The release of the tenth, anniversary issue of the "Speech:" magazine gathered a huge number of guests in the Artplay club. In the hall, where the apple had nowhere to fall, that evening they talked about structures - fantastic and unique achievements in the field of engineering solutions, which became the topic of the next issue of the magazine "Speech:". We should also note the musical accompaniment of the evening - a DJ set and a visual series by Alexander Ostrogorsky (DJ Koshermann), made up of photographs of structures, which are described in the issue.
One of the founders of the magazine, architect Sergei Tchoban, explained the choice of the topic as follows: “We all know how acute the issue of the quality of construction and engineering solutions is for Russian architecture. One of the goals of the magazine is to tell about those advanced designs that are used in modern Western design and construction. Today, real miracles are happening in this area in the world, and for us this is an invaluable experience that should be studied and mastered."
In the preface to this issue, the editor-in-chief of the magazine Irina Shipova writes: “Today it is almost impossible to separate architecture from construction - a modern building is often a complex organism in which all elements work to create a whole, and the boundaries of individual disciplines are blurred. However, the constant development of engineering thought, setting itself increasingly complex and, at first glance, unattainable goals, inextricably linked with the development of computer, industrial and construction technologies, as well as with the use of new materials, has a huge impact not only on the device, but also on the face of modern architecture”. It is this close interweaving of the architectural and the constructive, their inseparable and constant interaction, regardless of whether the structural skeleton of the building is demonstratively brought out, as in vivid examples of high-tech architecture, or disguised, as in the buildings of organic architecture, and became the main theme numbers that are subjected to detailed and careful consideration. According to the already established tradition, the magazine found a place for a historical excursion, and for interviews with leading designers and architects, and for a review of modern buildings that amaze with their technological and engineering innovations.
That there is only one library, built by architects "Helen & Hard" in the Norwegian city of Vennesla. The interior of this building is completely subordinated to its constructive scheme, and it is the expressive structures that become the hallmark of the building. This building, which made Vennesla famous far beyond the borders of Norway, can be called an embodied symbol of the fusion of engineering and architectural thought - it is not for nothing that this library is depicted on the splash screen of one of the latest versions of ArchiCAD.
No less impressive is the constructive solution of the Las Arenas shopping and entertainment center by Richard Rogers in Barcelona, redesigned from a former bullfighting arena. In the Object section, the reader will also find the mesmerizing golden structures of the undulating shell of the Islamic art department in the Parisian Louvre, designed by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, the Milstein Rem Koolhaas educational building and the Fortezza fortress in Italy, reconstructed using the most modern design solutions, delicately integrated into the structure early 19th century.
This time the protagonists of the issue were not only architects, but designers and engineers: one of the founders of the hi-tech movement Nicholas Grimshaw, Spanish architect Anton García-Abril, who is sure that “the spatiality of architecture is a consequence of the technical aspects of construction”, and Mike Schleich - one of the leaders of the German engineering and construction bureau Schlaich Bergermann und Partner (SBP). The latter acted as the main speaker of the evening, talking about the principles of his company and the secrets of "light" construction.
The SBP bureau was founded more than 30 years ago by Mike Schleich's father Jörg Schleich together with Rudolf Bergermann, and one of its main specializations is futuristic structures, which, even when created from very heavy materials (such as wood or concrete), seem completely weightless in appearance. As Mike Schleich said, "light" buildings can be created from almost any material, the main thing here is the correct work with pressure and distribution of gravity.
The design solutions of the bureau are based on several principles - the principle of "bicycle wheel", "sieve" and "tennis racket". For example, the principle of the tension of the racket strings can be traced in some of the façade solutions used by SBP engineers. Sometimes authors turn to natural images, say, to the structure of a tree - a simple and at the same time very reliable structure, which, if made of steel, can withstand colossal loads.
Another fundamental principle of the bureau's work, which the German designer shared during his speech, is to constantly refer to the experience of the great engineers of the past. For example, Mike Schleich noted with admiration the work of the Russian design engineer Vladimir Shukhov, whose ideas more than once served as the basis for the bureau's projects and even for direct quotation. By the way, the final heading of the tenth issue of the magazine is also devoted to the work of this unique Russian engineer, according to whose projects were created railway and other bridges (there are more than 500 of them), lighthouses, landing stages, radio towers and much more.
At the end of the official part of the presentation, the chief architect of Moscow and one of the founders of the magazine, Sergei Kuznetsov, announced the start of a new architectural competition, the theme of which happily coincided with the theme of the anniversary issue “Speech:”. We are talking about a small, but extremely important object for the city - the reconstruction of the visor of the "Ukraine" hotel. Sergey Kuznetsov said that it was planned to attract the best architects and designers to participate in this competition, and guaranteed that the winner's project would be implemented.
