Archi.ru: - Sergey Olegovich, what architectural events of the outgoing year would you mark as the most interesting and significant?
Sergey Kuznetsov: - Perhaps, first of all, this is the summing up of the results of our two flagship competitions - for the Zaryadye park and the new building of the NCCA. The fact that we were able to organize these competitions and get such high results with their help seems to me a very important achievement of the year. Of course, these are not yet realizations that, if not completely change, then qualitatively enrich the urban environment, but the first real fruits of the initiatives we have launched. I consider the launch of work on Luzhniki to be an equally serious achievement: the planning project for the reconstruction of a large sports arena has been approved, which has been preserved, and a competition has been launched to develop a concept for the reconstruction of the pool. Among the significant professional events of the year, I think, we should also include our active work with various architectural bureaus to improve the appearance of urban order objects - residential complexes, leisure centers, kindergartens and schools.
Organized on your initiative and your direct participation, international and domestic competitions, undoubtedly, became the most discussed architectural topic of 2013. Do all the competitions you have held seem successful to you?
- All competitions have definitely helped to solve the problems that were set. Some of the competitions, unfortunately, were held in a very difficult initial situation, and, by and large, it is impossible to consider them as full-fledged competitions, since the starting position was not ideal. But if we compare this very starting position and the result, then it seems obvious to me that the work was not done in vain. Even the highly controversial competition for the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery played a major positive role in the development of the project.
The competition for "Tsarev's Garden" was just as controversial
- Controversial, first of all, was the original architectural solution, and this is not a secret for anyone. We could not allow an insufficiently drawn project to be implemented in such a responsible place for the city, so we did everything we could to improve its quality.
But in fact it will be a compilation?
- Yes. Compilation of the best projects. The joint work of talented and renowned architects who have become part of the team of authors, thereby strengthening it.
In general, a lot of criticism is caused by the fact that some project in our country first wins the competition, and then it is being finalized for a long time and thoroughly
- As a rule, it is still not finalized, but specified. This is a worldwide practice, and I do not know of a case when a project lost or suffered from the fact that after a more detailed acquaintance with the site, local legislation and mentality, some necessary clarifications were made to it. You probably mean the concept of Zaryadye Park: I noticed when people hear the words "swamp" or "tundra", they fall into uncontrollable anxiety, forcing them to make incomprehensible and meaningless generalizations. Therefore, I want to repeat once again: the Diller Scofidio + Renfro concept will not be fundamentally changed. Yes, it is very difficult from the point of view of implementation and will inevitably become a big challenge for the city, but I believe that Moscow will cope.
Did you have to develop an appropriate legislative framework for such a massive holding of competitions?
- The legislation does not provide for competitions, and this is still a source of constant headaches. In order to turn the tide and change the attitude of developers towards the very institution of architectural competitions, the Moscow Government this year, firstly, adopted a regulation for approving architectural and urban planning decisions, and secondly, a regulation on the work of the Arch Council. While there was no law on AGR, developers could agree on an architectural solution - as a result, this led to the fact that most often they came to approve buildings already built, if at all. Now it is impossible to get into the examination without agreeing on the external appearance of the building. The Arch Council helps to make the approval procedure more transparent, constructive and professional. Although, I confess, ideally, this body should sooner or later cease its activities, completely giving way to competitive practice. Today the Archcouncil considers about 30 projects a year - the most key and responsible sites for the city, which, in an amicable way, should all be submitted to the competition, each with its own jury. But this is already the next stage. As well as the completion of the development of new urban planning standards, which we are currently conducting.
Is the design code of Moscow streets still under development?
- Yes, so far we have launched only the first part of this project - signs, which, I hope, have become not only aesthetically more attractive, but also much more noticeable and understandable for both residents of the city and its guests. We plan to complete the street design code next year. In addition to infographics, it includes the principles of clear street zoning with the obligatory allocation of sidewalks, parking lots, cycle paths and outdoor cafes, as well as a number of technical principles to ensure the convenience and ease of cleaning and maintaining urban spaces.
And what about the squares? In particular, with the long-suffering Triumphal?
- I am an active supporter of interesting architectural solutions for all public spaces, be it a chamber square or the central square of the city. It is not necessary to hold a competition every time in order to obtain such solutions, but I consider it an indispensable condition to attract class architects to such work. Triumfalnaya Square is no exception, we are discussing with the Department of Capital Repairs the possibility of holding an open tender for this site, which is in charge of it. And we do it in good will order. Triumphalnaya is a matter of honor for us: we hold competitions, we are responsible for architecture, we sit on this square ourselves and cannot allow it to lose its role as a key and attractive public space in the structure of the Moscow center.
Unfortunately, Triumfalnaya Square is not at all alone in terms of its lack of amenities. Are you planning to work on other areas of the Moscow center?
- Being engaged in Triumfalnaya, we expect to develop an algorithm for cooperation between various metropolitan departments, the result of which will be the creation of interesting and comfortable public spaces, and then use this algorithm to solve other urgent problems.
