As we have already reported, the first round of the competition for the architectural concept of a park on Khodynskoye Pole in Moscow has recently ended. The ten teams that will continue to work on the projects were identified on December 16 and announced on the competition website on the 19th. The competition was held according to a "mixed" scheme, recently tested on the example of the NCCA competition: five participants in the second round were selected according to draft concepts, the other five teams - according to their portfolio. Landscape design workshop "Arteza" participated in two nominations at once, presenting both a sketch and a portfolio to the jury, and passed to the second round in the portfolio category.
We are publishing sketches of five finalists, as well as some works from the finalists' portfolios.
Contestants in the category "Concept"
Anatoly Kozlov, Denis Barsukov (Russia, Moscow)
Homeland Architecture (Russia, Moscow)
“One of the main goals of the project is to create a park that will become a new recreation place for local residents. At the same time, the planned location of the NCCA at the participant, the historical significance of the Khodynskoye field, as well as the construction of a new metro station on the site are prerequisites for the creation of a public space that is significant on a Moscow scale. Thus, the park should be focused on both local residents and visitors to the NCCA, employees of new offices and people who came to rest.
As a result of the analysis of the functional zoning of the surrounding territory, the optimal entrances to the site were determined.
The site is surrounded by several significant objects, such as the "Start" sports complex, the CSKA sports complex with adjacent open areas, the Ice Palace. The metro stations under construction, the Aviapark shopping mall, the NCCA and hotel and office complexes are starting points and, at the same time, centers of attraction for pedestrian flows. Diagonal directions are the shortest connections between centers of pedestrian activity. Thus, optimal conditions are created for the use of the park as a transit zone by local residents.
The concept of the Khodynskoye Pole park is based on the idea of partially preserving the former function and creating a modern industrial park, where you can not only relax, but also get enough culturally; park in the contrast of steep relief and absolutely flat surface, "green zone" and concrete field.
The construction of MOMO is planned on this territory. Given this factor, the concept proposes to create a symbiosis of park spaces with exhibition spaces. Object "wave" - the embodiment of the relief with bike paths and spaces for skateboarders, recreation areas, and walks as an exterior; and exhibition galleries connected by underground passages with the NCCA as the interior of this building.
The “concrete field” also has a double function, which combines the simplicity of space and the flexible structure of functional areas. In almost any given element of the park, you can yourself assign a function to name it depending on the season and actuality. For example, the preserved former runway can serve as an event space in summer and as a skating rink and winter fun in winter.
One of the important components of the concept is the perception of the site from a bird's eye view. The overall composition of the park should become a "visiting card" of Moscow for guests arriving by plane."
Creative Workshop T. M. (Russia, Samara)
“A network of boulevards divides the park into original patches. For the landscaping of the territory of each patch, we decided to use the theme of the views of the earth's surface from an airplane. Patterns of various geometries that we observe from flight altitude, scaled down and superimposed on the surface of the park, create a varied park environment: winding or straight paths, different types of lawn cover (by analogy with fields planted with different crops), etc. In addition to the fact that this concept turns the park into a picturesque canvas, makes each of its sections unique and interesting to walk, it refers visitors to the history of the place associated with aviation."
Maxim Kotsyuba (Ukraine, Kiev)
“The main task for us was to create a green oasis in the life of the residents of this area. We have distributed pedestrian flows on the projected site in such a way that local residents have direct access to nature, and visitors do not use this part of the park as a transit zone. We were able to come up with a scheme that would eliminate the crowds, since the public and recreational areas have conditional boundaries and different functional purposes. Thus, the streams of people directed to the museum and other cultural events do not intersect with local residents, who, in turn, need a piece of nature, remote from the urban environment of urbanized Moscow.
Since the main public transport in the district is the metro, the park area for workers nearby, as well as for visitors to sports and cultural events, we make it oriented towards this transport. The main axis of movement passes through the currently designed metro station "Khodynskoe Pole". For the population with a private car, we have created an entrance with an open area opposite the projected parking lot. For the convenience of visitors to the park, we provide another parking lot on the opposite side. There is access to the park along the entire perimeter, and the main accent of the main entrance is a group of wind turbines, which play not only an ecological and aesthetic role, but also resemble an airplane propeller, which is very symbolic for the area. The aviation theme is also supported by a cable-stayed bridge connecting the metro entrances. Wind turbines produce clean and cheap energy. It is not news for a long time that alternative types of energy are the future of modern society in every developed country.
