According to the competition assignment, the new Federal Center should be located in the annexed southwestern territories. The Kommunarka zone was proposed as a design site. However, not all teams chose this path, proposing a wide variety of options for the distribution of ministries on the territory of "old" and "new" Moscow.
The OMA team kicked off with a press review of recent months. The media revealed opposing views on the problem of the removal of government functions from the capital. The geography of the proposed resettlement is very wide - from the Moscow region to Siberia. On this issue, perhaps, only the lazy one did not speak. At the same time, Dutch architects complained that the President of the Russian Federation is still silent. Perhaps the lack of an official position influenced the slightly ironic nature of the presentation of the OMA team. They proposed to relocate all officials to the picturesque countryside, where government buildings will appear surrounded by forests, fields and cattle.
Skolkovo is aptly adjacent to the new parliament. It is planned to locate university campuses nearby, including the largest universities in the country: Moscow State University, Moscow State Technical University, and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The architects stressed that it is not the fact of the move itself that is important, but the reduction of the power distance.
The vacated administrative buildings, according to the proposed concept, should acquire new functions in order to serve the city. For example, to convert the Kremlin buildings into a museum complex like the Hermitage.
The concept of the FSBI "TsNIIP Urban Development" provides for development programs for both the region and the city center. In the region, according to the designers, it is necessary to create a forest park protective belt. The city, on the other hand, should receive development in different directions - this is linear development, and the development of spaces along the river, and the connection between airports. But besides this, it is necessary to improve the image of the city, thereby increasing its investment attractiveness.
The proposed concept outlines two main points of dislocation of state power: Kommunarka and industrial zones along the Moskva River - the territory of ZiL and Magistralny Streets. Moreover, it is the post-industrial spaces that have absolute priority.
As for Kommunarka, this territory does not seem to the designers to be in any way justified. Nevertheless, while remaining within the framework of the competition project, the authors designed some of the government agencies in this area as well. The development of the Federal Center is supported by the placement of large and significant facilities along the Central Ring Road.
The company Antoine Grumbach et Associes, whose work following the results of the previous reporting seminar was called the most thorough and large-scale by experts, this time was even more surprised by the level of elaboration and detail. The authors elaborated on how administrative functions should be dispersed, moving from the center to the periphery.
The starting point is the territory of three stations, where, rationally using the area, several ministries can be located at once - for example, Transport and Postal.
On the territory of the Kremlin, the architects propose to preserve the courtyard of the Ministries, while on the periphery, only the back office should be moved. The embankments along the walls of the Kremlin should become a walking, park area. And traffic flows, according to the project, will be directed underground - into a tunnel.
The next stop is City, where customs and energy are supposed to be located. The Ministry of Education is predictably moving to the University area. Logistics centers are located at the Kaluzhskaya station. In the area of the Moscow Ring Road, in the zone of the New Moscow Gate, the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office will occupy reliable positions.
In the annexed territories, the architects identified 4 promising areas: Kommunarka, Desna, Troitsk and Chirikovo, where the Ministries of Industry, Health, Agriculture, etc.
Andrey Chernikhov in his report outlined the general line of development of the Federal Center: Kremlin - White House - City - Parliamentary Center in Kommunarka. According to the architect, the government function cannot be completely removed from Moscow.
The existing development of Kommunarka is an example of a rather poor quality environment, which can only be transformed and adapted to create a full-fledged Government Center only by incredible efforts. There is also a serious transport problem, because only one highway is suitable here, and that one is at a considerable distance. Therefore, today it is possible to place only a certain part of the Ministries in Kommunarka.
An important part of the presented concept is the now fading City. It is here, according to the authors, that the power structures should be concentrated.
But, proposing solutions to the problems of new territories, Andrei Chernikhov emphasized that the main task should remain the development of the city within the Moscow Ring Road.
Italian architects from Studio Associato Secchi-Vigano strictly adhere to their original planning concept, based on a square grid, designated by A. Vysokovsky as space.
