This week Kommersant announced that an international competition for the architectural concept of a new building for the National Center for Contemporary Arts has started in the capital. Acceptance of applications for the competition will begin on August 20. In the meantime, "Moscow News" talked with the director of the NCCA Mikhail Mindlin. He briefly recalled the history of the previous, never completed projects of the new building, which has been going on since 2001. He spoke about the planned structure of the Center's premises and about the park that will be set up in the neighborhood. He also explained on what principles and with what funds the NCCA collections will be replenished.
By the way, there is some certainty in the fate of another long-standing Moscow project. This week the results of the competition for architectural solutions of the multifunctional hotel complex Tsarev Sad were announced. The complex will be built on the Sofiyskaya Embankment - in the very center of the capital, not far from the Kremlin. According to Moskovsky Komsomolets, the jury of the competition decided to take as a basis the concept of the general designer, developed earlier under the leadership of architect Vyacheslav Osipov. Also, 3 winning projects were selected: Utkin Studios, 44 Studios and Gerasimov & Partners. These teams, together with the general designer, will develop a unified architectural solution for the complex.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, discussions continue on the appropriateness of new architecture in the historic center. Petersburg 3.0 published a report from the round table, at which the leading architects of the city met, as well as one of the major developers. According to the participants in the discussion, it is not only possible, but also necessary to build in the historical center. And here the most important task is to improve urban planning regulations in such a way that they clearly define the rules for building in the center. This will allow avoiding urban planning mistakes in the future.
And the city, one way or another, has to come to terms with the already existing city errors. True, there are experts who offer a solution to even such a painful issue. Another proposal came from the St. Petersburg architect Sergei Politin, who had previously come up with the idea of reworking the facades of the Mariinsky-2. This time, according to Karpovka, the architect proposed to renovate the facades of the Regent Hall building in the neoclassical spirit, which was mercilessly criticized at one time by the townspeople, architects and city defenders.
This week Karpovka published another interesting opinion, this time concerning the improvement of the city. The St. Petersburg journalist expressed a very skeptical attitude towards the initiative to form pedestrian zones in the historical center: “Why does the city need pedestrian spaces in those places where there is a busy traffic? What for the sake of eliminating the U-turns, the most valuable parking spaces and capillaries of the hopelessly sick St. Petersburg transport system? In his opinion, pedestrian zones are appropriate in peripheral areas, which in this way can be made attractive from “quiet dull places” to townspeople.
In the meantime, urban initiatives in St. Petersburg are criticized, Moskovskie Novosti, on the eve of the mayoral elections, is asking well-known citizens about what they lack in the capital. The publication decided in this way to accumulate advice for the future mayor. So, for example, according to Yegor Korobeinikov, senior researcher at the Higher School of Urbanism, in Moscow there is an acute problem of creating a barrier-free environment, as well as the lack of cultural centers and events in residential areas.
In Novosibirsk, meanwhile, the townspeople are actively fighting for the preservation of parks and squares, which are being cut down for the sake of infill development. According to RIA Novosti, residents hold actions in defense of green spaces almost every week. Experts believe that the solution to the problem lies in improving the town planning code of the city, as well as holding full-fledged public hearings.
And in Perm, as before, discussions around the principles of the further development of the city do not cease. The Internet portal NewsKo published a report from a roundtable discussion at which developers, architects and legislators discussed the stability of urban planning policy. The chief architect of a large development company complained that, in his opinion, "the urban planning policy of the last four years has practically paralyzed the construction industry." The deputy of the Legislative Assembly Lilia Shiryaeva, who oversaw the development of the General Plan of Perm, noted that the stability of urban policy lies primarily in taking into account the interests of not only investors, but also the city. During the week it also became known that the place of Andrei Golovin as head of the MBU "Bureau of Urban Projects" may be taken by the deputy of the City Duma Maxim Tebelev, who previously actively criticized the activities of the Bureau, "Kommersant" reported.
In conclusion of the urban planning topic, let us mention the first city planning forum, which took place this week in Ufa. According to the UfaCity portal, the main task of the forum was to discuss the city development strategy.
But for the development of the city, of course, it is necessary to take care of its architectural heritage. This week, a lot of media attention was paid to the amendments to the Administrative Code, which come into force on August 7. They significantly increase the amount of fines for causing damage or destruction of architectural monuments, - wrote "Moscow Perspective". On the pages of the Internet newspaper Cityboom, experts spoke very critically about the amendments. In their opinion, fines will be sensitive only for small and medium-sized businesses, and they will not stop large players like Russian Railways. The problem with the non-working article 243 of the Criminal Code "Destruction or damage of monuments of history and culture" also remains unresolved: "New amendments to the Administrative Code risk this criminal article to be finally buried. criminal liability of specific people will be replaced by administrative fines of depersonalized companies,”the newspaper writes.
By the way, this week "Arkhnadzor" again published alarming messages: Russian Railways, despite the injunction, continues to destroy the Circular Depot. The demolition of the Ogonyok Printing House, designed by El Lissitzky, is also continuing in the capital.
Speaking of the great architect, according to Novosibirsk News, a portable monument to the Russian avant-garde was presented in the city this week. It is an art object called "Black Currency", which won the international competition "The Worlds of El Lissitzky".
