Architect Evgeny Ass opens the Moscow School of Architecture (MARSH), which will teach architecture, and in the future, possibly also urbanism, management and landscape design. The new school was created in partnership with London Metropolitan University, the diploma of which students will receive. Leading Moscow architects are involved in teaching in the two-year master's program: Sergey Skuratov, Vladimir Plotkin, Nikita Tokarev, Narine Tyutcheva, Oscar Mamleev and others. The rector of the school, Evgeny Ass, is confident that MARSH will help to compensate for the gaps that exist today in Russian architectural education. The main difference from MArchI will be an in-depth analytical approach. “The fundamental goal of our program is to educate thinking architects,” says Evgeniy Ass. The first school enrollment will begin in June. Tuition will be paid, with teaching in two languages (Russian and English).
Moscow's chief architect Alexander Kuzmin will soon leave his post, Moskovskie Novosti claims, citing sources in the mayor's office and the Moscow City Duma. Most likely, the vacant place will be occupied by the current deputy of Kuzmin, Sergei Kostin, who until recently headed the state corporation Avtodor and lobbied for the construction of a high-speed highway through the Khimki forest. The fact that a person with no special education will be appointed to the post of chairman of a key architecture department has worried many architects. “Let's not talk about personalities, but even purely theoretically, a person working as the chief architect of Moscow must have experience in the urban planning industry and an architectural education,” said Maxim Perov, vice president of the Union of Architects of Russia. In turn, a member of the Public Chamber, an expert on urban development Vyacheslav Glazychev believes that the renewal of the leadership of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction will benefit the department. According to him, the style of work of the Moskomarkhitektura has discredited itself in recent years - Kuzmin's signature is under many odious decisions that have already been recognized as urban planning mistakes. However, the press secretary of the mayor of the capital on Friday evening officially denied rumors about the impending resignation of Alexander Kuzmin.
Architectural critic Grigory Revzin is disappointed with the competition for a concept for the development of the Zaryadye territory in Moscow. Of the 116 projects that passed the first stage, he cannot single out a single one and comes to the conclusion that modern Russian architects simply do not know what a park is, what people are doing there, and why it is needed at all. Whereas a real park, by the definition of a critic, is “a place where people walk among culturally planted plants,” so it would not be superfluous if the projects reflected what trees and plants will be planted there. But the worst thing about the competition is its organization, Revzin said. It was held without a program, for a very limited time and without winners. For a competition for the most important urban space, announced on behalf of the Prime Minister, this is unthinkable. Meanwhile, the Moscow authorities have extended for about two weeks the exhibition of projects for the development of the territory of Zaryadye in the "House on Brestskaya", according to "RIA Novosti".
The Moscow region decides the fate of the territory of Sergiev Posad and the Borodino field. In the ancient city of Radonezh near Sergiev Posad, illegal construction and quarrying cover an area of 315 hectares. 57 buildings have already been erected, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports, while the existing protective zones of Radonezh prohibit any development. A no less threatening situation has developed in the area of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. It is planned to build a 17-storey skyscraper right at its walls, and a cottage village may be located a couple of kilometers from the shrine. The Borodino military-historical museum-reserve is also trying to cope with the consequences of uncontrolled development. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, the authorities intend to restore the historical appearance of the famous field, where more than 100 residential buildings and various outbuildings were illegally erected a year ago, despite the fact that the reserve is classified as an object of historical and cultural heritage of federal significance.
In Moscow, the ArtPlay Design Center hosted an award ceremony for the laureates of the VII All-Russian competition in the field of contemporary visual art "Innovation", writes Openspace. The main nomination "Work of visual art" was won by the installation "Cistern" by the architect Alexander Brodsky, which was shown in the Collector gallery.
The main architectural event of this spring for the south of Russia was the X Anniversary Forum of Architects, held in Rostov-on-Don. Most of the diplomas (11) went to architects from Sochi, including the first degree diplomas in the nomination “Religious buildings. Buildings "for the implementation of the project of the chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called in the village of Tbilisskaya and in the nomination" The best work in the field of landscape architecture. Projects "for the project of reconstruction of Primorskaya Street in Sochi.
And in St. Petersburg, a list of dilapidated and dilapidated buildings has been compiled, in which parking lots may be located. Among them: objects on the 4th and 9th lines of Vasilievsky Island, Bolshoy Prospekt Petrogradskaya Storona, Goncharnaya and Bolshaya Podyacheskaya streets, as well as near the shopping center "Varshavsky Express". But it remains unclear whether the St. Petersburg authorities will be able to find investors for this project, since on average, the cost of refurbishing one building will be from 5 to 12 million rubles, and a maximum of 100-150 cars will be able to park at the same time in a standard historic building.
This week the press is also actively discussing green building issues. Thus, the Expert magazine gives examples of “green” architecture in developed countries and writes that Green Building has long been the main trend in the construction market there. And in Russia, the fashion for ecological construction has come only now, i.e. with a lag of 40 years. The author believes that it is expedient for Russia to form its own national concept for the development of "green" construction, as was done in China. This concept should take into account not only the climate, but also the peculiarities of the Russian construction and real estate market. Another article by "Expert" is devoted to residential eco-houses in Russia, built last year. Most of them were built in the Moscow region. In the Green Balance project in Nazariev, energy efficiency was achieved by insulating the outer walls, foundation and roof. And the first cottage in Russia using the "passive house" technology in Butovo Natural Balance of the "Mosstroy-31" company is not only insulated, but also uses the energy of the earth and converts electrical energy into heat. Another example of an autonomous energy-efficient building made of straw blocks is demonstrated by the eco-builder, physicist Yevgeny Shirokov. He built his house, generating electricity and heat, near Minsk four years ago.
At the end of the review - about the Do It Yourself marathon, which starts in Moscow on April 14 and will give the townspeople the opportunity to do something useful for the capital, for example, clean up the parks, improve the kindergarten, hand over the waste paper. The main event of the marathon will be the Make Summit at the Flacon design plant, within which a number of experts will tell you about how to make the city better. Among the speakers announced, in particular, the Finnish specialist in urban landscaping Joel Rosenberg.
