The topic of reorganization and transformation of Moscow industrial zones has been sounding more and more sharply lately, especially against the background of the active development of the project for the transformation of a giant industrial zone in the center of Moscow ZiL. It is clear that the Moscow Urban Forum could not ignore such a topical issue for the capital. On the second day of the forum, a separate session "Industrial zones in a post-industrial city" was devoted to him.
According to the data voiced by the session moderator Alexey Komissarov, the head of the Moscow Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, in Moscow today there are more than 200 industrial and production territories, which in total occupy an area of about 150 square kilometers. And this is a huge potential for the further development of the city. At the same time, the planned reorganization of these territories, for the most part not used for their intended purpose for a long time, or even completely abandoned, does not imply a complete withdrawal of production from Moscow. “The Government does not set such a task for itself,” Aleksey Komissarov stressed repeatedly during the discussion. Another thing is that industrial enterprises that remain in the city should acquire civilized features with an orientation towards innovative technologies and minimization of damage to the environment.
Many cities around the world, including Berlin, face the problem of including isolated and abandoned factory areas in the living urban fabric. Daniela Bram, artist and one of the founders of the non-profit organization "ExRotaprint" spoke about the project of reorganization of the factory for the production of printing presses "Rotaprint" in East Berlin, in the Wedding district. Factory buildings from the late 1950s were built according to the project of the architect Klaus Kirsten. Today the entire complex is recognized as an architectural monument.
After in the late 1980s. the enterprise went bankrupt, and the factory gradually began to fall into disrepair, artists and designers helped it to remain a significant object for the city, organizing creative workshops and local crafts here. Social institutions and small organizations appeared on the territory of the factory, attracted by affordable rent for premises. In the 2000s. The "ExRotaprint" project was launched, initiated by Daniela Bram and a group of artists and architects who advocated the need to preserve the factory in an unchanged historical appearance, preventing it from becoming an elite enclave inaccessible to the townspeople and residents of the poor Wedding area. As a result, the artists managed to create a new cultural space on their own, in which music and painting studios, schools and training centers, production workshops and exhibition galleries appeared. At the same time, the complex itself was able to save its face, and today, according to Daniela Bram, it works exclusively for the interests of residents.
Sergey Gordeev spoke about the successful transformation of the industrial territory in the conditions of Russian reality. Several years ago, acting as an investor in the project, he reconstructed the Alekseevs' factory - a 19th century building located on Stanislavsky Street. Initially, it was a theater, in Soviet times, the building was occupied by the offices of employees of the Elektroprovod plant. After a serious but careful reconstruction, which almost completely recreated the image of the former theater, the building was returned to its historical function - now the theater studio is rehearsing there again. In addition, commercial objects appeared on the territory of the former factory - a hotel, a restaurant, offices and a residential complex. Once industrial, but now multifunctional and self-sufficient, the quarter has become completely permeable and open to the city, offering the capital new public spaces with gardens and greenery.
Markus Appenzeller, the co-founder of MLA + from the Netherlands, in his report suggested developing a loft culture in Moscow. The correct use of industrial zones with a mandatory emphasis on the development of transport and social infrastructure, in his opinion, will help change the image of the city as a whole. Many industrial buildings are monuments of industrial architecture. On the one hand, this creates certain difficulties in the development of industrial zones, but on the other hand, the new use of existing buildings is a separate and very exciting topic that can attract young creative designers and designers to work.
Markus Appenzeller participated in the development of the master plan for the reconstruction of industrial sites in Shanghai. The existing industrial facilities there acquired new functions, the work was carried out according to the principle of preservation and recreation. And only a small part of the infrastructure facilities were built from scratch. Another example of the development of closed production sites is the Olympic Park in London. According to the speaker, this area was "the most impressive collection of dead ends and confined spaces." In the course of the work, all of them should have been opened, the space made free and presupposing successful use in the future, after the Olympic Games.
Yuri Grigoryan in his speech emphasized the need to develop a unified concept for all industrial areas of Moscow. There are several basic principles for the reconstruction of enterprises that the architect has defined for himself. Parks must appear in them as a "green compensation". Buildings, as part of the identity of a space, must be preserved whenever possible. The spaces between the buildings should be open, public, connecting the former industrial zone with the neighboring districts of the city. The building is supposed to be mostly mixed and without large enclaves. The implementation and development of such projects is not only the task of an architect and an investor, it is an interdisciplinary work with the involvement of sociologists, economists, culturologists, etc.
