This year the jury of the youth competition of the CMA considered 30 works shown at the exhibition in the large lobby of the Central House of Artists. A third of them were portfolios submitted directly to the Perspectives competition, and another two-thirds were made up of clauses made by the participants of the Architecture and Nature forum on the theme of Big Moscow. The task of the jury, therefore, turned out to be difficult: it is more than difficult to choose from portfolios, which, by definition, should reflect both the credo and the author's life path - and with a clause, a project made on a given topic in a short time, is more than difficult. In addition, the theme of "Greater Moscow" is by definition very controversial, no matter who tackles it: the jury did not manage to find a single clause project that would appeal to all four of its members (and the projects were evaluated by Alexander Kuptsov, Nikolai Lyzlov, Alexander Skokan and Yaroslav Usov). So, three winners of the “Perspectives” 2012 were chosen from the main team - architects who submitted their works directly to the award competition. However, among them there were also projects dedicated to the "Big Moscow".
The position of the review competition means that in case of receipt of a "particularly interesting" work, its authors can be awarded the Grand Prix. Such work this year was the project "Moscow Waiting for Expansion", authors Mikhail Beilin and Daniil Nikishin, Citizens Group / CITIZENSTUDIO.
The architects displayed a sharply sarcastic approach. According to them, Moscow does not expand, but rises, it grows not in breadth, but upward - in proportion to the growth of ambitions, opportunities and well-being of its citizens. In other words, Moscow is a kind of staircase, the steps of which can be used to climb to the top of the world. The existing boundaries of the city are projectively raised, as a result, something like a mound or a mound is formed in its place. The authors draw parallels with the ziggurat, the Egyptian pyramid, and the Tower of Babel - significant and completely frightening images. But the most intense moment in the installation is not even the deformed outlines of the capital, but people lined up around the outline of old Moscow and silently contemplating the ongoing changes. The slogan of the project reads: "The people of the Moscow region froze in anticipation … Just about at their feet will be the steps of the ladder of happiness."
Taking part in the show for the first time, Ruben Arakelyan immediately received a laureate diploma for the project "Investigation of residential voids" The jury was bribed by the scientific basis of the project, as well as the spectacular, but restrained presentation in black and white. Ruben Arakelyan told the Archi.ru correspondent that the project was the result of a large-scale study of residential voids, carried out by him during his postgraduate studies at the Moscow Architectural Institute. The architect consistently studied the evolution of voids as part of the urban space from the time of the primitive communal system to the Middle Ages to the present day, as well as the factors influencing their formation. An analysis of the spatial characteristics of the living environment revealed a system of traditional and intangible values, which the author tried to apply to modern spatial planning principles. The region of Armenia was chosen as a conditional territorial reference - conditional in view of the fact that emptiness itself is universal and cannot be tied to a specific region.
Vladimir Garanin received a diploma for the project “Reconstruction of the Proletarskaya station”. The "Vibracells" project addresses the fate of the metro station, which has already lost part of its facing tiles during renovation work and flaunts peeling concrete sides. Garanin offers an alternative approach to reconstruction. Talking about his project, the architect builds complex associative rows - from the cracked earth as a result of vibrations generated by the movement of the train, to the collapse of the USSR, due to which "black holes" were formed in the development of modern Russia. The same niche holes are chaotically formed on faceted decorative panels that cover the station walls on both sides of the platform. Niches carry not only symbolic but also functional load, absorbing noise. For this purpose, it is proposed to use noise-absorbing materials.
Another know-how of the project is the trees planted directly on the platform. Copper panels with Soviet symbols become a reference to history.
The Grand Prix awarded this year was designed by Maria Ilyushina, winner of the Perspektiva logo competition held last year. This is a crystal cube with inscriptions - the organizers have already nicknamed him "the younger brother of the crystal Daedalus." Two other laureates will receive certificates, as well as such an award as the right to join the Union of Moscow Architects without going through an admission commission.
Participants of the Forum "Architecture and Nature" will be awarded with diplomas at Arch Moscow, adding prizes for the winners of Internet voting and prizes from the press.
