The names of the finalists were announced at a specially convened press conference. A team from Ireland entered the final of the competition for the best architectural solution for the design and construction of the museum and exhibition complex of the National Center for Contemporary Arts Heneghan Peng Architects, Spanish Bureau Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos and OOO "Mel" from Russia. All finalists received an equal number of votes. The fourth and fifth places, according to Sergey Kuznetsov, were taken by the projects of the American studio Steven Holl Architects and the team of Belgian architects 51N4E and OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
The members of the competition jury commented on their choice and their participation in the competition in general.
Giovanna Carnevali, Director of the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, organizer of the award of the same name - the main EU architectural award, stressed that “all ten projects presented were very well developed. All teams in one way or another took into account the nature and history of the place, everywhere the architects tried to preserve the memory of the airfield once located on the site. When evaluating the work, the jury paid attention to the flexibility of the space, ease of use and durability of the building. All three projects that made it to the final meet these requirements to the greatest extent."
Louis Becker, director and partner of the Danish company Henning Larsen Architects, noted the high level of organization of the competition, which turned out to be as open and very interesting as possible: “I liked the approach of the participants to work with a rather difficult site. The contestants found such techniques that made it possible to connect the NCCA with the park and the shopping center. They answered the questions: what does the museum give to Moscow? What is its functional significance? For me, it is important that not only an architecturally expressive building, but a “meaningful building” that actively interacts with the context, be created. The finalists proposed exactly such solutions, so I am absolutely satisfied with the choice."
Leonid Lebedev, a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and a member of the NCCA Board of Trustees, is sure: "Any of the three selected projects is a masterpiece of architectural art that will contain masterpieces of contemporary art." The competition, according to Lebedev, set high standards, which will be a good precondition for the implementation of the subsequent stages of construction of a new museum building - a unique complex that will become a cultural beacon and an architectural basis for the development of urban areas adjacent to the Khodynskoye Pole.
Bart de Bar, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, is confident that “the construction of such an object in Moscow will bring the city to a new level of versatility and aspirations. The finalist projects, with their clear vision and flexibility, will help take this leap forward.”
Let us remind you that ten teams were selected to participate in the 2nd round. Five of them took part in the competition according to the results of the assessment by the jury of the preliminary architectural concepts prepared by them: this is the UNK Project; WAI Architecture Think Tank (Edgar Garcia Landran); IE Barklyansky Anton Sergeevich; OOO Mel; Ghirardelli Giancarlo Architect. The second half was made up of teams selected according to the submitted qualifying applications (portfolio): Steven Holl Architects; Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos; Heneghan Peng; 51N4E; Alejandro Aravena.
The customer of the competition is the National Center for Contemporary Arts, the organizer is the New Art Foundation for the Support of Contemporary Art. The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design acted as a consultant for the project, which developed the terms of reference and provided assistance in organizing all stages of the competition. The funds for the competition were allocated by the Board of Trustees of the NCCA. The competition was held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of the city of Moscow, in partnership with the Union of Moscow Architects.
We present the projects of all participants of the 2nd round of the competition with author's descriptions.
Finalists of the competition
Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (Spain)
“The NCCA project offers many opportunities and options for using one space. The concept was based on the unrealized projects of the Russian avant-garde with their unique technical and architectural solutions, a powerful industrial structure and a factory typology that is used in contemporary art. Although globalization imposes some uniformity, the NCCA complex should have the characteristics and character of Russian culture, bringing life and dynamics to a new promising area of Moscow.
Artists, engineers and architects of the past created complex shapes using elementary combinatorics. Following the same principles, we decided to use a cylinder shape. The transformation of the volume allows you to create a number of rooms that are connected in various combinations. Exhibitions can move from hall to hall, while maintaining a connection with the foyer, which will be the functional center of the building. The halls are located in a non-hierarchical sequence and are located at different levels within large cylindrical volumes with a cultural function. Although the exposition has a vertical division, a horizontal airspace is created in the building, similar to a large street inside the building. This longitudinal ridge will become the heart of the NCCA and a meeting place for visitors, artists, researchers and spectators.
