This week, Kommersant published the reflections of three experts at once on the fate of the site in Zaryadye. According to the architect Sergei Skuratov, the park in Zaryadye is absolutely useless: “I look inside myself and do not see the park at this place. I agree that there should be a public space, but of a completely different quality. The most suitable for Zaryadye will be the construction of museums and exhibition halls that will not attract additional traffic load, the expert believes. In particular, a new building for the NCCA could be located here: “We need to build the most iconic cultural objects here, in the very center of Moscow, and not refer to Khodynka. It's just cynical to drive the NCCA to a small piece of land beyond the Third Transport Ring, and even next to a shopping center,”Skuratov says.
Foreign experts, on the contrary, consider the idea of the park to be very successful. According to the Dutch urbanist Evert Verhagen, the park in Zaryadye is vital for the center of the capital, which is oversaturated with business buildings. Such an oasis near the walls of the Kremlin will help Moscow become safer and friendlier, as well as take another step towards a city in which one wants not only to work, but also to live. Another Dutch specialist, architect Adrian Geise, also considers the park to be a good idea, noting that “for the Zaryadye park project it is very important that the connection between this site and the surrounding territories is correctly read and understood. it is necessary that it carries a strong cultural, historical component, closely and competently connected with the surrounding heritage. In addition, both Verhagen and Geise consider it extremely important to think over the issue of park management.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, experts are pondering over competitive projects for the development of the most important area of the city, where the construction of a court quarter is planned. In an interview with Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti, Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of VOOPIiK, Alexander Kononov called all four projects "raw", but he singled out the work of Maxim Atayants' workshop as the most successful from an urban planning point of view: "This is the only project that takes into account all the perspectives and visual corridors of the -Vladimirsky Cathedral, on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island, view of new buildings from the Stock Exchange and Palace Embankment. " Vladimir Linov, associate professor of SPbGASU, spoke more sharply about the finalist projects, saying that St. Petersburg architecture was degrading: “Playing with old architectural forms leads architects into a dead end. they never learned the lessons of 20th century architecture. Remained in captivity of academism in the worst sense of the word. Nobody dared to offer customers a modern architecture."
But let us turn to the regions where architectural and urban planning issues are no less relevant than in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This week RIA Novosti has timed a number of articles to coincide with World Architecture Day. After talking with Novosibirsk architects, the agency found out that they are dissatisfied with the majority of modern buildings. Experts expressed complaints about both the architecture of the buildings and their ill-conceived location from the urban planning point of view. And the former chief architect of Novosibirsk, Valery Arbatsky, named the return to the outdated large-panel housing construction and the complex development of territories as the main problems of the city. He also explained why he was not satisfied with the concept of the development of the Novosibirsk agglomeration, developed by Moscow experts: "This is still a view from the outside, without taking into account many factors and nuances."
By the way, Olga Smirnova, board member of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Union of Architects of Russia, on the contrary, is glad that the general plan of Krasnoyarsk will be developed by Muscovites: “Their specialists are less dependent than Krasnoyarsk architects. There is no such pressure on them as on the locals,”she said in an interview with RIA Novosti. The expert also spoke in favor of the European way of the city's development, which implies, in particular, the separation of the historical and business centers, low-rise buildings and the development of public transport.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, the processes of arranging a comfortable urban environment are gaining momentum. Moscow 24, citing the chief architect of the city, Sergei Kuznetsov, said that the construction of new-type residential quarters will continue in the capital, in which the space is divided into public and business zones, and the courtyards are closed to cars. The first such block is currently under construction in the Western Degunino area.
Young urbanists, as part of a workshop organized by the What Moscow Wants project, have developed projects for four district parks. "Afisha" published the works of the guys, as well as critical comments of experts to them. It is noteworthy that the projects will take part in the competition of the Moscow Urban Forum, which will be held in early December.
Experiments on the theme of urban space are also taking place in Veliky Novgorod, where an exhibition of projects by students of the Moscow Architectural Institute has opened. As a training practice, they developed the layout of the city's residential neighborhoods. In their works, the guys proposed to include the river in the structure of the city and build up the districts with low-rise buildings, - wrote "Direct speech".
And in conclusion, a few words about the protection of the architectural heritage. This week, RBC announced that Tatarstan is developing rules for restricting development in the historical centers of large cities. At the first stage, restrictions will affect Kazan, Elabuga, Chistopol and Tetyusha. According to the initiators of the project, this will allow preserving the historical panoramas of cities, and not just individual architectural monuments.
And the authorities of Tomsk, in an attempt to protect the monuments of wooden architecture, introduced a moratorium on their privatization. This forced measure will be in effect until the legislators develop a mechanism for transferring monuments for restoration to private hands, which guarantees the preservation of historical buildings, RIA Novosti reported.