Also, our planning decision was strongly influenced by the idea of creating a site that would unite a museum of modern art with a park. We achieved this by connecting the central entrance to the museum and the park area using ramps that flow into the area above the roadway. We consider this to be the safest and most convenient access to the museum. There are cafes in the ramps, which can be accessed through a large green lawn - a venue for concerts and other public events. In general, the entire public part of the park is full of art objects, there is an amphitheater, a metro museum, a stage. This prompted us to make a varied relief, ramps, bridges with a smooth alternation of paving, green areas in this part of the park. The recreational part of the park is made according to the principle of wilderness. There is a pond with islets, narrow paths, cozy meadows, bike paths. This zone also contains a sports area and a playground."
ARGE M2M8 / GLASSER & DAGENBACH (Germany-Russia)
“The park is formed according to the exedra principle and includes three main zones: an amusement suite, a parterre and a landscape park.
A suite of activities for active recreation is developing along the northern border of the park (multifunctional commercial zone). It includes: an economic zone, an administrative block, an exhibition, sports and attraction blocks. The last three are under glass roofs.
The parterre is the central culmination of the park's recreation. It is focused on the main visual magnet of the Khodynsky complex - the NCCA. This spacious open area is divided by pedestrian walkways into separate grassy squares, some of which are made in the form of inclined ramps. The space of the parterre is surrounded by glass canopies around the perimeter.
The landscape park surrounds the parterre on three sides and is intended for leisure walks. Artificial hills and reservoirs are created here, pavilions for creative and intellectual leisure are located."
Participants of the competition in the category "Dossier"
Landscape design workshop "Arteza"
(Russia Moscow)
"Arteza" participated in the competition in two categories: "Sketch" and "Dossier", and passed to the second round in the category "Dossier".
“We want to see a park on Khodynskoye Pole that is accessible and convenient at any time of the year for all citizens: pensioners, parents with children, youth, athletes. At the same time, the park should become an interesting and bright backdrop for the Center for Contemporary Art, which is located nearby.
We propose to divide the space of the park into two parts: one for the everyday use of the residents of the area who have been waiting for this park for so long, the other with a greater connection to the museum and the metro, where life will be more lively and active. The network of paths is designed taking into account the observance of the most convenient routes connecting all key objects: exits from the metro, the main entrance nodes to the park. In addition, the paths are designed to maximize the flow of cyclists and pedestrians.
The park will include areas for cafes, an art gallery for open-air exhibitions, children's play areas and a number of spacious areas for a variety of recreation. In general, the park should become a bright, stylish, comfortable space, planned in accordance with the world's best practices.
We hope that our many years of experience in the field of landscape architecture: planning large areas, working with plants, small architectural forms, will reveal new opportunities for urban public spaces and will serve as a guideline in working with the existing parks of the capital."
West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b. v. (Netherlands, Rotterdam)
OKRA landscape architects (Netherlands, Utrecht)
HOK International Ltd. (Great Britain, London)
Perkins Eastman (USA, New York)
UPD: In January 2014, there were changes in the list of finalists: instead of HOK International Ltd and West 8, Land Milano SRL and Lap Landscape & Urban Design, selected by portfolio, were in the second round.
The jury of the competition, chaired by the Chief Architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov, included Ekaterina Prokofieva, Head of the Landscape Architecture Department of the Moscow Architectural Institute, Vladimir Korotaev, Chief Architect of the Metropolitan, Marina Lyulchuk, Director of the Moscow City Park United Directorate, Marina Lyulchuk, President of INTECO Group of Companies Oleg Soloshchansky, Founder and President of Fundacion Metropoli Alfonso Vegara, head of the Za Park public movement Oleg Larin and others.
Compiled by Nastya Mavrina