Despite the different heights of the exhibition halls, their functions cannot be clearly distinguished. They are versatile and therefore can be used in various spatial configurations. Four blocks are reserved for the permanent exhibition, and three for temporary exhibitions. The artists' workshops and apartments are located on the upper floors of the last cylinder, which houses the parking lot. The largest room, located at the main entrance, houses the main hall. Called Black Box, this multi-functional platform can serve as a venue for theatrical performances, conferences, film screenings and unique audiovisual exhibitions. Facade panels overlooking the park allow for special contextual media installations”.
Heneghan Peng Architects (Ireland)
“The NCCA is a vertical element in the center of the Khodynskoye field, towering over the place that was previously occupied by the airfield. The exhibition spaces are designed as galleries located one above the other. This allows you to both visit one specific gallery and view the entire collection as a whole. Due to the vertical organization of the space, access to the galleries is simplified, and the visitor can climb to the floor of his choice without going through the entire building. Exhibition spaces are located on the upper floors of the building, while the main activities of the NCCA are concentrated on the ground floor. The main goal is to create fast and easy navigation. The escalator rises from the foyer to the exhibition space, passes through the storage area and administrative premises as through archaeological layers, demonstrating what is behind the exhibition. The multi-level foyer allows you to solve various problems, using all the possibilities of the park.
The NCCA becomes the main link, the vertical axis, uniting the park, the Aviapark shopping center and the museum. The project also proposes to preserve the runways, and to set up a park in other areas. Skating rinks, flower gardens, skateboarding areas will be organized on the former runways."
OOO Mel (Russia)
“Due to the specific location of the new building of the NCCA - between the future park on Khodynskoye Pole and the shopping center under construction - it is necessary to create a flexible exhibition and public space, a territory of a new quality, saturated with cultural life and urban activity, but at the same time having a human scale and natural landscape.
The main functional spaces of the Center are located in a single stylobate - a "hill". A landscape park with pavilions is organized on the roof, where there are halls for permanent and temporary exhibitions, an educational and media center, a cafe-club and creative residences. The public space on the roof and in front of the NCCA building is represented by various zones that perform many functions: public, transit, natural, chamber, open, view, static, dynamic. The roof is decorated with different textures that emphasize the unique character of each zone. Various platforms for installations, outdoor activities, film screenings and lectures are organized here. The green coating thickens towards the edges and dissolves towards the middle, forming a walking route. The park also provides access to many exhibition pavilions, making it an integral part of the entire complex.
The first floor is a single communication space connected with the exhibition hall and pavilions located on the roof. This structure allows organizing a very flexible operation of spaces with different exhibition routes for visitors. Any pavilion can be entered through the park: this allows the pavilions to be used for independent large-scale exhibition projects.
Finished with slabs of natural stone and polished concrete, the pavilions resemble rock formations with a multi-layered and complex structure. The park space is an important place for comprehending cultural experiences, a transitional space from the territory of art to the urban environment”.
Participants of the competition in the category "Dossier"
Steven Holl Architects (USA)
“We have designed a building that prioritizes art. Orthogonal galleries with natural light are arranged horizontally. Open exhibition spaces with horizontal circulation allow the creation of multiple exhibition routes. We free up the area under the building to organize public space. The sense of volume levitation is achieved through the use of cable-stayed structures used in the construction of bridges. We deliberately focused on the ambiguity of scale: this will allow us to demonstrate the importance of large floating volumes and at the same time not interfere with the perception of materials and details. Artists' studios and residences are located at the top of the composition. The Flying Balka houses an art club - a cafe: “not just a museum cafe, but an important new place in the city”. Nearby studios have northern lighting as well as open spaces for work on the roof.
