Archi.ru:
Yuri Gennadievich, tell us how your workshop has changed in the post-crisis years?
Yuri Vissarionov:
- Before the crisis, we, like most Russian architectural companies, untwisted the flywheel of a huge construction machine, invented beyond ideas, developed global projects for hundreds of thousands of square meters. Nowadays it is customary to be skeptical about this period of time; the name "era of soap bubbles" has been stuck behind it. But happy is the architect who happened to work in this era. An architect is a messenger of the future, a person who always dreams of creating an ideal space for life, makes futurological forecasts and, in fact, comes up with a scenario for the development of a city and country. There is, of course, another kind of designers who live in the past, honing their ability to work with classical forms and canons. The most "correct" architects, in my opinion, are those whose work coincides with their time. A couple of times and I did it. One of the most striking examples of this is the era of soap bubbles. Being an artist by nature, I always thought about the future, so this time was happy for me. The era of soap bubbles, even if it did not allow all the ideas to be realized, but allowed a glimpse into the future.
In my understanding, architecture is not a science or even an art, but more a philosophy, a way of thinking. Therefore, our workshop all this time lived a common architectural life. Until 2008, bold ideas and huge development scope were required. Today, when the time of general silence has come, and we also want to be silent with everyone. I take it very calmly, for granted. The plus is that today all projects are underway, no one orders them just like that. However, the question always remains how this will be implemented.
Why, feeling more like an artist, did you decide to become an architect?
- All my life I dreamed of being an artist and even wanted to enter Stroganovka. A wonderful St. Petersburg artist prepared me for admission. However, when I came to the Stroganov School, they considered my technique too tough and advised me to choose architecture as my main profession. At the Moscow Architectural Institute, they told me that my drawings, on the contrary, are very soft and are not at all suitable for studying architecture. As a result, I completely spontaneously went to Nizhny Novgorod, where I was immediately enrolled in an architectural university. There I had excellent teachers - mostly from the Moscow Architectural Institute. Nizhny Novgorod has always been a freethinking city, anarchic, colorful and very postmodern. All this greatly influenced my worldview.
Several years ago, you were very keen on such a direction in architecture as biomorphism. Have your style preferences changed?
- The world is constantly giving rise to new trends in art and architecture. The 20th century alone remembers many styles - Stalinist art deco, functionalism, constructivism, pop art, Corbusian and then post-Corbusian modernism. Quite quickly, our country overstepped the period of development of postmodernism, although it is believed that over the years a very large cultural layer has been created. The highest degree of manifestation of minimalism in all types of art could not but affect our work, although we have resisted this for a long time. At the dawn of minimalism, it was not close to us due to its excessive formalism, when the main thing was form, expensive materials and sharp, flashy solutions. Gradually fading away, minimalism acquired completely different features - quiet, simplified, soulful - and I personally fell under its charm. I like minimalism, close to symbolism, spiritualized, filled with content.
All my life I was very attracted by the work of the architects of the 1970s - metabolists, who probably understood the best what architecture is. Their main principle is to live for today, without ceasing to think about the future. As for the passion for biomorphism, now we have gradually moved away from it, having managed to develop a good base of interesting projects over the years of passion. After that, there was a bright period of working with color solutions, a passion for Dutch architecture and much more. At one time, Le Corbusier was reproached for spending so much time and effort on the creation of Modulor, in the end he turned away from him - he became bored. It seems to me that a real artist is cramped in one direction. Of course, many architects choose their own style and hone their skills in one thing all their lives, trying to reach perfection. I belong to another category of people who are carried away by a variety of ideas, trying themselves in a variety of genres.
But there is an opinion that every architectural studio should have its own recognizable style, creative method
- I agree with that. Moreover, I am sure that our workshop also has it. It's just that my idea of the creative method is a little different from the generally accepted one. I repeat that an architect must be not only an artist, but also a philosopher. You cannot create something worthwhile without thinking. We always strive for the meaningfulness of decisions based on a certain philosophical paradigm. At the same time, it is important to work with ease, to love your profession and the people for whom you are designing. Difficulties in any manifestation - whether it be related to one's profession or the complexity of form and solutions - invariably affect art. It doesn't matter by what means the work is created - from tin cans with the daring of a modern installer or, in the old-fashioned way, with oil paints. It is not the style that is important, the aura of the work, its positive energy, is important. If an architect has been tormented by architecture all his life, then it will not bring joy to people. This is our method - not superficial, expressed in adherence to one specific direction, but internal.
My favorite artist is Wassily Kandinsky. By creating something simple, he opened the whole cosmos to man. It is impossible to explain why his paintings seem so beautiful to us, but we feel it. To some extent, all my works also address the topic of space. In one project, you can identify a flying saucer, in another - a rocket. My father was a pilot, and I grew up at a time when the main dream of all the boys was to become astronauts. Therefore, soaring and freedom are read in every work of mine - even in the grid of columns, even in plans.