Based on a detailed analysis of transport accessibility for the development of the Government Center, several potential sites have been selected - Peredelkino, Annino, Moskovsky and all the same Kommunarka. The latter, according to the speakers, loses much to the rest in terms of the provision of transport. Therefore, all the designers' attention was focused on the Moskovsky settlement. And this is despite the fact that the largest city dump and cemetery are located there.
The spatial environment of Moscow is a depressing picture, and only a project of national importance could revive these degraded territories. It is proposed to reclassify the landfill, establish a public transport network. In addition to government buildings, it is planned to build housing and large-scale landscaping. For example, it is proposed to turn public spaces into covered walkways with a comfortable microclimate at any time of the year.
Architects Urban Design Associates believe that it is necessary to evict power structures from the Kremlin only partially. Their planning concept boils down to the construction of administrative and residential buildings around artificial reservoirs in the southwestern sector. To do this, it is necessary to establish a water resource management system, improve water bodies, and build dams. As a result, additional lakes will appear around which the Government Center and the city will be able to develop. The architects admitted that they were inspired by the landscapes of Russian artists, in particular, by the paintings of Levitan.
Taking a deep insight into history, the speakers showed the public the most famous parliamentary buildings - from the Roman Capitol to the British Parliament. On the basis of this, it was concluded that both in architecture and in the location of such a significant object, first of all, national identification is important.
Architectural studio "Ostozhenka" proposed the softest of all the proposed planning solutions - without radical interventions.
Alexander Skokan said that the historical frame of Moscow streets has a pronounced centripetal structure. The river, crossing the city across, is able to relieve the load on the central core. The project has identified 15 promising areas along the Moskva River, where the main points are City and ZiL.
Krasnopresnenskaya embankment could become the territory for the development of the Federal Center. After the removal of the Expocentre located here, which consists of low-quality and mostly temporary buildings, space will be freed up for the construction of a large Financial Center. Continuing movement along the embankments of the Moskva River, Alexander Skokan proposed to free the Shelepikhinskaya embankment for the development of the City.
As for the Parliamentary Center, Ostozhenka basically leaves it within the old borders of Moscow, and not anywhere, but on the site of the former Rossiya hotel. Zaryadye is a colossal free territory in the center of the capital, capable of communicating importance, centrality, openness and democracy to government institutions.
The unpredictability of the future of the Russian capital and differing forecasts regarding the growth or decline of the population forced the French architects from L'AUK to develop an open project that can be adapted to various scenarios of Moscow's development.
Among the primary tasks, it is noted that the problems of housing shortages and, of course, transport congestion are eliminated. Moreover, the emphasis is on the cost-effectiveness of solutions due to the maximum use of the existing infrastructure.
The city development program is built in three directions: inside (IN), i.e. in the historical center, outside (EX) - in the south-west, and somewhere in between (IN / EX) - I mean the project of the so-called "Parallel Moscow". It is a linear city designed between two airports. Many hubs are strung on the line drawn between them. Among them is the Federal Center, located next to Kommunarka.
Ricardo Bofill, in his emotional speech, spoke about the need to create large specialized centers in the new territories of Moscow - financial, scientific, federal, etc., interconnected. Only a new downtown is able to provoke the development of the southwestern territories.
The removal of the Government Center here will stimulate the formation of a multifunctional city around it, including housing, offices, and trade. According to the plan of the designers, it should be a smart metropolis, integrated into nature.
Bofill's project has already partially worked out the architecture of the future Federal Center, combining historical and modern elements. The dominant feature of the composition is a skyscraper - as a symbol of the highest level of power.
Riccardo Bofill compares the new city he drew to a giant lobster that grabbed onto old Moscow with two powerful claws. There, within the historical boundaries, it is planned to form a high-quality and green urban environment, permeated by a dense network of large and small streets.
Having demonstrated the most diverse approaches to the development of the Moscow agglomeration, the participants in the competition, meanwhile, reached the finish line. Let us remind you that in the beginning of autumn the results of the marathon, which lasted more than six months, will be summed up.
