On July 3, the results of the competition for the solution of the concept of the facades of the new building of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane, announced at the end of May, were announced. At that time, only the projects of the three winners were published: the project of the SPEECH bureau, which took the first place and was accepted for implementation, and two honorable places, the second and third. Now we publish projects of all six participants of the June competition with more detailed comments and opinions of the authors. In the next article, we publish versions of Mosproekt-4, which has been working on a project for a new building of the State Tretyakov Gallery since 1996. Thus, we hope that the picture will turn out to be quite complete and will allow our readers to appreciate the nuances of this competition, which in many respects is complex and controversial, but still very interesting from the point of view of the history of modern Moscow architecture. Let us remind you that the competition was held anonymously (projects were presented by numbers), and the composition of the jury basically coincided with the composition of the architectural council.
First place. SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov
In their explanatory note, Sergei Tchoban and Igor Chlenov write:
“… The new building of the Tretyakov Gallery completes the formation of the museum quarter, harmoniously fitting into the structure of the complex. In an effort to unite the buildings of the museum quarter, the facades of the new building of the Tretyakov Gallery support the ideology laid down by the museum: the preservation of the national cultural heritage and an actual dialogue with society. The materials and colors emphasize the continuity of the architectural language of the buildings of the Tretyakov Gallery, built in different historical periods: the combination of the red color of the wall with white platbands and decorative elements.
Based on the laid down by V. M. Vasnetsov, the Russian style in the facades of buildings and rethinking the elements of primordial Russian architecture, the facades of the new building are made of aged, textured red brick, with white elements of window frames made of architectural concrete, finishing relief belts, columns. The rounded corners of the brick finish of the building give a softer shape to the building, which is tightly squeezed within the boundaries of the site. The main mission of the dynamic dialogue between the museum and the city is expressed in the architectural idea of the facade of the building - white frames of various formats, in the structure of the original hanging of the paintings of the P. M. and S. M. Tretyakov, form a wall with paintings. Living paintings, which are created by the visitors of the museum. Fragments of masterpieces exhibited in the Gallery are applied to the external glazing, with smooth fading.
And the stationary monochrome part of the paintings, connecting with the movement of the colored flow of visitors, fills these paintings with life, creating the effect of interpenetration of the interior and exterior of the building.
The main entrance, located at the intersection of the main pedestrian paths, is a picture frame framed by glass, smoothly turning into a skylight, piercing through the building and connecting modernity with history, turning into a pedestrian bridge. Once in the lobby, visitors become the unofficial creators of the Tretyakov Gallery's main masterpiece - a painting named after itself, constantly changing, keeping up with the times, reflecting the real picture of our time. The facades support the main theme of the hanging paintings on the wall. Each "picture frame" of the facade, like a carved platband, is individual, with its inherent outlines and patterns. The different frame sizes are due to the scale of the surrounding spaces.
The gradually decreasing dimensions of streets and buildings from a wide embankment to a narrower Maly Tolmachevsky lane determined the structure of an extended facade - a transition from large, chaotically located "windows-frames" to a rigid structure,embodying compliance with the scale of development. The facade on Lavrushinsky lane is a partial hint, preparing the audience for the main action of the "living picture" of the main entrance. The reduced size of the frames tends to match the scale of the building, while standing out against its background with individuality."
Second place. TOTEMENT / PAPER.
Valeria Preobrazhenskaya and Levon Airapetov say:
“On the one hand, Sergey Kuznetsov is a great fellow that he organized all this, on the other hand, the competition is rather controversial. Everyone was extremely uncomfortable. But for us, participation in this competition is a great success, because we, having declared ourselves with the Russian pavilion in Shanghai, are constantly engaged in research. We do not have a single pass-through project. Museums and pavilions are the direction that is closest to us. We were pleased that we were invited. Some architects refused to participate in the competition for ethical reasons. We agreed, because this opportunity is valuable: not every day we are offered to develop a project for one of the main museums in the country - the Tretyakov Gallery.
