In the long term, we are talking about the reconstruction of the entire historical center of St. Petersburg - the city authorities have set aside 30 years for the implementation of this ambitious urban planning and economic plan. The first phase of the project, calculated for 2013-2018, provides for the renovation of seven territories - "Admiralteyskaya part", "Yuzhnaya Kolomna", "Foundry part", "Vladimirskaya", "Five corners", "Konyushennaya" and "Northern Kolomna - New Holland”, However, only the last two have become the subject of the competition. This competition is a kind of trial balloon: for now, the city administration is not so much choosing specific reconstruction projects as it wants to decide on a strategy for the development of these territories. Therefore, the architects in their projects did not seek to determine the fate of each house and clearly define the types of their functional use - all works are rather methodological in nature, although each participant understands something of his own by the reconstruction methodology. As for Studio 44, this workshop has once again demonstrated the thoroughness of its approach, first of all, to the formulation of tasks and only then to their progressive and thoughtful solution.
The Konyushennaya and Severnaya Kolomna - New Holland sections are considered by Studio 44 as a single territory, although, at first glance, they are completely different. One is official, representative and boasts the highest concentration of historical and cultural monuments (here are grand ducal residences, and the world's largest museums, and ceremonial public spaces with Palace Square at the head), the second is noticeably simpler and more informal, but it has many chamber, really nice places and buildings. “If the space of the historical center of St. Petersburg is represented in the form of weights, the position of the virtual axis of which coincides with the Admiralty needle, then these territories form an ideal balance on them,” comments Nikita Yavein with his characteristic passion for deep philosophical metaphors. “Therefore, we consider the areas in their dialectical unity, believing that only a combination of meaningful actions on them will give the desired effect.”
First of all, the architects carried out a kind of inventory of the historical and cultural baggage of the territories - it was important for them to understand which "points of growth" are already working for the city, which are not fully involved, and which are completely abandoned. The main conclusion of "Studio 44" can be formulated as follows: "Konyushennaya" and "Northern Kolomna - New Holland" are territories where all the best that is in the northern capital is concentrated. Several completely different Petersburgs intersect here. It is a multi-confessional city, an imperial capital, a center of revolutionary struggle, a storehouse of theaters and concert halls, and, of course, a hail of bridges and unique granite embankments. In the block №100, limited by Millionnaya street, Aptekarsky lane. and nab. R. Sinks, as in the palm of your hand, are concentrated the main types of buildings of old Petersburg: palaces, mansions and tenement houses here closely coexist with barracks and shopping malls, giving a comprehensive picture of the life of the capital of the 18th - early 20th centuries. And, for example, the section along the Moika embankment and the adjacent part of Nevsky Prospect is inextricably linked with the Golden Age of Russian poetry - the events of the life and work of Alexander Pushkin, while in the area of Galernaya and Kolomna you can clearly hear the echo of the Silver Age - almost a decade and a half of life and work have passed here Alexander Blok.
In other words, there are an abundance of cultural anchors here, and they are all worthy not only of the attention of tourists, but also of investments of a very different scale. The problem is that today these attractions are not provided with either comfortable pedestrian connections or a well-thought-out system of information signs and signs. “Fragments of the civilized environment, even in the very center of St. Petersburg, are discrete and in fact emerge spontaneously,” says Nikita Yavein. - On the one hand, very ambitious projects are being implemented here, but on the other, all work is being done only on the front side. The other side of the neighborhoods is still in stark contrast to their prestigious "crust". According to the architect, the city really lacks "depth of service", and this is what the Studio 44 project is intended to set. And since, according to the architects, even the most prosperous city budget is not able to cope with the program of modernization of dilapidated housing stock alone, the project is designed mainly for public-private partnerships.
The basis of the system of public spaces being formed, as conceived by Studio 44, should be the main pedestrian artery - a lane with an axis along Millionnaya and Galernaya streets, running through the city center from Fontanka to the water area of the Gulf of Finland. Its length is approximately two versts, which Studio 44 conventionally called "Golden" and "Silver" (not otherwise, as Pushkin and Blok inspired the authors). On this axis, pedestrian traffic is organized, which will help to make it continuous with three new crossings (underground or with traffic lights) - across Nevsky Prospekt near Palace Bridge, on Senate Square and on Sq. Labor. Pedestrian traffic along the Golden and Silver Versts is planned to be duplicated by the movement of water transport along the Neva River and lanes for movement on bicycles and electric vehicles. The calculation of "Studio 44" is simple: the city will fully finance this stage of the project, and its implementation will serve as an impetus for investment: new public spaces of streets will "branch off" from the main artery, which, in turn, will gradually "flow" into the neighborhoods and form the system " capillaries "chamber landscaped areas.
The project also provides specific examples of pilot public-private initiatives. So, the architects propose to open to the public the already mentioned quarter No. 100 (with the gradual formation of the Museum of Life of Old Petersburg here), to create a Museum of the Guard in the building of the Guards Corps, and to organize excursions in the Abamelek-Lazarev mansion (today it is occupied by the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports) … The network of new cultural centers is simply obliged to support infrastructure facilities - the authors suggest placing art galleries, cafes and shops on the ground floors of residential buildings. The round market on the Moika seems to them to be suitable for creating a colorful fish market, and the former Konyushennoye department is suitable for placing a hotel with a shopping and entertainment center. “In addition, the new center of gravity along the M. Konyushennaya axis will create a public piazzet inside the Konyushenny yard and develop a whole system of pedestrian connections between B. Konyushennaya and the Moika embankment,” explains Nikita Yavein.
All of the above projects relate to the Golden Verst, designed, rather, for a respectable tourist. The theme of the Silver Verst will balance it, extinguishing the pathos of an expensive imperial city and offering entertainment that is more youthful and informal. This is the Center for Contemporary Culture in New Holland, and the complex of stage venues GAMT, and the University of Physical Culture, Sports and Health. PF Lesgaft. Next to the latter, the architects propose to set up a public park, which will become part of a new route linking all the interesting objects of the area.
The final stage of the project provides for an even deeper "shunting" of the urban tissue - it is no coincidence that these transformations themselves are called "prominences" by the architects. Nikita Yavein cites the Chocolate Museum at the Samoilova Confectionery or the creation of a restaurant and observation deck on the Admiralty Tower as possible examples. However, of course, the architects do not propose to evict the General Staff of the Navy from the Admiralty right tomorrow - rather, they are interested in a broad public discussion about the possibility of multi-purpose use of the objects of the historical center of St. Petersburg, including the most canonical ones. Indeed, it is precisely this multifunctionality that is the key to the successful revival of the center of St. Petersburg in modern economic realities.
