Several interesting interviews with the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, were published last week. Rossiyskaya Gazeta talked to him about high-quality modern architecture, iconic Moscow projects and the participation of Western architects in them. Answering one of the questions, Sergei Kuznetsov compared Moscow architecture with a parade march: “If the existing part - for example, Paris and St. Petersburg - I would compare with classical music, and New York with its Manhattan - with rock and roll, then Moscow with its Tverskaya, Kutuzovsky and Leninsky avenues reminds me more of a parade march”. During the interview, they also discussed the fate of the dormitory districts of the city, the development of the Moscow metro and the proposed bill banning the demolition of all buildings in the center of Moscow built before 1955: “There are no special problems with heritage protection in Moscow. Our laws on the protection of monuments are much stricter than in Europe,”the chief architect emphasized.
Sergei Kuznetsov told Interfax what projects the Moscow authorities will present at the international exhibition MIPIM, why special attention is paid to public hearings and why it is worth continuing the competition practice.
One more interview with Kuznetsov can be found in the electronic magazine "Buildings of High Technologies". Here it was about the objects built under the leadership of the chief architect, which were designed taking into account the rating system of green building and using high technologies. Kuznetsov especially noted the Water Sports Palace in Kazan, which was built using wooden structures and is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. Also, the chief architect told how the implementation of his task to turn Moscow into a city comfortable for life is being carried out.
The website of the Moscow Urban Development and Construction Complex has published an interview with Manuel Herrera, Bustren project manager for the Moscow metro construction. Herrera talked about the construction methods and technologies in which a metro station can be fully built and launched in just two years. According to the promise of the Spanish designer, the Moscow metro will become less noisy, however, the design of the stations will also change, tending towards maximum functionality. As a reminder, according to the results of the competition, Bustren signed a contract for the design of the Kozhukhovskaya line of the Moscow metro. And this is about eight kilometers of the line and four stations.
The Urbanurban.ru portal writes about the role of the urbanist in the formation of Russian cities. An urbanist in Russia becomes a hostage to the system. The authorities, as a rule, do not hear him; key decisions in the field of urban development are made rapidly and without the participation of the expert community. As, for example, it was with the expansion of Moscow, or with the placement of facilities for the APEC summit in Vladivostok and the Olympics in Sochi. Business turns to urbanists unless just to decorate an advertising campaign. And the inhabitants of Russian cities prefer to stoically accept any actions of the authorities and business.
There, on the website Urbanurban.ru, Pyotr Ivanov talks about the Sochi Olympics and how, due to the addiction of Russian officials to mega-events, cities risk becoming drug addicts.
"Komersant" writes about the fate of the Olympic facilities in Sochi after the games. A year ago, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak approved a program for the post-Olympic use of Olympic facilities, according to which Krasnaya Polyana should become an all-Russian center for ski tourism and the training of athletes, and the Imeretinskaya Lowland - a sports, exhibition and tourist center. At the same time, it is still unclear what objects and who will get it. There is no clear program of use, as there are no responsible persons.
Archiplip talked with the finalists of the competition for the design of the new building of the NCCA - Fyodor Dubinnikov and Pavel Chaunin, founders of the MEL studio. Young architects talked about how their studio was created, about their first steps in the profession, how they managed to reach the final of the international competition, becoming the only representatives of Russia, and how they see the new building of the NCCA.
While they are planning to build a new museum in Moscow, in St. Petersburg the "New Terminal" of the Pulkovo airport was commissioned on time and strictly on schedule. The author of the article published on Art1, Maria Elkina, considers Pulkovo-3 to be a modern airport in every sense with automated daily parking and convenient service. At the same time, the architecture of the building, designed by Nicola Grimshaw, cannot be called beautiful and memorable - just like the architecture of most modern airports, which perform an exclusively utilitarian function. “The new terminal is a victory of speculation over experience, design over man, blueprint over construction, showiness over efficiency. And at the same time, it is, of course, a monument to a bygone era of frivolous glamor,”the author concludes.
Another project under discussion in St. Petersburg is Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor. According to the chairman of the board of directors of Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor OJSC, Nadezhda Tushakova, in April this year, a house church will be opened in the inner territory of the shopping arcade, and by mid-summer 2015, the Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music. Writes about this "Nevskoe Vremya". And about what the owners expect from the concept tells IA REGNUM
In Moscow, however, the issue of restoring the Shukhov Tower remains unresolved. However, encouraging news appeared in several media outlets last week. So, the director of TsNIIPSK named after Melnikov N. I. Presnyakov explained to Kommersant that "the Shukhov Tower cannot collapse overnight." According to him, the tower units are indeed highly susceptible to crevice corrosion, there are damages in the horizontal stiffening trusses. However, we can only talk about the threat of the fall of individual small parts of structures (mainly rivet heads), which can be limited for the period of tower reconstruction by installing cantilever nets. At the same time, the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Lyudmila Shvetsova sent an appeal to the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky with a request to clarify the fate of the unique monument, as reported to RIA Novosti. In response to this appeal, the Ministry of Culture promised to take control of what was happening and inform the public about any step in relation to this architectural monument.
The results of the court session dedicated to the park of the Arkhangelskoye estate are summed up by Vedomosti: Renova received land from the estate museum for 1000 rubles. per hundred square meters, but on new conditions - without the right to build.
The program for the creation of pedestrian zones in Moscow was developed. Izvestia informs about the appearance of seven more pedestrian zones in the center of the capital, in addition to the existing eleven. We are talking about the Patriarch's ponds, the park near the Solovetsky stone, Bolshaya Dmitrovka, Ordynsky deadlock, Klimentovsky lane, Bolshoy and Maly Tolmachevsky lanes. While in Moscow streets are actively turning into space for pedestrians, in St. Petersburg there is a serious controversy around the main street of the city, Nevsky Prospekt, which is also proposed to be transformed into a pedestrian boulevard. Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti and Nevskoe Vremya publish different points of view on this proposal.
Moy District is concerned about the refusal of St. Petersburg officials to fulfill their promises to develop bicycle infrastructure in the city; instead, transport workers intend to turn the northern capital into a city for cars. And they want to solve the problem with parking using the Moscow experience - that is, to introduce a fee for parking a car in the city center. This was reported by Kommersant. The famous Danish urbanist Jan Geil, who has devoted his new research to the urban environment of St. Petersburg and its comfort for residents, promises to present his view of solving urban planning problems in St. Petersburg.
The site of the Irkutsk State Technical University tells about the results of the 15th anniversary session of the International Baikal Winter Urban Development University. The closing ceremony took place on February 20 at NI ISTU. Six teams presented the works of a three-week work on original projects for the development of three built-up areas: Barrikad, Deputatskaya and Jacobi. According to the results of the expert jury's voting, the leader of the workshop was the F team, which was engaged in the design of the Jacobi site.
RBC announces that an expert group of the Perm Ministry of Construction is considering 23 options for placing an art gallery. It is planned to adapt the building of the former river station for the gallery. The residents of the city were also invited to put forward their ideas on this issue.
Museum of Architecture. Shchuseva shares plans to create a branch in the Melnikov House. You can read more about this on the RIA Novosti website. An overview of the exhibition of works by Vasily Maslov in the Jewish Museum is presented by Radio Liberty, a video clip about the exhibition can be viewed on the State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company “Kultura”. And students and alumni of NI ISTU on the website of the Irkutsk State Technical University invite everyone to take part in the first open architectural festival "ArchBukhta", which will be held in the Angara region from March 6 to 10.