The customer of the competition was Zarubezhproekt LLC. This is a general contractor and a general designer in one person. We were given less than a month to design. This is very little, even just to make sense of the situation. The site takes a rather difficult place. Buildings here have a serious difference in number of storeys. A special and attentive approach was needed. In addition, the Tretyakov Gallery itself developed in a complex and ambiguous way, growing out of a small private mansion, being completed and changed many times. A large modern depository was built there in the 1980s, but it could not meet all the needs of the museum. In the 1990s. the gallery's management decided to expand further. In accordance with the TK developed at that time, the Mosproekt-4 team proposed its own version. But while they were demolishing buildings, carrying out archaeological excavations, removing communications, etc., it became obvious that the solution proposed a few years ago no longer meets the real requirements. The TK was redesigned, the building has greatly increased in volume, while Zamoskvorechye is an area of chamber development. The question arose: what to do next?
We presented two options because we wanted to show that we can work with the cultural layer, staying in context, but at the same time we can offer our modern vision.
The first concept is stricter. We dismantled the layout, since it is impossible to work only with the wrapper. Inside, we found a clear functional diagram - a working block, an exhibition hall, a promenade, a fire escape and a concert hall. The deaf volume of exhibition spaces faces the river, but in front of it there is also a multi-functional hall in two tiers, above which there is a gallery. A concert hall is designed on the opposite side of it. There is an inner street between them. Cafes, bookstores and other public spaces located in front of the blank wall of the exhibition hall should open towards the city. Based on this, this facade for us was glass by definition. This is the northern side, there is practically no sun there, so the relief of the wall is not revealed here, chiaroscuro gives little. But the building needs rich plastic. We decided to shape the glass facade, make a glass sculpture. An element similar to a pyramid was taken as a basis. The chosen shape is similar to the roofs of the houses that make up the Tretyakov Gallery. The upper side of the glass pyramid reflects the sky, the lower one reflects the river, the Udarnik cinema and the house of Iofan are reflected on the right, and St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin are on the left. With this quadrangle, we have put the building into context. The result is a mosaic. The red wall of the showroom behind the glass shell added depth.
The facades, devoid of windows, are also painted in red, as a reference to the red-brick walls of the Tretyakov Gallery. Here we also used the relief of the wall, going through all the decors associated with Russian motives. The walls were supposed to be made of tinted concrete. In this style, the block of the fire escape, flanking the entrance on one side, and the concert hall, adjacent to the walking street on the other, are solved. We covered the street that separates the two buildings with a transparent roof. By splitting the building into several volumes, we tried to reduce the scale, as well as reproduce the Tretyakov Gallery, consisting of several small buildings.
A separate solution was proposed for the courtyard facades, acting as a background or curtain in front of the mansions and chambers of the museum. It uses vertical articulation. We wanted to achieve a certain restraint. The decor is an oriental and Moscow theme, but there is also a European austerity, because we are talking about a modern museum.
The structure of the second option practically does not differ from the first one. We divided the building into separate volumes in the same way. If you look along the embankment, the volume of the new Tretyakov Gallery is located between a seven-story apartment building and a low-rise new building with a round turret. We got the idea to make a visor over the entrance, which would smooth out this drop. We have proposed a rather dynamic form and made it sculptural. The glass facade, as in the first version, reflects water and buildings. And through it the red wall of the exhibition hall shines through. This is very similar to the Kremlin stars. We tried to pay tribute to the Russian avant-garde. We dressed the concert hall in thin leather with Russian features. It can be made of either metal or ceramic. There is also a large window recessed into the wall, from which, if necessary, a small stage could be extended for concerts. Opposite is the Widow's House, and the audience would have quite settled on its stairs.
But the main idea of this project is a gallery that separates the two main volumes of the building, which we decided as one big staircase. In the proposed project, this space is one long corridor crossed by escalators and bridges, which does not sufficiently connect the two parts of the building. We came up with a staircase with platforms where people can sit and admire the city following the example of La Defense. The lower levels are illuminated through the through holes in the staircases. In perspective, the staircase merges with the roof of the building.
The result is a very modern image, which, as it seems to us, should finally appear in Moscow. This is a bold decision, but the customer wanted to get a variety of ideas, which we offered him."
Third place. TPO "Reserve".
Vladimir Plotkin:
“This is far from the most ideal way to create a project, since we were talking about a facade for an already finished object. Leaving aside the ethical issues of the competition, then, pretty much doubting the need for our participation, we nevertheless decided to share our views on the topic of a possible interpretation of the facades of the Tretyakov Gallery, and we considered it as professional advice, nothing more.