The south facing facades will use advanced photovoltaic technology to cover 100% of energy costs. The geothermal well system will work to provide heating and air conditioning for the building, and the high-performance envelope will provide better thermal insulation while minimizing heat loss. The thickness of the building is such that all spaces receive natural light."
51N4E and OFFICE KGDVS (Belgium)
“Despite the ever-growing public interest, the revival of the museum is a rare phenomenon that can change the perception of the area, city and even culture. We propose to create in Moscow a space that is constantly opening up from different sides, a platform for the development and exchange of ideas and experience. The new NCCA should have a conversation with both the city and society. And a spatial solution can enhance it. We see the NCCA as a place where the city, the collection and the public intersect. It is a shared space where artists and visitors can be active participants rather than passive consumers. Therefore, the center should become a space for interaction, and not just an exhibition. The concept is based on a combination of three strategic elements: screen, area and tool.
The new NCCA will appear on the site of the former airfield and will look like a huge screen - black during the day and illuminated at night. The NCCA seeks to establish a connection with the surrounding urban context: a shopping center and a park. The first floor rises to the shopping center and together with it forms a multi-level area. Conceived as a set of reimagined and sequenced spaces, the new NCCA offers flexibility without open plan. The center is a tool that creates conditions for something new and unexpected."
Alejandro Aravena | Elemental (Chile)
“The NCCA halls will be longer than the Tate, taller than the MoMA, and more impeccable than the Guggenheim Museum. The NCCA may not be the largest museum, but each of its galleries will be unique. The combination of several neutral blocks and one extraordinary will cause a lot of responses from the art community and become a magnet attracting public attention from all over the world.
The urban context on the construction site is still taking shape and the Center is surrounded by very different buildings. Therefore, the image of the building should be very calm and strong. A clear, direct architectural language is not only suitable for exhibitions. He must use the power of tranquility to give monumentality to the Khodynskoye field. We want to turn the backyard of the shopping center into the hallmark of the complex. At the top of the tallest exhibition center in the world, there will be a café and observation deck attracting tourists. Thanks to the spaces between the exhibition halls, the Center becomes a link between the shopping center and the park. The sloped foundation is the backdrop for outdoor cultural events."
Participants of the competition in the category "Sketch"
UNK Project (Moscow, Russia)
“Contemporary art is a thin line between the obvious and the unpredictable, the simple and the impossible, the understandable and the crazy, the indifferent and exciting. This is what moves our souls and motivates us to think in a different direction.
The building of the NCCA is inextricably linked with contemporary art and is an architectural embodiment of this edge, a border space, a kind of curtain behind which are hidden answers to the cultural questions that concern us. The building and the artificial reservoir with the area in front of it represent a single surface, a blank canvas, ready to take on any creative experiments. The monolithic wall 216x72 m marks the border and symbolizes the line through which contact with contemporary art occurs. Also, the wall closes with a curtain the entire technological zone of the Aviapark shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to it and the park. The main boulevard is the path to art, a white ray of light that, passing through an incision in the wall, refracts and illuminates the surrounding space of the park with spectral light. The image of the future building originates from the works of famous artists: "Black Square" by Kazimir Malevich (1915) is a "bent canvas" of the surfaces of a monolithic wall and an artificial reservoir, "Spatial Concept: Waiting" by Lucio Fontana (1964) is a "cut of this canvas ", Which forms the main entrance and the path leading to it. “Composition with red, blue and yellow” by Piet Mondrian (1937–1942) - Khodynskoye Pole park in front of the NCCA building.
The architectural concept expresses to many an obscure, almost hermetically sealed space in which the process and results of an intense search for a person's destiny and ways of realizing it are concentrated. And one can find oneself in this space only through an almost imperceptible entrance, an "incision" that opens the world of art to the seeker and the seeker."
