Archiprix International is a Netherlands-based international award, awarded since 2001 for the best diploma projects in architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture. Every two years, one job is submitted for it from each of several hundred participating universities. Great interest in Archiprix in Russia arose in 2011, when a Russian participant, a graduate of the Moscow Architectural Institute, Kristina Ishkhanova, entered the list of nominees. The next, 2013, competition was held in Moscow. The ceremony of awarding the laureates was timed to coincide with the ArchMoscow exhibition, and all the works submitted this time for the Archiprix competition were shown at the exhibition in the Central House of Artists.
And now cooperation has reached a new level: Russia will have its own regional edition of this award, modeled on the branches already existing in the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Chile, Portugal and Central Europe. The Russian branch of Archiprix was headed by Oscar Mamleev together with Bart Goldhorn.
Archi.ru: The Archiprix Prize is held all the time in different cities. How are these cities chosen, and how did the "Moscow edition" of this award go?
Oscar Mamleev: The management of the award consists of a team of Dutch architects headquartered in Rotterdam. For a number of reasons, they propose to host the award in a particular country. How did it happen with Moscow: Kristina Ishkhanova's work was nominated for Archiprix-2011, and Bart Goldhorn, taking advantage of this, suggested organizing the next competition in Moscow. I was also included in the organizing committee of Archiprix-2013, and in the summer of 2012 the jury was determined. The award has a rule in this regard: the jury must include one urban planner (in 2013 he was Hubert Klumpner, dean of ETH in Zurich, director of the Urban Think Tank and winner of the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Biennale), one landscape painter (Susan Herrington from Canada), one architect (Christine Yarmund from Norway), one theorist (Briton Leslie Lokko). As a rule, a representative of the host country is appointed as the chairman of the jury: at our proposal, Yuri Grigoryan became him. In October 2012, all the works sent to the competition were collected in the VKHUTEMAS Gallery, it was about 300 works from 80 countries of the world, where we also arranged lectures and made an exposition of the submitted projects in preparation for the work of the jury.
Archi.ru: There are several almost identical international thesis competitions - certainly much less well-known than Archiprix. How does she differ from them, what is her great authority based on?
O. M.: First, the matter is in a well-thought-out formulation of the question, which is close to me myself: the participants are expected not only to design some object, but to state a certain problem and develop proposals for its solution. I have always explained to my students that a thesis can be either significant in scale, conceptual, with "space flights", or a small object developed in detail. In particular, among the seven winners of this year's competition was Chilean Susana Sepúlveda General, whose work Pabellón Reciclaciudad is a perfect example of such a small-scale yet elaborate diploma: a bus stop project made from recycled cardboard. I am very impressed by the position of the jury: to evaluate such seemingly incomparable things equally.
Unfortunately, when evaluating diploma projects in our architectural universities, the commission often thinks in standards: a building designed by a bachelor should have so many square meters, and from the 6th year they require a larger size, with a mandatory set of projections and standard scales. Should be “correct” - this is the main criterion for evaluation. I can agree with this when defending a bachelor's degree, but a master's work should have a variety in presentation that most reveals its essence.
Secondly, Archiprix has an objective procedure for judging, this is especially noticeable when compared with the annual competition of diploma projects held by the Interregional Public Organization for the Promotion of Architectural Education (MOOSAO): often there, jury members judge the work of university graduates where they themselves teach. and friendships play a powerful role. And this "system" is presented as a form of support for provincial universities, which surprises me very much: if we are talking about raising the level of education, then this is done in a completely different way. Regular lectures, master classes by famous Russian and foreign architects are needed. Over the past few years, an independent jury has been working at the shows, whose focus has been on works that are often underestimated by the main judges of the show. I also participate in the jury of the Yakov Chernikhov Foundation, which is headed by the president of the foundation, Andrei Chernikhov, who awards his prize. We take the opportunity to reward more conceptual, sometimes “fantastic” work through the foundation (as this corresponds to its ideology), and a more pragmatic, but competent and modern project from the Union of Architects.
Archi.ru: How did Russia acquire its regional competition Archiprix?
O. M.: In October 2012, when the international jury was already working, Madeleine Maaskant, chairman of the foundation, and Henk van der Veen, director of Archiprix International, proposed, with the assistance of an experienced curator Bart Goldhorn, to create a regional branch of this award-competition in our country - Archiprix Russia. How this competition differs from the international one: not only university administrations, but also the educational workshops themselves can nominate works there. This will allow you to consider a much larger number of works and recommend them for participation in international competitions. However, the issue of selecting worthy projects will still be acute: it is imperative to maintain the Archiprix quality level within the framework of our domestic review.
Archi.ru: Will the activities of the Russian Archiprix be limited to holding a regional competition, or will there be more projects?
O. M.: I believe that it is necessary to take into account our specifics, and therefore proposed to go beyond the usual system of "competition - exhibition" and use the "banner" of Archiprix for educational work: to conduct master classes and lectures by prominent Russian and foreign architects in the regions, and I have already discussed this plan with several foreign companies accredited here, and met there, it seems to me, understanding and a desire to help.
I believe that we need to take advantage of the opportunity of Archiprix, this authoritative organization, and start a movement towards renewal, which in our education sector is slowed down for a number of well-known reasons. We have every reason to occupy our niche among such remarkable new institutions as Strelka and MARSH.
Of course, the main problem now is finding funding for Archiprix Russia. I hope that there will be people interested in the implementation of this project, not only as sponsors, but also as partners.
Archi.ru: Why are you planning to organize master classes by leading architects in the regions?
O. M.: It is never pleasant to talk about sad things, but if we keep silent about existing problems, nothing good will come of it. The truth is that now a very difficult situation has developed in many provincial schools, and the main difficulty there is the lack of teachers with experience and understanding of the features of modern world architecture with its multidisciplinarity, knowledge of the city's problems, social, political, environmental issues, sustainability issues. energy saving. All these modern trends are fully taught in the best foreign universities, but we have a significant distance up to this level, which is not easy to overcome. And, since teachers do not have sufficient information, then students also do not receive the necessary knowledge.
I saw how the guys came to Moscow at the summer school, with what interest they listened to lectures on modern architectural practice, its illustrative examples: if we provide them with information, then our architectural education will have much more positive results. Because our students from the regions very successfully compete with their colleagues in the capital when they get a job in a foreign company or in our advanced workshop. It is felt that they have great potential, and at the stage of education, this potential must be revealed by placing a person in the right atmosphere.
I am quite optimistic and do not see any insurmountable problems here. I am confident that Archiprix Russia will help raise the bar for architectural education in Russia.
Oskar Mamleev - director of the Russian regional branch of Archiprix, architect, PhD in architecture, professor at the International Academy of Architecture, member of the Education Council of the Union of Architects of Russia, member of the London Architectural Association.
Professor of MARCHI and MARCH, taught architectural design at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury, Munich Technical University, Graduate School of Dusseldorf.
He lectured at architectural schools in Germany (Berlin, Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe), England (Canterbury), Norway (Oslo), France (Marseille), Japan (Tokyo).