We had several different options - from the simplest to the most radical. As a result, we chose the theme of national ornaments as a basis, which is not very typical for our workshop. However, for this project, this solution seemed the most appropriate. Moreover, I was sure that most of the participants would somehow express their opinion on this topic. And so it happened. Ornaments have been very popular in the last ten years, and in relation to this project they are also relevant. We decided to bring the idea of the ornamental facade to the absolute, offering something enchanting and seemingly incredibly fabulous.
The main idea is the development of the neo-Russian style at a new level, in which the Vasnetsov frieze of the existing building of the gallery was solved. Initially, we wanted to use the traditional combination of red and white. There were ideas to make something completely colorful, but at some point we were very inspired by the snow-white, feathery, like frosty patterns on the glass, the fabric of the building.
Despite the seeming fantasy, this proposal is more than realistic. Our facade is an openwork mesh, which can be made of cut or bent anodized metal. It is either one-piece or spot-welded, which acts as the outer skin of the double façade. The main facade, made of glass, and in some places, depending on the functional content of the museum, which is a blank wall, is located at a distance of 60-70 cm from the outer shell. We also assumed that in order to achieve a double, deep effect on the main glass facade, an ornamental drawing that could have been made by layer-by-layer filling. We know this technology.
A bent strip of metal is placed on the edge perpendicular to the facade, so a very complex pattern is obtained. But it is well readable, because we specially selected a large scale, recognizable against the background of the surrounding buildings. This drawing is ideal for frontal viewing. When moving along the facade, a dynamic transformation of the picture occurs, it disintegrates, turning into a beautiful, mesmerizing abstraction, changes depending on the lighting, with the lateral morning sun, rich chiaroscuro appears.
It is clear that a high-quality implementation of such a project would require a lot of effort and would cost a lot of money. But it was a professional challenge, especially since we are talking about an object important for the city.
The most important task that was set before us by the customer was in no way to try to rethink the existing volumetric-spatial solution. A pit has already been dug on the site, and the builders are ready to start work on the construction of the museum even tomorrow. Therefore, it was only about the wrapper. And it seems to me that there was nothing offensive in this proposal. This simple rectangular volume, which does not occupy an island position, but a lacuna along the embankment, acts as an ordinary quarter front building. To think again about the solution of its facade, in my opinion, was right. Let me stress once again that we took this as friendly advice. Plus it was a very interesting experience."
JSB "Ostozhenka"
project author Maria Dekhtyar:
“Of course, it's nonsense when a building is designed by one architect, and then other bureaus are invited to design the facades. Probably, we would not participate in such a strange competition, but the author of the project, Andrey Bokov, personally invited our bureau and Alexander Skokan, so we could not refuse. Before starting work, we were presented with an existing project and the history of its development. The customer explained to us that he would like to see modern European architecture, which at the same time would correspond to the traditions of the old Tretyakov Gallery, building a clear associative array. But we did not have a specific design assignment.
We understood that, unlike other buildings of the complex, facing the cozy Zamoskvoretsky lanes, the main facade of the new building faces the canal, towards the open city spaces, which allows it to be more ceremonial and elegant. According to the concept of development, the Tretyakov Gallery is positioned as a symbol of Russian culture and the main national museum of the country. And the construction of another building is not just an expansion of the exhibition space, but the creation of a new modern image of the gallery. The building was supposed to meet this program, while remaining an integral part of a single complex.
Also, the facade was supposed to carry an informational function, but not in the literal sense, like a media facade, but in the form of easily readable associations. It seemed to us that the ornament fits perfectly for these purposes, it is perceived intuitively, at the subconscious level, giving rise to a variety of rich images in the head.
We used the ornament in the decoration of all facades of the building, except for the inner courtyard, which overlooks Lavrushinsky lane in the second plan and therefore is designed in a more relaxed style. Of course, we were inspired by the old Tretyakov Gallery, historical buildings built according to the designs of V. M. Vasnetsov and A. V. Shchusev, but there the ornament had an exclusively decorative and applied character. We decided to give it a hyperscale, drawing up a drawing of the facade, like a matrix, from elementary geometric shapes - a triangle, a circle, a semicircle, a square. It seemed to us that it would be fresh, the chosen scale brought the ornament to the fore. In this project, he was assigned the main plastic, not decorative role. At the same time, the ornament mutates, changes, reacting to the environment. The facade with the largest drawing is facing the embankment, with the expectation of perceiving the building from distant points, closer to the side streets the scale and composition change. The result is a kind of concrete lace that reacts to the context, works well with water and forms a recognizable image of the museum. The ornamental interpretation of the facade of the new building also made it possible to visually bring down the scale, bringing it closer to the rhythm of the surrounding buildings.
