Moskovskiye Novosti discussed the problems of Moscow's development with the architectural critic Grigory Revzin. According to Revzin, the capital has exhausted the previous path of development and is now a "wrong city" with dormitory areas that have lost their meaning. And although there are no ideas for the development of Moscow as such yet: “We do not know how it will look like. Moreover, it is still a long way to architecture - we do not even know what kind of structure it will be in the urbanistic sense,”- the capital is free to choose any of the three possible ways of developing the metropolis.
Nevertheless, the city authorities are already taking noticeable steps to transform the capital. The reconstruction of the Crimean embankment, which lasted two months, is finally completed. The grand opening of the new pedestrian zone will take place on 30 September. Afisha and The Village, strolling along the landscaped embankment, published detailed photo reports.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, the fate of the still empty territory in the historical center, on which the construction of a judicial quarter is planned, is being decided. The works of the four finalists of the 1st round of the competition for the concept of the quarter, we recall, are presented on the Presidential Library website until October 23: anyone can leave a review about them. And Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti turned to experts for comments. Architect Rafael Dayanov noted that he gives preference to the “Studio 44” project as “the look of today”. Mikhail Milchik, Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage under the Government of St. Petersburg, also considered this project the most appropriate: “It definitely fulfills the role of the background that I spoke about. This is not pretentious, not pompous architecture. It minimally obscures the view of the Prince Vladimir Cathedral, uniting the historic center into a single urban fabric”. It is interesting that some townspeople are concerned about the very fact of the competition: “It is natural to ask ourselves: why do we need this? To ask not as fatalists - they say, they will decide without us, they will still build something, even if not so high, etc. And ask as the owners of the city - do we need it? ", - published the opinion of the Petersburg woman" Karpovka ".
In continuation of the St. Petersburg architectural theme: Art1 published an impression of the exhibition of the review competition "Architecton-2013", which took place in the city in September. The author assessed the winners in the "Construction" nomination very critically: "I did not work with the implementation this year", - disappointingly summarizing that "those who did not reach Bolshaya Morskaya may not be upset - there was not much to look at" Architecton " ".
And in Russia, meanwhile, foreign architects have arrived in the regiment of unrealized projects. Last week, the portal Properm.ru reported that the Perm authorities refused to build a new building for the Perm Art Gallery, designed by Peter Zumtor, citing the high cost of implementation. Now, to accommodate the gallery's exhibits, the River Station is being considered, which needs serious reconstruction. It is interesting that it is located in a zone of potential flooding and next to the railway, therefore, it is hardly a suitable site for a gallery, - quoted the expert "Arguments and Facts".
Konstantin Mikhailov, the coordinator of Arkhnadzor, was thinking about the construction of a new building, but for the Tretyakov Gallery, on the pages of Gazeta.ru. The city rights activist recalled that the draft of the new Tretyakov Gallery was not submitted for consideration to specialists in the protection of heritage. The postmodern building, Mikhailov noted, will appear on the territory of the buffer zone, where only the regeneration of the historical environment is possible. A similar opinion was expressed by expert Natalya Samover in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets: “Whatever the facade of the new Tretyakov Gallery, it does not correspond to the morphology of the urban environment that is guarded in Zamoskvorechye”.
This week, the topic of heritage preservation was also raised at the first international congress of restorers held in the capital, which, as we wrote, was quite productive. On the eve of the congress, Izvestia talked with the director of Rosrestavratsia, Vladimir Bryanov, about the industry's problems that have accumulated over the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, in Nizhny Novgorod, activists began a campaign to raise funds for the historical and cultural expertise of city architectural monuments that are under threat of destruction. They explain their initiative by the fact that the authorities are not at all interested in saving the historic buildings, and only the help of residents can turn the tide, Kommersant said.
