The round table, organized by the Eshkolot project, was moderated by the architectural critic Maria Fadeeva and the philologist Semyon Parizhsky. The discussion was attended by architects Ilya Mukosey (architectural bureau PlanAr), Oleg Zhukov and Mikhail Skvortsov (bureau MANIPULAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE), Alexander Kuptsov (Architects Gikalo Kuptsov), Stepan Lipgart (Children of Iofan), Sergei Korsakov (Kartonia »), Levon Airapetov and Valeria Preobrazhenskaya (TOTEMENT / PAPER), as well as Professor of the Moscow Architectural Institute Anna Bronovitskaya.
The discussion on temporary structures was timed to coincide with the traditional Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which marks the end of the harvest and is celebrated in mid-October with a meal in a light hut (“sukkah”) specially built for this day. And since the discussion at Strelka took place right on the eve of the holiday, the conversation first turned to the sukkah, and only then switched to their modern counterparts - all kinds of stalls, newsstands, bus stops, capsule hotels and other imperishable structures.
According to Semyon Parizsky, the main rule for erecting a sukkah is: its roof should protect a person from the sun and at the same time not obscure the sky for him. That is, it is not just a hut, but a structure with a deep metaphysical meaning - covering a person, it does not deprive him of freedom, does not limit his communication with the Almighty. And hence the quite natural question: is there something metaphysical in the modern works of small architecture that surround us at every step? Can they, in principle, claim the title of works - architecture, art, etc.? The participants in the discussion came to a unanimous conclusion: the sukkah as an architectural expression of “ceremonial homelessness” turned out to be surprisingly consonant with the realities of a modern metropolis, whose population is extremely mobile and needs not only “stationary” buildings, but also all kinds of small, easily changeable volumes.
According to the architect Ilya Mukosey, temporary structures not only lie in wait for the viewer at every step - shells, beer and newspaper stalls - they are the true face of a big city, eloquently testifying to belonging to the modern era. And due to the fact that the life cycle of such structures is incredibly short, they become very convenient material for public discussions and an ideal field for testing new ideas. Sergey Korsakov, author of the Kartonia project, claims that working with temporary structures allows a young architect to liberate his imagination and look for new methods of work, and find unexpected architectural solutions.
Alexander Kuptsov and Anna Bronovitskaya drew the audience's attention to the fact that many forms of temporary architecture entered the history of architecture along with monumental complexes - these are stalls and pavilions (Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow), and information stands (Potsdamer Platz in Berlin), and temporary accommodation (slipbox, capsule hotel). Stepan Lipgart, in turn, using the example of the pavilions of the USSR and Germany at the World Exhibition in Paris, demonstrated how important the role of temporary architecture can play in politics, how the line is thin between the temporary and the permanent. The participants in the discussion also remembered that often what is created for several years remains standing for decades and becomes a symbol of generations - famous summer cinemas, an indispensable attribute of Moscow in the 1950s, soda machines, Rospechat kiosks and transparent bus stops, which are already a sign of our time.
According to Levon Airapetov, temporary architecture ideally helps to solve local problems and embody a “short thought”. But at the same time, she calls the architect to responsibility: fast does not mean bad, and if you do not know how to work well with a small form, entrust it to the designer and constructor. Mikhail Skvortsov agreed with this: in his opinion, “conceived temporality” looks more natural than spontaneous or accidental.
Summing up the results of the round table, Ilya Mukosey emphasized that an architect should be guided by the needs of the public in his work, but not be led by its tastes. Temporary architecture even a modern metropolis has the opportunity to receive the most unexpected additions to the canonical appearance and this, as they say, is not a sin not to take advantage of.