The main theme continues on the inner facades of the promenade, dividing the volume of exhibition spaces and the concert hall. The continuous pattern flows smoothly into the passage, forming something like a canyon with colored ornamental walls. We assumed that the facades would be made of concrete, mass-painted in colors corresponding to the historical building of the Tretyakov Gallery. The gaps between the concrete elements are filled with stained glass structures."
UNK project, Julius Borisov:
“Firstly, I want to say that it was a rather unusual competition. The participants were faced with a frankly difficult task - to put new facades on existing layouts and architectural solutions. In addition, this had to be done in a very short time - less than a month. But we were talking about a very important, symbolic object. The client did not offer us any specific task, he just wanted to get our vision, suggesting that it should be a completely modern building that reflects the spirit of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Our solution was based on the use of the archetypes of the existing building in the new project, so that, on the one hand, there was continuity, and on the other, a new unique approach. The frieze, which is present in all the buildings of the gallery, was chosen as the main figurative element. On the main facade of the new building, the frieze has turned into a huge frame, framing the glass sheet of a gigantic picture, reflecting the river and the city. A ribbon of multi-colored glasses interprets Vasnetsov's frieze of majolica and tiles, only scaled up. We took an existing drawing and embodied it in modern materials and technologies. Another very characteristic element in keeping with the tradition of the gallery is the skylights.
Among other things, certain colors are inherent in the Tretyakov Gallery - white and red. We decided to reproduce them not in classical materials - brick, plaster or concrete, but used tinted glass, choosing the right color palette. In addition to colored chameleon glass, which changes color depending on the angle of view and lighting, there is also transparent glazing on the facades - in those areas where natural light is required. At night, thanks to the illumination, the glass facades become translucent, which makes it possible to observe the interior space of the museum from the street. It was also supposed to use natural stone and tiles in the decoration.
The selected materials and composition make it possible to level the tectonics of the building, it dissolves in reflections, becomes a part of the environment. We offered to completely close the entrance area, thereby providing protection from precipitation and creating a comfortable and representative atmosphere."
Tsimailo Lyashenko & Partners, Nikolay Lyashenko and Alexander Tsimailo:
“In our proposal, we allowed ourselves to change and expand the scope of the competition assignment, which assumed the development of only facades for an existing project. We considered it possible to partially revise the proposed solutions. In particular, in our project, changes have affected the corner part, at the intersection of the embankment with Lavrushinsky lane. At the same time, the structure and layout of the building have been preserved almost completely. The configuration of the main premises was minimally corrected, the concert hall was moved to the underground part.
We tried to create a new public space in front of the main entrance to the building, overlooking the embankment, into which all historical buildings located on the territory of the gallery along Lavrushinsky lane are integrated. The created public space with a transparent pavilion facing the embankment should turn into a territory for the demonstration of all the most relevant and important in the field of contemporary art. Its content could dynamically change and transform, adjusting to the needs of the gallery and acting as a meeting place for people, introducing the city to art.
If we talk about a stylistic solution, then we have formulated a certain position for ourselves. Since the museum is a repository of artistic values from different eras and times, we interpreted its facade as a layering of various cultural layers. White brick was chosen for decoration - a material very typical for the surrounding buildings. Uneven brickwork gave a certain relief and texture to the facade. We wanted to turn the process of building a complex brick wall into a public action in which the most worthy representatives of society, related to culture, could take part. Thus, the construction of the gallery would become a truly national project. The brickwork is diluted with large spans of glazing in those areas where the main human flows are concentrated: cafes, galleries with views of the river and the city.
We deliberately didn’t make many windows, because we didn’t want to enter into dialogue with the existing historical buildings that largely set the atmosphere and scale of this place. The task was rather reduced to the formation of a space where the new building was supposed to play both the role of a background and a sign and could well not look like a house in its usual sense. As for the interaction of the new building with the Tretyakov Gallery, it seemed appropriate to us to choose a style that is aimed not at opposition, but rather at designating the potential of progressiveness and openness of today's Tretyakov Gallery as one of the main cultural venues in the country."
