The development of public spaces in Moscow has become extremely relevant in recent years. The Public Council under the Mayor of Moscow is addressing this issue for the second time. Its meeting took place in Sokolniki Park on Monday, December 9th.
Peter Biryukov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Housing and Communal Services and Improvement, reminded the audience that only last year the council discussed the Crimean Embankment project, and today it has already been successfully implemented. Recently, many existing city parks have been equipped in Moscow and new, national parks have been created. Pedestrian zones are being systematically organized: next year, Pyatnitskaya, Pokrovka, Znamenka, and possibly Maroseyka and Varvarka streets will be closed for cars.
The meeting on Monday was devoted to the fate of two iconic squares - Triumfalnaya and Revolution squares, as well as the concept of development of Vorobyovy Gory, which in November this year were added to Gorky Park and Neskuchny Garden.
About the transformation of Gardeners Park and the Lilac Garden told
Andrew Harland, landscape architect from Great Britain, partner of LDA Design, one of the authors of the Olympic Park project in London.
Both projects were developed by LDA Design together with the Alphabet City bureau, which was responsible for the landscape design of the renovated Krymskaya Embankment. According to the proposed plan, in Sadovniki Park, located in the Southern District of Moscow, a grid of new pedestrian paths will appear, taking into account spontaneously arisen routes, and the transit road to the metro will become a wide and bright alley. Also, comfortable urban furniture and a well-thought-out lighting scheme will appear in the park, in particular, it is proposed to accentuate the central entrance to the park with a group of lamps. As for the Lilac Garden in the area of Shchelkovskoye Highway, here, first of all, the uniqueness of the place was taken into account - the park is based on the nursery created by the famous Soviet lilac breeder Leonid Kolesnikov. Many varieties planted by him still grow in the park. The authors of the project suggested only slightly supplementing the picture with new plantings, breaking additional flower beds from perennial plants. The garden is proposed to be divided into two main functional areas: a walking area, conventionally called a "botanical garden" because of the variety of lilac varieties presented, and the Walled Garden area with flower gardens and greenhouses. A central alley will pass between them, a large fountain and even a lilac monument will appear.
Olga Zakharova, Director of the Central Park of Culture and Leisure Gorky, presented Sparrow Hills development plan, whose history dates back to the 15th century. In the 18th-19th centuries, the territory of Vorobyovy Gory, Neskuchny Garden and Gorky Park was a single whole, and today it is proposed to return to this historical integrity. Gorky Park and Neskuchny Sad already exist as one park space. To join the Sparrow Hills, according to Olga Zakharova, first of all, it is necessary to overcome the transport and pedestrian isolation of the place, focus on the development of public transport, connect the park with a metro station, bus stops, and also with three berths on the Moskva River. It is equally important to solve the problem with lighting, carry out anti-landslide works, allocate an entrance group, and tidy up the cable car. After that, you can think about repairing the observation deck, embankments, as well as existing roads and paths. It is planned to create numerous cycle paths: one of them will run from Muzeon Park to Victory Park, its total length will be 16.7 km. It is equally important to link Vorobyovy Gory to the Luzhniki stadium. One of the primary tasks will be the year-round use of the park: for this, it is planned to fill the ice rink, arrange cross-country ski trails, and build snowboard slopes in the winter.
Oleg Shapiro
partner of the WOWHAUS architectural bureau, member of the Board of Trustees of the Strelka Institute, presented reorganization project of the Revolution Square … According to this project, Voskresenskaya Square will be decorated with lanterns and street benches. It is even planned to plant trees here, and turn the gray volumes of ventilation shafts into screens for video art. The view of the preserved Kitaygorodskaya wall from the side of the square is, according to Shapiro, one of the best panoramas of old Moscow, which is now closed by a one-story restaurant. It is proposed to demolish the restaurant and create a walking route in its place. Next to it, as conceived by the authors, there will be an open-air museum of Moscow lanterns. The space between the two hotels - "Moscow" and "Metropol" - which has been turned into a parking lot, should at least partially be returned to pedestrians and greened, and two passages along the Karl Marx Square should be narrowed. The passage between the Kitaygorodskaya wall and the Metropol will be turned into a pedestrian street with bright shop windows and outdoor cafes. A pedestrian crossing will be made between the Bolshoi Theater and Teatralnaya Square. Thanks to these not too radical measures, it will be possible to streamline pedestrian flows, in particular, to organize and distribute transit from the metro.
Dmitry Likin, partner of the WOWHAUS architectural bureau, member of the Board of Trustees of the Strelka Institute, told on plans for the reconstruction of Triumfalnaya Square … To date, different authors have developed four strikingly different design proposals for this object: from the most careful, taking into account all existing restrictions, protected zones and neighborhood with such architectural monuments as the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and the Pekin Hotel, to a very radical and almost unrealizable. Likin dwelled in detail on the project developed by the WOWHAUS bureau, which is a bold solution, but not opposed to the context. As conceived by the authors, the entire area is planned to be paved with red paving stones, the designers want to “raise” the “edge” from the side of Tverskaya Street by organizing there a small pavilion that goes half a level underground. The area around the monument to Mayakovsky will be preserved, minimal landscaping will appear on the square and near the entrance to the metro, and the main diagonal route of pedestrians from the metro to Brestskaya Street will be flanked by small columns that will serve as lanterns in the dark, and as screens with a running line, broadcasting quotes from the works of Vladimir Mayakovsky. Alternatively, instead of posts, benches with the same creeping line may appear. As for the transport scheme, it is proposed to consolidate the existing situation, when the direct passage from the Garden Ring to Tverskaya Street is closed.
The last to make his report was
Alexander Vysokovsky, Dean of the Graduate School of Urbanism.
He spoke about the principles of interaction between the executive authorities and the city community in the development of public spaces. Improving the quality of the urban environment, according to Vysokovsky, is possible only with the correct interaction of all stakeholders. It is important here to increase the responsibility of the population, and to stimulate the development of local communities, and to develop solutions that would ultimately meet the demands of the townspeople. Another important point in the work on the development of parks and other public areas is the development of regulations. So, at present, together with the Department of Culture and the Directorate of the Moscow City Park, regulations are being prepared for pedestrian zones. So far, eleven of them have been identified, and each requires its own individual approach. Among the promising tasks are the creation and development of national parks, for example, the Pechatniki park, as well as the improvement of residential areas, which involves not only current repairs, but a comprehensive transformation of the environment with the active involvement of residents in this process.
Concluding the discussion, Pyotr Biryukov promised that the presented projects will be submitted for public discussion, after which the issue of their implementation will be decided.
