Today, June 18, the results of the first stage of an open international competition for the development of an architectural and landscape concept for a park in Zaryadye were summed up in Moscow. Six teams reached the final of the competition. This is a team led by an American bureau Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a team from the UK Gustafson porter, two Dutch companies - MVRDV and West 8, representatives of China - company Turenscape, as well as the Russian bureau TPO "Reserve", which acts in a consortium with landscape architects from Latz + Partner (Germany), urbanists from MaxWan (Holland) and the British company Buro Happold. In announcing the finalists of the competition, the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, emphasized that it was the Russian team that scored the maximum number of points in the first round.
As a reminder, the competition for the landscape and architectural concept of the Zaryadye park was announced by the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, two months ago. During this time, 87 applications from 25 countries of the world were submitted for it. In accordance with the terms of the competition, only consortia or professional associations with extensive design experience, including in the field of landscape design, were allowed to participate in it.
It's hard to find fault with the choice of the jury: all six teams can boast of the most extensive portfolios. For example, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, founded over thirty years ago, has been involved in major projects such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the UK or the Louisville Waterfront Park in the United States. Both parks cover an area of over a hundred hectares and are very popular with locals and tourists. Architects and landscape planners of Gustafson Porter also have an impressive number of completed projects of public spaces and parks around the world - in Lebanon, Singapore, England, Holland, etc. The British will work on the concept of Zaryadye Park together with Sauerbruch Hutton Architects. Architects from China carried out most of the work in their homeland, but also took part in such a high-profile project as the redevelopment of the Place de la République in France.
Interestingly, only Dutch bureaus invite Russian architects to work on the Zaryadye project. MVRDV cooperates with Anton Nadtochim and Vera Butko from Atrium bureau, and West 8 has chosen Boris Bernasconi's bureau as a partner. By the way, West 8 is one of the few Western architectural companies that has experience in design and implementation in Russia.
The companies that made it to the final will have to develop a concept for a park near the Kremlin walls within three months. According to the organizers of the competition, the winner will be determined in November. And the implementation of the project is scheduled for early 2016. You can follow the information on the progress of the competition on the official website of the park.
