On Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin introduced the Moscow government to the new chief architect of the capital and deputy head of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction - Sergei Kuznetsov and the head of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction - Andrey Antipov, RIA Novosti reports. It is planned that the Moskomarkhitektura will be responsible for all technical issues, such as the issuance of permits, approval of planning projects, and the chief architect will be involved in urban development of the capital, large projects and the formation of the city's image. In addition, the city authorities plan to create an architectural council under the chief architect, which will include representatives of the professional community. Prior to his appointment, 35-year-old Sergei Kuznetsov was a managing partner of the Speech Choban & Kuznetsov architectural association, among his projects: an office building on Leninsky Prospekt, the Aquatics Palace in Kazan, a number of Olympic facilities in Sochi and the development of urban planning documentation for the Skolkovo Innovation Center …
Sergey Kuznetsov, among the main tasks facing him in his new position, singles out: creating a system of fair competitions, solving the problem with long-term construction, finding a balance between old and new buildings in the city center, implementing projects on the territory of the ZIL, Krasny Oktyabr, Trekhgornaya Manufactory and a park in Zaryadye. “The task of the chief architect is to create conditions for good houses to be conveniently designed. I want really worthy and the best architects to design them, and I believe in the principle of competition. Competition is the fertile soil on which good architecture should grow,”he said in an interview with archi.ru. Sergei Kuznetsov believes that Moscow needs to develop “large, notable projects with a positive international response,” including competitions with the participation of foreign architects. However, he emphasizes that it is mainly Russian architects who should design in Moscow. In an interview with RIA Novosti, Sergei Kuznetsov said that there is an acute shortage of pedestrian and public spaces in Moscow. “And there is still a problem that can and should be solved - the quality of projects that are being implemented,” said the new chief architect. At the same time, he stressed that serious changes in the architectural appearance of Moscow will occur in about 20 years.
Most of Sergei Kuznetsov's colleagues in the architectural department reacted positively to the news of his appointment. “I believe that, on the one hand, Sergei has a very modern view of architecture and urban planning. On the other hand, he values the quality and durability of buildings very much. And thirdly, he has a European view of architecture,”architect Sergei Tchoban told Bolshoi Gorod magazine. The president of the ABD architects architectural bureau Boris Levyant focused on the division of the posts of the chief architect and the head of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction: “The possibilities of the chief architect's influence on the urban planning policy of the Moscow government have significantly diminished. In my opinion, such a configuration expresses the attitude of the city leadership towards the architectural community as a whole. Architect Sergei Skuratov believes that the professional community should have nominated itself for the post of chief architect in Moscow. Architect Boris Uborevich-Borovsky agrees with him: “We were not consulted, it was an independent decision of the city government. Of course, it is good that the city government chooses young, energetic and creative people, but this is a different case, the chief architect is not just a manager, he is an authority first of all”.
The sixth final workshop on the development of the Moscow metropolitan area took place on August 22-23. The architectural teams participating in the competition presented their ideas to the experts for the last time, including the location of the parliamentary center. Thus, the architect Andrey Chernikhov proposed to place the Federal Center with offices and rental housing on the territory of the Moscow City business center. It is also possible to build unrealized projects of Malevich, Ivan Leonidov and El Lissitzky there, the architect believes. Representatives of Grumbach's workshop and the Ostozhenka architectural bureau also believe that officials should remain in old Moscow. They name Zaryadye and the historical building of the Peter the Great Military Academy as possible sites. The architects of Ostozhenka opposed the placement of the Federal Center in Kommunarka, since in the 1930s there was a shooting range there. They proposed to create a memorial complex there in memory of the victims of political repression, the newspaper Izvestia writes. In addition, representatives of the bureau believe that a boulevard can be broken up on the site of the Kievsky railway station, and long-distance trains can be redirected to Belorussky railway station. Dutch architecture team OMA believes that several ministries could be located near Vnukovo airport. And the rest should be transferred to territories that already have a dominant function that coincides with the function of the department. For example, in Chertanovo, where a lot of migrants live, the team proposes to transfer the Ministry of Labor, and the Ministry of Finance to Rublevka. During the seminar, the French L'AUC team proposed to create in the "new" Moscow a "analogue of Hollywood" - Moscowllywood. According to the architects, it could house the center of the creative industry, as well as an amusement park and an artificial beach. According to the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development Policy and Construction Marat Khusnullin, all proposals formulated at the seminars will be analyzed by the Moscow government and will form the basis of the terms of reference for the master plan. And the competition for the master plan of the Moscow metropolitan area may be announced this year.
This week the public movement "Arkhnadzor" disseminated information about the appearance of cracks in the architectural monument, Melnikov's house. Experts associate their appearance with the work being carried out at the construction site, where Melgunov's house was destroyed in early August, and where it is planned to build a multifunctional complex. The section on the architectural heritage of the Soviet period of the Federal Scientific and Methodological Council under the Ministry of Culture (FNMS) concluded that if construction work continues, the Melnikov house may not stand up. FNMS together with "Arkhnadzor" sent a letter to the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, the Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin, the head of the Moscow City Heritage Site Alexander Kibovsky and the head of the Moscow Architecture Committee Andrey Antipov with a request to save the famous monument of the avant-garde.
The St. Petersburg authorities have issued a permit for the construction of the 463-meter Gazprom skyscraper Lakhta Center in the Primorsky District. The permit was issued on the basis of the received positive conclusion of Glavgosexpertiza, the newspaper Kommersant writes. Construction is scheduled to begin before the end of this year. The official representative of Russia to UNESCO in France, Victoria Kalinina, said that the construction of the Lakhta Center could lead to the exclusion of St. Petersburg from the list of World Heritage Sites. She added that this is an extreme measure, but if the skyscraper disturbs the historical panorama, then UNESCO may reduce the area of the city, which is considered a World Heritage Site. Deputies and city rights activists wrote an open letter to the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko and the city's prosecutor Sergei Litvinenko with a request to prevent the construction. They also plan to contact the president and UNESCO. Meanwhile, Russia's Permanent Representative to UNESCO and Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Eleonora Mitrofanova, told Interfax that the international organization does not regulate the construction of the Lakhta Center, since it will be built very far from the World Heritage Site. “Therefore, the authorities can quite calmly resolve this issue without UNESCO,” she said. And there are no grounds for excluding St. Petersburg from the World Heritage List, Mitrofanova added. At present, UNESCO representatives are awaiting a conclusion from the city authorities on the potential impact of the Lakhta Center on the perception of cultural heritage sites.