Yuri Grigoryan also spoke about his project of a "green river" - a linear park with a length of more than 200 m, which would connect Bitsevsky Park and Losiny Ostrov. In general, according to the architect, there could be a park ring in place of the small ring of the Moscow Railway. The next train on the route would each time stop not just in the industrial zone, but inside a small park or square.
The territory of ZiL, the development project of which Yuri Grigoryan, together with Alexey Komisarov and Sergey Kuznetsov, presented at the forum a day earlier, found itself at the crossroads of two rivers - blue (Moskva River) and green (linear park).
According to the concept of the Project Meganom bureau, which won the competition for the development of the ZiL layout project, the central place in the industrial zone should be given to a large park, which will presumably appear in the Nagatinskaya floodplain area. The main line will be a green boulevard, provoking the development of a social function along it. If industrial facilities are removed from the territory of ZiL, residential quarters will be built on the bow of the island near the Nagatinsky Zaton, an office cluster will appear near the river, and a small amount of innovative industry will remain in the upper part of the site. The authors propose a special scenario for incorporating production into the emerging urban environment - “production as a performance”, when residents will be able to watch new cars roll off the assembly line through specially provided glazing.
A wide green embankment will connect the new urban area with the ZIL recreation center, which was originally built in conjunction with the enterprise. Pedestrian bridges across the Moskva River will connect ZiLa Island with the city. Public transport will mostly go underground.
It is assumed that the project will be implemented in stages: first, it is necessary to master the existing buildings, then gradually add new ones - so that ZiL does not turn into one global construction site, and against the background of small local construction, it retains a place for life and activity.
Alexey Komisarov at the presentation of the project, he emphasized that production on the territory of ZiL will only develop with all the upcoming transformations. The "Mosavtozil" company has now been created and contracts have already been signed with large car companies, which guarantee a payback period for the project until 2024. For the implementation of the project, it is planned to attract several developers, which should ensure a variety of buildings.
Oleg Pachenkov, Director of the Center for Applied Research of the European University in St. Petersburg and Deputy Director of the Center for Independent Sociological Research (CISR), within the framework of the forum presented the project of redevelopment of the "gray belt" of St. Petersburg, carried out by the companies Urbanica, Open Laboratory and the City and Open Space ", With the support of RBC and the portal" Petersburg 3.0 ". According to Pachenkov, abandoned industrial areas are “dependent areas” that do not generate any income for the city. How to transform such disadvantaged parts of the city into successful and livable areas? The main principle of the model proposed by Oleg Pachenkov is to involve various segments of the population in the process. It is important to understand whose interests are affected by this particular territory, and together with the identified stakeholders, formulate a general concept for its development. Only then can the development of the project itself begin. Such a model, a prototype of a joint development project, the initiative group headed by Oleg Pachenkov, without waiting for an administrative order, decided to test it on the example of a specific territory of the “gray belt” in St. Petersburg, near the Baltic Station. Here, along the Obvodny Canal, which limits the city center, there is a whole line of still functioning and long-ruined enterprises.
A competition was announced. About 20 students of professional universities in St. Petersburg, who made up four interdisciplinary project teams, offered their vision of the future of this territory. I must say that young specialists tried to make the projects as mundane as possible and closely related to the urban context. All participants chose a point-by-point approach, identifying centers of activity in the area under consideration and building pedestrian and transport links between them. The main problem is the lack of permeability. It is on this that the main emphasis is placed in the presented works.
Group No. 1. "Membrane"
The project involves the creation of support centers of attraction, public spaces and park areas; developed walking and cycling infrastructure; creative industry, ecospace and cultural clusters.
Group number 2. "Energy of ties"
In this work, attention is paid to the phased implementation of the project - from the arrangement of pedestrian zones to the large-scale construction of the multifunctional complex - in order to demonstrate its feasibility.
Group number 3. "Rara Structura"
It is proposed to create an environment of a different quality - diverse and multifunctional with a park, a sports center, pedestrian bridges and a boulevard.
Group No. 4. "Permeability"
Here the name of the project speaks for itself. The main idea, as in previous projects, is to make the space as permeable as possible, so that the industrial area does not cut the urban fabric, but, on the contrary, becomes a connecting element. The dominant link of the project is the Baltic Station as a transport hub and a potential creative cluster based on the Red Triangle.
The huge land and economic resources of the Moscow and St. Petersburg industrial zones open up long-term development prospects. Of course, many unresolved difficulties stand in the way of implementing grandiose plans, such as the presence of private and federal owners, often several for each industrial zone.
Everyone understands that this process is long-term, but promising.
