The blogs of architects and urbanists "digest" the International Urban Forum that took place the day before. The range of events this time was so wide that some participants, for example, Alexander Antonov, experienced real stress, torn between several parallel sessions. However, the diversity has brought unnecessary confusion, the urbanist believes, and a number of problematic issues remained "under-discussed." Some made an attempt to complete them online, discussing until late at night in the RUPA group after the closure of the Manezh. In general, the FUF turned out to be such a "show for urbanists", writes Alexander Antonov, it is not even worth comparing it with professional conferences. Elena Gonzalez is of the same opinion - the format is more suitable for personal meetings, when everything is in one place, and conversations on the sidelines. But for the capital's leadership, the Forum turned out to be an excellent PR event, "and, moreover, predominantly export-oriented," Antonov clarifies, "the authorities' disguise of their real plans and actions to transform the city with various populist maneuvers has clearly emerged."
“In Russia now, smart people are not needed with their innovations. Sometimes they are shown to the world as a kind of fashion accessory, - comments the Urbanforum user Nikolay Nikolay. - I am here with alarm begin to understand that the concept of a superpark, which was discerned in the microdistricts of the 70-80s, will be used to promote panel housing construction in the new lands of the South-West, the park is the same! " In general, in the opinion of bloggers, it was not possible to balance between "good-looking hell" and generation of ideas. Well, in the part “about generating ideas”, the project “Archeology of the Periphery” was recognized as the most successful. Alexander Lozhkin publishes his part of a large collective work in his LiveJournal. This article is about a two-stage planning system, about the need for master plans and a "strategic approach" to urban development.
Another interesting discussion in the RUPA group touched upon the acute problem for architects of protecting their "professional meadow" from the ever-increasing pressure of foreign competitors. Olga Sarapulova, who initiated the conversation, sneers at the Union of Architects of Russia, which, according to her, constantly “saves” the profession of an architect from someone. “Explain why the older generation is convincing about the need to create some strange institutions-chambers-councils, the main purpose of which is to“protect”the profession of architect and planner? And why will Russia's accession to the WTO kill Russian urban planning science? " Integration into the world market is undoubtedly a necessary thing, supported by Valery Nefedov, because the protection of the market from "outsiders" is an obstacle on the way to progress. China, the user believes, does not set itself such barriers - there, by our standards, there is simply the dominance of foreign designers who raise the general level of the profession. Integration can be different, notes, in turn, Alexander Antonov; "Dragging a tablet behind not the most prominent representatives of Western urbanism and drawing presentations for utopian ideas" is not the best option, but this is exactly what we have. But Yaroslav Kovalchuk believes that the WTO does not threaten the profession, simply because “there is no urban planning science in Russia”: “A handful of researchers with serious publications do not count. They just do not worry that the WTO can kill something. How can you kill something that is not there?"
It is accepted all over the world to protect "their own clearing" by architects, notes Dmitry Khmelnitsky, who joined the discussion, but this is unlikely to compensate for the lack of "healthy working conditions" in the Russian workshop. In the architect's blog, meanwhile, there was a repost of yet another controversy - this time around the architecture of the pre-Olympic Sochi, or rather, the buildings of the Gorki Gorod resort (Media Village of the Olympics) designed by Mikhail Filippov. Khmelnytsky sneers - "a great way to undermine the mental strength of foreign athletes." It is impossible for a modern architect to build something like that "seriously", the author of the blog is sure; "A parody, an anecdote", "mad eclecticism" - his readers agree. But in the blog e_u_r, who published photos of Sochi new buildings, there are completely different comments. “There is a simulacrum on the theme of ancient ruins and a historical city,” writes, for example, a_pollaiolo, “these arches, in places in volume, and in places as if painted on the facades…. It turns out a settlement that grew up on an ancient Roman aqueduct, where quite dissimilar elements are combined in separate cells. I am not saying that this is a drawback; rather, on the contrary, it is original. " The author of the blog notes that during the construction "they screwed up a lot": "You can clearly see where Filippov managed to give out a worker and where not." However, even with flaws, "a little smack of postmodernism, but generally pleasing to the eye", concludes a_pollaiolo.
For lovers of classical architecture, Andrei Chekmarev, a permanent member of the Architectural Heritage community, has prepared another wonderful selection of graphics - this time drawings by Domenico Gilardi, the brightest architect of the Moscow Empire style. And the author of the blog mgsupgs.livejournal.com invites you to familiarize yourself with the drawings and archival photographs of the miracle of 19th century building thought - the London Crystal Palace - in the light of the plans of a Chinese philanthropist to restore it.
At the end of the review - about the disasters of the Moscow city and regional branches of VOOPIIK, which the city authorities are evicted from the so-called. House of Teleshov, rumored to have been prepared by the Higher School of Economics. The development of the situation is constantly commented on in his blog by the chairman of the Council of the regional branch, Evgeny Sosedov, according to whom, the Moscow authorities are spreading a "vile release" that the defenders of the heritage are occupying the mansion illegally. “What is significant, there is not a word about the Moscow regional branch of VOOPIiK, that is, a whole organization that has one room in the house, instead of the churches and buildings transferred to the city on the street. Barbarian, in general, must dissolve somewhere! " - concludes the city protector. The other day, "Arhnadzor" also made a petition to preserve the oldest city protection organizations of the capital in the House of Teleshov.
