Last week Gazeta.ru published a series of interviews on the topic “how and to whom to be an architect”. Sergei Tchoban told a fascinating story about how he became an architect by pure chance, although from childhood he planned to be a graphic artist. Of the German architectural schools, Choban named the best schools in Zurich, Braunschweig and Aachen, and of the Russian ones - MArchI. “At some point, it seemed to me,” Tchoban explains, “that the technical side is better in the West, while in Russia I liked drawing training. Today everything is confused. " As an architect actively practicing in the West, Sergei Tchoban gives recommendations to graduates of Russian universities who would like to realize themselves abroad. Answering the question of who should choose the profession of an architect, he advises, first of all, to carefully weigh the decision: "… if the brain constantly revolves around the structure as such, then there is a possibility that it is yours."
Evgeny Ass, discussing the same topic with the Gazeta.ru correspondent, noted that the ability to draw “is not yet a sufficient reason to become an architect”. Ass is convinced that it is necessary to develop observation in oneself, read books about architecture, study monuments. At the same time, according to the architect, only a few become true professionals. Among the architects of a relatively young generation, Danir Safiullin and Ivan Ovchinnikov answered the questions of Gazeta.ru. The first - dreamed of becoming an architect from early childhood, the second - entered the architectural department on the advice of the Pope. Both believe that architecture is about learning and hard work.
The topic of conversations with architects was supported this week by the Moscow 24 news agency, which published an interview with Boris Levyant. The head of ABD architects spoke about what the bureau had been doing in the past few years and once again confirmed his commitment to high-quality modern architecture and his unwillingness to "paint curls" even if the client could not be convinced.
"Vechernyaya Moskva" talked with Sergei Kuznetsov, thus summing up a kind of result of six months of his work as chief architect. Sergei Kuznetsov in this interview again voiced part of his principles: that the "old" territory of Moscow has a great potential for internal development, first of all - the industrial zone. That it is necessary to invite foreign specialists to work, however "… understand correctly, I am not in favor of giving them everything in their hands." That orders to the city should be distributed with the help of creative competitions, the first stage is a portfolio competition, the second is a competition among the winners of the first stage, custom-made, that is, paid, since "for nothing" no serious team will agree to work. " According to the chief architect, the task of selecting high-quality designers can be solved quickly enough.
Last week, the mayor's office responded to the main problem in January - protests by Muscovites against the Moscow City Duma's planned reduction in the functionality of public hearings. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked the deputies “to take another close look at these norms. This kind of institution must, of course, be improved, but must be preserved without fail, Gazeta.ru quotes the mayor).
Nikolai Malinin on the pages of "Vedomosti" talks about the incidents of the construction of a new pedestrian zone "Rozhdestvenka - Kuznetsky Most - Stoleshnikov", opened for the New Year, when "they laid the tiles - right on the ice, ramming with logs." And among other things, having got rid of cars, the streets exposed all their dark sides - monstrous porcelain stoneware on the first floors, dirt, crookedly painted walls. Nevertheless, two kilometers of pedestrian space is a definite plus. And next year, it is planned to open 19 more pedestrian zones.
In 2013, it is planned to open six new metro stations in Moscow and put into operation 14 kilometers of tunnels, writes Moskovskaya Perspektiva. Three stations will appear on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya branch - Lermontovsky Prospekt, Zhulebino and Kotelniki; The Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line will continue with the Delovoy Tsentr station. Bitsevsky Park and Lesoparkovaya will open on the Butovskaya line section.
The metro is also being designed in St. Petersburg. Draft designs of new stations on the Frunzensko-Primorskaya line (Prospekt Slavy, Dunayskaya and Shushary) are published by Karpovka.net. They are planned to be built by 2016.
"Komsomolskaya Pravda" talks about the program for the reconstruction of Moscow railway stations: it was launched in 2008 and should be completed in 2013. The stations should turn into “modern multifunctional complexes”. The program covers not only Moscow: by the end of 2015, 81 railway stations are to be reconstructed in the country.
Arguments of the Week tells about the history of the construction of the second stage of the Mariinsky Theater, which turned out to be one of the most expensive theaters in the world. According to a newspaper source, more than 21 billion rubles were spent on it. However, as the author of the article writes, the building turned out to be ugly, discordant with the surrounding urban landscape. The article contains the skeptical opinions of experts and architects. Nevertheless, the work is coming to an end, and the first performance will be staged on the new stage of the Mariinsky Theater in May this year.
Vedomosti announces the opening of the Avant-garde Center in the Bakhmetyevsky garage, during which a book was presented about the workers' settlements of Moscow by Elena Solovieva and Tatyana Tsareva - New Homes. Architecture of Moscow Residential Complexes in 1920-1930s”.
BusinessOnline talks about the restoration of more than fifty buildings in the Old Tatar settlement in Kazan - the oldest part of the city rich in historical and cultural monuments. The development of the "Old City" is going in parallel with the construction of new facilities, which also contribute to the development of the tourist program of Kazan.
However, the new year in Moscow began with the demolition of historic buildings. Arkhnadzor tells about the illegal demolition of two wings of the first third of the 19th century in the courtyard of the Novo-Catherine Hospital on Strastnoy Boulevard, intended for the Moscow City Duma. The buildings were destroyed on the first day of the new year. Vesti-Moscow reports about the destruction of the old building of the Butyrsky court - a tenement house in 1902 on Obraztsov Street. As in the case of the hospital buildings, the building was demolished without permits.
