Like all similar publications of previous years, Quality Architecture 2012 is notable for its democratic character - both beginners and venerable architects can offer their works for publication, and the objects selected by a special commission are not ranked in any way, following each other in alphabetical order. Likewise, without pathos and regalia, at the presentation itself there is also the awarding of "Golden trowels" and diplomas. The ceremony was opened by the head of the publishing house and the main organizer of the holiday, Larisa Malivanova. Noting the main achievements, she spoke about the long-term plans of the publishing house: “In parallel with the“High-quality architecture”, the editors began work on the“Green Project”catalog. We hope that green innovative projects will one day find themselves on the pages of Quality Architecture as implemented projects."
Such famous Moscow architects as Alexander Asadov, Viktor Logvinov, Vladimir Plotkin, Alexander Skokan and Sergey Skuratov were responsible for the selection of buildings this year. In total, the collection includes 24 completed projects of residential and public buildings (of which 3 are reconstructions), 9 interiors and 10 country houses of 32 architects. Many of the awardees noted with sadness that this is quite small, especially when compared with the pre-crisis years. Alexander Asadov, for example, who himself received two Golden Trowels (for the Moscow hotel and business center in Astana and the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology), shared his concerns with the public: “Now is the time when we are only we finish building, and then, probably, there will be some kind of failure. Therefore, we presented two objects at the same time - in the end, so to speak."
The SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov workshop also received two Golden Trowels. One award was given to
an office building on Leninsky Prospekt, the second is the residential complex "Granatny, 6". Receiving awards, the architect Sergei Kuznetsov expressed his wish: “I would like our customers to attend these events, and not only we meet in our architectural circle”.
Pavel Andreev, who received the Golden Trowel for the underground concert and rehearsal hall of the Bolshoi Theater, spoke out more harshly: “I really want our professional life, which is gradually ending with the efforts of the city leadership, to be supported by you (the publishers of the collection - editor's note). So that everyone has the opportunity to rejoice in our victories, large and small. In the meantime, there is a bleak tendency - at first we designed large ground structures, then there was Manezh - a one-storey building in the city center, and now we are building underground facilities”.
However, not everyone is discouraged. For example, the architects of the Manipulazione Internazionale bureau, who were awarded for the project of the barn in Nikolo-Lenivets and the interior of the country house, gave positive advice: “Suppose you think that the bottom is already underneath. Don't think! In fact, there will be a hatch, and from under it you will be knocked. It seems like we did it with our barn. Be creative and don’t worry that there will be no work: there will always be enough work for architects”.
Alexander Skokan also looks at the situation constructively. In recent years, the Ostozhenka bureau, which designs in the center of Moscow less and less, has nevertheless completed construction
office center in Butikovsky lane. The “Golden Trowel” was awarded to this object for the masterly exit from the stylistic framework, found by the architects: in order to somehow diversify the ubiquitous structural glazing, they put on the glass parallelepipeds of the volume a lattice of terracotta lamellas providing sun protection.
Another hero of Quality Architecture 2012 is the architect Andrei Chernikhov, who built a secondary school in Novokurkino, the design of which is dominated by positive bright colors. S. Kulish and V. Lipatov offered an equally iridescent cladding for adult consumers - for the Cinema and TV complex of the Glavkino group of companies, built in the village of Ilyinskoye, Krasnogorsk District.
In addition to the overall reduction in the number of buildings, Quality Architecture 2012 revealed another important trend - among the published objects there are more and more those that were built over five or even ten years. For instance,
the multifunctional shopping center in Veshnyaki (PTAM by Y. Vissarionova) was projected in 2003, and was completed only last year. As the workshop's architect Konstantin Savkin said at the ceremony: “We had to endure while the builders cope with the task. But it is a time-tested architecture."
Another protracted construction is the Moscow Planetarium, which has been under reconstruction for 16 years. Project manager Alexander Anisimov modestly remarked: "I am grateful that someone noticed our work." I shouldn't have noticed that a whole generation grew up without a planetarium!
Well, the most "bearded" long-term construction is the section of the Moscow metro from the Chkalovskaya station to the Maryina Roshcha station. Nikolay Shumakov, the chief architect of Metrogiprotrans, very eloquently described the 25-year period: “When we started this project, I was still small, red-haired and curly-haired - can you imagine what life did to us. But, despite this, the architecture did not become less qualitative."
Leafing through the yearbook, you notice that the capital's architecture no longer has advantages over the architecture of other cities, due to personnel and the presence of large investors. Among the regional buildings there are enough objects that are not inferior to the capital's competitors. For example, this year's collection includes such memorable objects as the educational block of the Baikal University of Economics and Law (PTAM "Studio 7", Irkutsk), the cultural and entertainment center "Gorka-Hall" (architectural bureau DK, Yaroslavl), a residential building in Anapa ("PSF" Eriel ") and a low-rise residential complex in St. Petersburg (" PPF "A. Len").
This year, Quality Architecture has been released for the ninth time. And on the eve of the anniversary, the publishing house "ARD-Center" intends to present the entire collection of modern Russian architecture collected over 10 years. An open discussion of the format of this presentation will take place shortly.
