On the day of its opening, the exhibition, curated by the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, attracted a record number of visitors: it seems that it has never been so stuffy, noisy and crowded in the Museum of Architecture. However, this excitement can be explained: the exposition opened the next day after the results of the international competition for the Zaryadye park were summed up, and the concepts of all six finalist teams are presented there for review. They occupied an entire hall, and, I think, it is no coincidence that the farthest in the famous suite of the Museum of Architecture - projects that have already become the subject of heated discussions, crown the work done by the new team of Moskomarkhitektura over the past year. The name of the exhibition, in turn, perfectly illustrates the main vector of efforts of the team of Sergei Kuznetsov - to turn Moscow into a city convenient for life, work and communication. Exactly what tactics are used to make such metamorphoses a reality, and you can learn from the exhibition.
The first thing you pay attention to when you come to the Open City exhibition is the extremely high concentration of information. In contrast to the usual hanging for the museum, here the tablets are so closely fitted to each other that they form a blank case, a kind of hall in the hall. This, on the one hand, somewhat separates the presented projects from the historical walls, once again emphasizing their modernity, and on the other hand, it just makes a small exposition as rich and dense as possible: wherever the eye leads, a new project. And immediately there is a feeling that in a year, how much has really been done - Moskomarkhitektura really has something to report on.
Sergei Kuznetsov does not hide the fact that the main volume of the exposition was formed by the competitions already held - they occupied the two largest halls of the Museum's Enfilade. Here are all the most discussed competitions of the last year - contests for the Polytechnic and the Tretyakov Gallery, Tsarev's Garden and the second stage of the Empire Tower, the complex at Tverskaya Zastava and others. To the credit of the organizers, each of the competitions is illustrated not only by the projects of the winners, but by all the works that reached the final. On the one hand, this, of course, made it possible to complete the exposition to capacity, but, on the other hand, it creates the very field for discussion, from which, in Kuznetsov's opinion, the Open City begins.
However, as the chief architect himself constantly emphasizes, the city can become truly comfortable not due to piece bright volumes, but only thanks to the "connective" fabric, which allows citizens and tourists to enjoy not only point cultural centers, but also a walk from one to another. … The efforts of the new Moskomarkhitektura team are aimed at creating just such a fabric - a comfortable and rich environment for everyone. New public spaces are being created in the capital, the significance of structures with a social function is being rethought, the design of modern residential areas has begun - it is to these undertakings that another section of the exposition is devoted. New pedestrian zones, design codes of streets and squares of the capital, projects of social housing and new generation infrastructure facilities. “It seems to be the little things that are not immediately noticeable in such a huge metropolis like Moscow, but in fact it is they who ultimately make the city comfortable, open for life, work, creativity and communication,” Kuznetsov said.
In this maximally business-like manner, all the halls have been resolved, except for the first one, where the curator's manifesto is posted, newsreels about Moscow are spinning, and the opposite wall is made mirrored, apparently symbolizing the endless multitude of processes taking place in the city. The hall dedicated to the history of Zaryadye also stands out against the general background - the genre of historical essay presupposes a large number of archival photographs and drawings that “thin out” the exposition. The picturesque necklace of churches, the project of the eighth skyscraper by D. Chechulin, the bulk of the Rossiya hotel, the projects of Foster and Chigirinsky, the recent open competition for the park and a video film about Zaryadye in a separate nook - in other words, the most detailed overview of the true past and anticipated future this one of the most ancient districts of Moscow.
And, finally, the final chord is the hall with the results of the competition, in which, in addition to tablets, models of all six finalist projects are also exhibited and there are monitors on which the projects are presented by the authors themselves. Undoubtedly, this is the hall most demanded by the public, and the organizers emphasized its special status with the help of the layout of the exhibition space. While the Open City was open, the museum closed off part of its Enfilade - in order to get to the Zaryadye Hall, you need to go roundabout. As if through thorns to the stars. In this case, architectural. By the way, in a month in the same hall a meeting of the jury of the international competition for the project of the new building of the NCCA will take place, and its results will form a new star exposition.