WAI Architecture Think Tank (Edgar Garcia Landran) (China)
“The NCCA is a new epicenter for the creation, study and support of contemporary art in Russia. Based on the dialectical interconnections between the city and architecture, art and the public, landscape and building, the new NCCA changes the paradigm of modern museology. Open spaces blur the lines between building and context, between art and life.
The flexible autonomy of the Center's spaces, both inside and outside, makes it the first example of a museum as a city. There are no boundaries that usually separate the museum from the surrounding area. The organization of the volumes on the ground floor allows visitors to move freely through open spaces and to perceive the museum in a new way.
The park and the building are one whole. Paths organized according to the principle of harmonious symbiosis lead visitors from the metro through the park to the Center. It is a pleasant walk through a space filled with street sculptures and inviting the contemplation of art. The building creates a promenade where visitors interact with exhibits on display in the public space and on the building's many terraces. The ground floor is comprised of visitor rooms, artist residences, office space, conference rooms and collection storage, as well as three exhibition spaces of varying heights, intersecting at different points and creating a labyrinth.
The NCCA is not just an arts center, it is a manifesto building”.
IE Barklyansky Anton Sergeevich (Perm, Russia)
“The building of the NCCA is located on the border of the park on the Khodynskoye field. On its flat space, in crowded places, it is proposed to organize centers of activity by enclosing them with a group of trees or changing the landscape. This will create comfortable spaces of a different scale with a place to relax. The rest of the park is free for art experiments. The exits from the park are connected with the adjacent territories by paths.
The platform in front of the Center looks like a hill that draws attention to the building. The path to the NCCA is visible from any point in the park. The horizontal shape of the building emphasizes its relation to the park landscape: the center does not dominate, but is in dialogue with the park area. The building of the Center hides the mall. The north side of the park receives a new friendly facade.
The facade of the new building creates the feeling of a protected, warm space. For this, the main square is somewhat recessed into the depth of the site, and the outer pylons partially cover it. The smooth surface and austere shape of the concrete pylons contrast with the streamlined and translucent metal mesh that emits light in the evening. Climbing the hill, the visitor enters the main square in front of the NCCA. Compositionally, it is separated from the rest of the park. From the square you can enter the bookstore and the office part of the center. The entrance to the art club and the residence area is located at the topmost platform.
The multi-level foyer space combines all the main functions of the Center. A gentle ramp in a spiral connects all floors of the atrium. Spacious exhibition halls - of various heights and rectangular shapes - are connected at each level by galleries. This allows you to inspect the exposition not only from below, but also from above, to open or close a particular hall and to use the space more flexibly, directing the flow of visitors."
Ghirardelli Giancarlo Architect (Italy)
“The new NCCA will become a space for fans of contemporary art and artists who will look here for a new look at the world around us: after all, part of the task of art is to open other angles of view and thus change our own perception of reality. The experience of staying in this place will be like a flight: we open new horizons, allowing us to look at the world in a different way. Thanks to aerodynamics, heavy, full-cabin aircraft fly through the sky, leaving a long white trail behind them. Now on Khodynka, on the site of the former airfield, new driving forces with new functions will operate. A whirlwind of people, media and objects sweeping through this urban space will delineate new trajectories, leaving deep grooves that will become the contours of the new NCCA.
Thus, the building where the museum will be located must have a connection with the surrounding area and its history. Surfaces show the dynamics of thoughts and feelings that arise when contemplating a work of art. Upon entering, an amazing whirlwind immediately appears, similar to a dream and blurred in the autumn fog. At night, long shiny stripes on the building resemble an airplane track.
It is a practical, functional and innovative building, and at the same time, it evokes a chain of memories. This is a place in the city where you can walk at any time, night and day, reminiscent of the galleries of Naples or Milan of the 19th century."
All ten concepts will soon be exhibited at the Museum of Architecture. A. V. Shchusev. The final winner will later be determined by the customer of the competition, the National Center for Contemporary Arts.
The material was prepared by Nastya Mavrina and Alla Pavlikova.
