The head of the Union of Architects of Russia, Andrei Bokov, in turn, said that the need for the presence of foreign architects in the Russian market is undeniable, but this requires a reasonable compromise. In his opinion, the main problem today is the obvious discrimination on the part of the state - foreigners are invited to almost all major projects, who are given all preferences. However, even so, projects with the participation of foreigners are often not completed: the reason for the failures of foreigners in Russia, according to Bokov, is in the unformulated state policy in relation to projects financed from the budget. “As a result, we have an extremely costly Mariinsky Theater, which has been under construction for nine years, extremely costly projects in Sochi, etc. … We are often reproached for not making Mercedes. But starting to remake the existing system with architects is a futile task, Bokov is convinced. - Today we have an antediluvian, clumsy, conservative construction industry, an unenlightened customer, especially when it comes to budget financing, a backward regulatory framework and worsening all this legislation, which prescribes the issuance of faceless permits to legal entities instead of the certification of individuals accepted throughout the world. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will build a civilized market, in which the same rules for foreigners and their own will operate, and in which there will be a place for everyone”. At the same time, added Andrei Vladimirovich, already as a practicing architect, who, according to him, has repeatedly corrected projects for foreign colleagues, while the invited specialists often lack an elementary understanding of the Russian climate and Russian mentality, which is why many projects being developed are initially unviable.
The architect and the official in the person of Andrey Bokov was supported by the president of the Barkli company Leonid Kazinets. “Stop looking for a problem in architects! - he called on the audience. - The main problem is that modern Russian developers are mostly non-professionals. If a person traded in building materials or paint five or seven years ago, how does he know what architecture should be and, most importantly, what kind of architecture he is ready to give preference to ?! An accurate understanding of what we want from architecture is possible only if a professional management team is working on the project. As an example of the latter, Mr. Kazinets cited his current team, and as a successful project named Barkli Park, designed by the Atrium architectural bureau, and now, for the sake of more successful and loud promotion, entrusted to Philippe Starck. By the way, the company for a long time in all advertising materials mentioned only Star Stark as the author of the complex, but now this injustice is being corrected: at least at this round table, Anton Nadtochy and Leonid Kazinets were sitting side by side, and the developer in his story about choosing a foreign partner did not forget to mention the architects of the Atrium.
Anton Nadtochiy, in turn, said that his studio has repeatedly participated in competitions along with foreign architects and won against the latter - it is not so important what citizenship the designer has, if the main and only selection criterion is the quality and innovativeness of the project. According to the architect, the foreign experience of Russia today is much more needed in the field of engineering and project economics. Sergei Skuratov also spoke in favor of extensive consultations with foreign experts, but warned the audience against adopting Western experience in everything and everyone. “The worldview cannot be translated into a foreign language, and in order to successfully build in a country, it is necessary to become a part of this country,” the head of Sergey Skuratov Architects is convinced. “And what definitely cannot be done is to take a Western project and try to implement it on our own!” According to Skuratov, Western and Russian architects initially work in completely different conditions: any foreign architect is a person with a systematic, team thinking, accustomed to the fact that each technical task is based on the law and the pressing needs of society, while our designers deal with, first of all, with arbitrariness and lawlessness. "In the West, architects fulfill a state or commercial order and are proud of such an opportunity, while in Russia an architect is an analyst and a surgeon who is forced to educate a client, resist his greed and protect the interests of the city from his predatory requests."
Skuratov also touched upon another topic that is painful for all designers: Russian developers do not treat buildings that they build as works of authorship. Not only can any deviations be made from the project in the course of implementation, so also no one, except the architects themselves, is concerned about how the buildings are operated after occupancy by tenants or tenants, and the latter can "tune" the facades as they want, glass loggias, hanging openings with advertisements, etc. As a very bitter example, the architect cited his Barkley Plaza complex, which was never completed. Sergei Skuratov's speech drew unanimous applause, but, unfortunately, Leonid Kazinets had already left the round table by that time, so fair claims and questions of the author of the project remained without the developer's comments.
The discussion was summed up by its host, architecture critic Nikolai Malinin, who admitted that such discussions usually do not end with anything, but this does not mean that the problem should be hushed up. On the contrary, the desire of the organizers to give the floor to both foreign and Russian architects (and the round table was also attended by Yoo Development Director James Snelgar, Project Concept Development Director of the English architectural bureau Dyer Philip Ball, Mikhail Filippov and Sergey Tkachenko) inspires hope that that colleagues from different countries are really able to find a common language. Well, now it remains to wait until this right will be recognized for them at the legislative level.
