Positive Space Competition

Positive Space Competition
Positive Space Competition

Video: Positive Space Competition

Video: Positive Space Competition
Video: Principles of Design 1 | Positive & Negative Space, Concept vs Layout 2024, March
Anonim

During the six years that have passed since the demolition of the Rossiya Hotel, a vacant lot in the very center of the city has raised only one question among Muscovites: will the Kremlin close what will be built there, or spare it. Until recently, any city dweller knew 100%: every site in the city center is temporarily empty - until an investor and developer is found. And on January 20, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a quiet revolution in the urban lifestyle, suggesting that Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, instead of building, for example, the Parliamentary Center, consider creating a park zone on the site of the demolished Rossiya Hotel. The mayor did not object. However, for the sake of fairness, we note that in fact the idea of breaking up a new park in the center has been in the air since the demolition of the Moskva Hotel on Teatralnaya Square. But the owner's money was involved, and the chance to give the area to the forests and the people was not even zero, but with a minus sign. With "Russia" the story is different - the site belongs to the city and, in general, with his own hand he can do whatever he wants.

Moskomarkhitektura reacted almost instantly and on February 1 held a briefing at which it announced the start of an open creative competition for the development of a concept for the development of public space on the territory of the former hotel "Russia". The Great Hall of the Architectural Council could hardly accommodate everyone who wanted to know about the conditions of the competition.

The conditions of participation in the competition, which will last from February 1 to March 15, were told by the permanent owner of the Moskomarkhitektura, the chief architect of Moscow, Alexander Kuzmin, who immediately emphasized that the competition was creative. In other words, the participants are encouraged to develop creatively by thinking and coming up with the concept of not just a "park", but a public space attractive to citizens at any time of the year. Perhaps, a concert hall will appear on the territory - a kind of reminder of the glory of the Rossiya concert hall. But, according to the chief architect, this is not an obligatory element: whether it is needed there, the participants of the competition will have to decide first, then the jury, which will be formed within the next two weeks, and then the public - an exhibition of the works submitted to the competition will be held in March … And in order to prevent the participants from being pressed by the "burden of the past", on the tablets the entire 12-hectare territory is painted over with an even soft green color. Of the required elements, only the 15th century Church of the Conception of St. Anne is indicated on the plan. (The materials required by the participants, including the application form for the competition works, the historical panorama of Zaryadye, plans and layouts of the area, are posted on the website of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction). According to the results of the competition, all participants will be awarded with diplomas, and the laureates, in addition to diplomas, will also receive the right to become an expert in the development of this territory. Whom the city will choose will, alas, be decided by a separate competition held in accordance with Federal Law 94.

The idea of creating a public space next to the Kremlin found the most enthusiastic support from other architectural officials. Thus, the president of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAASN) Alexander Kudryavtsev spoke in favor of participation in an open competition of not only Russian, but also foreign designers: the participation of "Varangians", in his opinion, will give a fresh look at the possibilities of developing this territory. Andrei Bokov, President of the Union of Architects of Russia, called the competition a challenge, which will show the world "that we are capable of providing witty solutions."According to the President of the SAR, the decision to create a park is quite in line with the global trend: now in many megacities of the world new parks appear, a "positive public space" is being created. However, according to the architect, it is more difficult to make a popular public area in Moscow than in many other places - the main problem is the climate, which does not allow the use of parks for almost 7 months a year, although in general the task is to design a public space that would be attractive all year round, of course., is solvable. For example, the site for holding rock concerts, which are now taking place near the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, could be moved here and negatively affect, according to experts, the state of the architectural monument.

However, the conditions of the competition also caused dissatisfaction. Thus, the coordinator of the Arkhnadzor movement Natalya Samover believes that the decision to hold the competition is hasty, and the results will be “deliberately unfair.” The main complaints of the Arkhnadzor coordinator are that the participants do not have enough information about the geology of the place and about the peculiarities of the underground part, which remained after the demolition of the hotel. According to Natalia Samover, the Rossiya hotel was built as a strategic object, and the participants do not know what is hidden in its foundations, which means that it is impossible to understand what can and cannot be placed on the territory., the representative of the State Historical Museum also spoke about the need to use the underground space, who asked to provide exhibition halls in the underground part, which are necessary for expanding the museum exposition.

Whether a full-fledged park is destined to be born from the prime minister's word is a question of questions. But be that as it may, the wind of change is pleasant for the townspeople: the chief architect of the city promised to reduce the fenced area by spring. The vacated space will be put in order, the Church of St. Anne will open to parishioners. Only in the city budget of which year funds will be allocated for the equipment of the park - a topic that no one has yet undertaken to discuss. If an investor is attracted for the development of the territory, the result may turn out to be completely unpredictable.

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