The authorities of the North-Eastern District of Moscow have announced a creative competition for projects for the reconstruction of the All-Russian Exhibition Center among young people. Contestants are invited to create an industrial zone, a business center, an entertainment or natural park on the territory of the All-Russian Exhibition Center. As a result of the competition, the 15 best projects will be presented to the commission, which will include members of the Moscow government and the administration of the All-Russian Exhibition Center, and the winner will demonstrate his decision to the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin. Financial incentives are not provided for the participants. Meanwhile, the VVC investors already have a project for the reconstruction of the exhibition - it is planned to create an exhibition center with a hotel there, while demolition of some of the old buildings is planned. Natalya Samover, the coordinator of the Arkhnadzor public movement, believes that the new "competition is intended only to legitimize an already decided project."
The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has announced a competition for the restoration of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The maximum contract price will be about 150 million rubles. The results of the competition will be announced on June 14, and the deadline for the completion of the restoration work is November 12, 2012, so less than six months are left for the actual restoration. Another competition is held by the St. Petersburg authorities for the development of concepts for the development of two blocks within the boundaries of the historical center - "Konyushennaya" and "Northern Kolomna - New Holland". Write about this "RIA Novosti". The summing up is scheduled for September 12, the best projects are promised to be taken into account in the preparation of the target program "Preservation of the historical center of St. Petersburg for 2013-2018". Something has recently become a lot of competitions, the work of the winners of which "promise to take into account" - and nothing more.
In St. Petersburg, a short list of companies has been determined that will apply for the design of the main museum storage of the Leningrad Region - a multifunctional inter-museum center. Five out of 20 applications were selected: the Russian workshops LenNIIproekt and Suar. T-project, as well as the Greek Sibraxis, the Italian Planarch and the British Ovearub. The construction of the MMC will begin in 2016 in the Vsevolozhsk district in the area of the Priyutino estate. In addition to the museum storage, it will house restoration workshops, exhibition halls and an educational center.
Almost 200 applications from 33 countries of the world have been submitted for participation in the international architectural competition for the development of the concept for the development of the Mnevnikovskaya floodplain in Moscow. The acceptance of projects continues, on May 21 it is planned to open an exposition of works in the House on Brestskaya in Moscow, and in early June 2012 - to sum up the results of the competition. The prize fund is 3.5 million rubles. The city authorities want to create an infrastructure for recreation and sports in the Mnevnikovskaya floodplain, but above all, to preserve the natural diversity of the park in the north-west of Moscow.
On May 11, the deputies of the Yaroslavl Regional Duma spoke in favor of preserving small Russian cities. In this they supported the Union of Small Towns of Russia, which had previously opposed the program for the accelerated closure of small and medium-sized cities, put forward by the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Elvira Nabiullina (this program, frankly, is monstrous and has already been mentioned, see, for example). The Union of Small Towns said that the destruction of small towns, in which 35 million people now live, means a real threat to the national security of the country and contributes to the development of interregional contradictions.
During this short working week, special attention was paid to the plans for the improvement of Moscow. So, in the capital, gardens on the roofs, alpine slides and hedges will soon appear, the Izvestia newspaper says - primarily in the city center. Until the end of summer, greenery will appear on several rooftops in the Central Administrative District. Thus, the city authorities want to increase the area of green spaces in the most urbanized part of the capital. All in all, the roof gardens will occupy an area of 2 thousand square meters. m. Their creation will cost the capital's budget 20 million rubles. Meanwhile, ecologists note that in our northern climate, unconventional gardening will cost the budget ten times more than the competent maintenance of existing parks, squares, boulevards and lawns.
But the Moscow authorities do not forget about the parks either. Yesterday Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that in 2012 more than 50 parks should be reconstructed in different districts of the capital. In addition to children's and sports grounds, city parks will now create conditions for sports - parkour grounds, rope and skate parks, as well as treadmills and sports equipment rentals. In the parks Severnoye Tushino, Fili and Sokolniki, beach recreation areas will be organized. Summer theaters will open in Sokolniki, Izmailo, Muzeon, the Hermitage and Gorky Park. In total, 9.6 billion rubles were allocated for the improvement of parks and estates in 2012. In total, this year, according to the Department of Natural Resources, about 23.2 billion rubles will be spent on environmental protection.
"Rossiyskaya Gazeta" writes about the plans for the development of Moscow cycling routes. By the end of 2012, 84 km of bicycle roads may appear in the capital. Today there are only 26 km of them. Thus, in the north-west of Moscow, cyclists will be able to ride from Kurkino to the Skhodnenskaya and Planernaya metro stations, and from South Tushino to Serebryany Bor. In the south, a cycle track will be laid through the Bitsevsky forest park to the Teply Stan metro station and to Academician Yangel Street. The longest cycle road will run from the Vostochny settlement outside the Moscow Ring Road through Izmailovo, Novogireevo, Kuzminki, Lyublino to Kapotnya. In the north of the city, the cycle route will "unite" the Korovinskoe highway, Dubninskaya street and Dmitrovskoe highway. In addition, cyclists will be able to ride around the entire Boulevard Ring, including Zamoskvorechye.
In Moscow, there should also be more individual lighting of buildings: the authorities decided that it should appear on all the main thoroughfares of the capital. Now there is special lighting on Novy Arbat, Tverskaya Street and Prospekt Mira. Thus, Novy Arbat is lit in high-tech style, and officials call the illumination of Tverskaya Street classic. In addition, different lighting is provided for weekdays, weekends and holidays.
On May 11, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region rejected the claim of the tenant company, which was trying to withdraw part of the territory of the Arkhangelskoye estate from the special regime of use, according to the newspaper Moskovskie Novosti. According to the protected status of the site, any construction is prohibited on it. The park's defenders say that the reclaimed plot is the most valuable - it adjoins the unique Gonzaga manor theater on three sides. In the future, the defenders of the estate intend to demand through the court the cancellation of all lease agreements on the territory of the monument. Public experts believe that the tenants' plans include building up a part of the Arkhangelskoye territory with cottages.
It may be necessary to adjust the plans for the construction of the Skolkovo innovation center in the Moscow region. This is due to the preservation of the monument of architecture and landscape gardening of the 19th century - the Mamonovo estate, located on the territory allocated for the development of the innovation city. Initially, it was planned to demolish the estate due to the emergency condition. But now, according to the act of the state historical and cultural expertise, the estate should be protected as an object of cultural heritage of regional significance. All work on the site will be stopped, and the estate will be restored and adapted to modern use.
The Architectural Bulletin magazine recalls the architect Oleg Dubrovsky (1963-2011). Among his most famous completed projects are the Patriarch House and the Egg House (created jointly with the architect Sergei Tkachenko) in Moscow. The article contains recollections of friends and colleagues of the architect. So, professor, president of RAASN Alexander Kudryavtsev reflects: “It's amazing that his projects - fairy tales, parables, and even sarcasms - have been realized. In cities there have always been eccentric buildings, to which the locals both laughingly and proudly brought their friends from other cities and countries. His house-barrels, Easter eggs - in general, intimate symbols of the Russian way of life - have firmly blended into the context of the historical development of Moscow."
Art critic Sergei Khachaturov in the Moscow News newspaper talks about an exhibition of old photographs in MuAre, dedicated to the main artery of Venice - the Grand Canal. According to the author, the main theme of the exhibition is illusion. Photos taken during the day, thanks to the use of dioramas and other devices fashionable at the end of the 19th century, are transformed into lunar night landscapes. And the high quality of the images creates the illusion of perfect penetration into the space of the frame. The main embodied illusion is Venice itself.