How is the work in your workshop organized? Do young architects have the opportunity to express themselves, self-actualize? Or is the final word always yours?
- Several years ago I spoke with a young journalist who suggested that the diversity of our work is due precisely to the fact that projects are done by young employees, and I just put my signature on the finished work. But the head of a workshop is like a conductor. Even the finest orchestra will not sound for a bad conductor. We encourage the creativity of our employees in every possible way, give them the freedom to improvise. I appreciate the ease of improvisation. At the same time, in architecture, as in theater, any improvisation should remain within the framework of the general direction. You have to understand that in any case, this is a collective creation. Any of our products is the result of the efforts of many people.
There was a period when more than a hundred people worked here, this was a soap bubbles factory. Today I do not want to enlarge the format of the workshop. All kinds of people work in my team. Someone has to be guided, and there are those who have almost perfect hearing. The latter are more difficult to work with, here it is important that their views exactly coincide with your own. There must be harmony, but programmable and controllable.
For many years I have been working with my friend and colleague Konstantin Savkin. We managed to create a wonderful tandem, in which Konstantin is a thinker, and I am an artist guided by emotions and feelings.
What is it like for an artist to be the manager of a large architectural organization?
- Management is the most difficult art, it is a huge responsibility. I have to feel the developer, know what they are wearing now, staying true to myself and my design philosophy. Sometimes you have to work on the verge of conformity. The difficulty is that you are working with other people's money. The most difficult thing is to collaborate with government agencies. It sometimes becomes impossible to defend your idea. For example, while working with the Central Bank, we were faced with the fact that the customer allowed the Yugoslav company to distort our original idea. This is a boarding house in Sochi, an Olympic facility. We deliberately gave it a Sochi character, with a southern flair, taking the Stalinist style as a basis. In fact, so far nothing has been built better than Stalin's boarding houses in Sochi. But the project was redone - the irony disappeared, the figurative component changed.
How often do you encounter such misunderstanding on the part of the customer in your practice?
- Unfortunately, very often. Many of our projects were distorted in the process of implementation - somewhere to a greater, somewhere to a lesser extent. An interesting exhibition and trade center has been built in Veliky Novgorod according to our project. True, it was a little "cheaper" in the struggle to save materials.
In Arkhangelsk, we are about to finish designing a transport terminal.
It is hoped that the implementation of this important complex for the city will be better. This is a chamber work, it is very close to me.
But did you have any projects that you managed to carry out from start to finish without major changes?
- The project, which I am one hundred percent satisfied with, is a small house in Turkey, built for a private client. A customer still comes to us and says thanks for him. I really love this biomorphic home that is unlike any other. I think that if I had many such customers, I would devote my whole life to such projects. Of course, I built a lot. All my works are my children, but there is only one beloved child, no matter how scary it sounds. Today I consider this house a symbol of our workshop.
There are no such facilities on the territory of Russia?
- Not yet. But I hope they will. Great hopes are still associated with the construction of a bus station complex in Arkhangelsk.
What other interesting projects are on the workshop desktop today?
- We mainly deal with housing. There are large residential properties in St. Petersburg and the Moscow region. We also continue to work actively in Sochi. The geography of our projects is very wide - from north to south of the country. Unfortunately, at the present time we hardly work in Moscow. The competition system is gradually squeezing many architectural firms out of Moscow. Of course, if we have the opportunity to participate in competitions, we will gladly do it. But so far the situation is developing in such a way that one has to work outside the capital.
You said that you do a lot of housing. Is this a priority for you now? Or are there others?
- Housing is a given, realities of the time. My central theme is recreation facilities. Now we are developing a project for a sports school in the Sochi region. But really, I have always dreamed of designing a museum, creating some kind of symbolic building.
Recently, we got carried away with the design of environmental objects. Today the question of how to live is very acute. The way of living is not limited to building a house, here it is necessary to resolve the issues of human existence in the environment, in the city, in society. This direction was not particularly studied by anyone. It would be interesting for me to try to revive our neighborhoods and cities, which are dilapidated throughout the country. Russia is a huge country in need of ubiquitous improvement. I would also like to try myself in the landscape and park direction or to study the children's theme, left aside from architectural thought. And, of course, work in Moscow. It is difficult and anxious to work in this city. But you need not love yourself in Moscow, but Moscow in yourself.
Your workshop has always been presented at various prestigious architectural awards and competitions. Tell us about the latter
- Yes, we participate in competitions and exhibitions. Recently, our work was awarded a laureate diploma of the Archnova competition, our Sochi project won silver at the Interarch triennial in Sofia. We are often shortlisted, at one time we became the best at the Zodchestvo festival, received the second national developer prize, defeating a number of serious foreign rivals.
