Alexander Brodsky and Ksenia Adzhubei invited their students to think about the problem of transforming former industrial zones into the space of a modern city. The theme sounded simply: "Factory". The territory of a recently closed paint and varnish plant on the Zvenigorod highway was proposed as a design site.
Alexander Brodsky tells about how the work went and what came of it:
“The topic that we have proposed is not new, but very topical. A specific and rather difficult site was chosen for the design. Using his example, students had to try to find new opportunities for using industrial zones located within the city. The first task was a detailed study of world experience in the field of redevelopment of industrial heritage, special attention should be paid to what has been happening in this direction in Moscow and St. Petersburg in recent years.
As an intermediate task, each student was asked to make a mockup of a conditional, non-existent factory. Here, they were given complete freedom of creativity, since they had the opportunity to independently invent some kind of industrial space, choose materials, etc. This was the artistic side of the study, as well as the huge amount of drawings and sketches that students, at my personal request, did throughout the semester. It seems to me that such work allowed them to better feel the structure of such territories, to understand their structure and specifics.
The next step was the preparation of a large general layout of the former paint and varnish factory, which the students all made together. Before that, they repeatedly visited the site, made sketches, took pictures. The material obtained by joint efforts served as the basis for creating a very beautiful layout, representing a fairly complete picture of the place.
After all the previous research activities, the students proceeded directly to the design. Their task was to find their own idea for the use of this industrial zone, its functional content. The first step was to develop a master plan for each student. We did not have a general master plan, which, on the one hand, significantly complicated the task, and on the other, made it more exciting, because everyone came up with their own concept from start to finish. In addition, as a detailed architectural assignment, students developed a project for one of the objects located in this area.
Nadezhda Istomina. Kinodom - housing for moviegoers.
The project involves the creation of a large cinema center with film sets, pavilions, film archive rooms, viewing rooms - everything that may be necessary for a modern cinema center. According to the project, it should occupy the entire territory of the plant. And in one of the central buildings it is planned to place housing - but housing not in the traditional sense, but intended for real moviegoers. The designed dwellings are located quite tightly to each other - like apartments in an apartment building. At the same time, they are organized around a huge screen on which films are continuously broadcast around the clock. Thus, the residents of the cinema house can watch a movie on the big screen without leaving the room. As a result, the author managed to create in an amicable way the crazy atmosphere of the cinema art reigning everywhere. The project turned out to be very interesting.
Maria Kurkova. Artists' workshops
Housing for artists, combined with a studio, is a popular and relevant topic for a modern city and, especially, for Moscow, where there is clearly not enough workspace for artists. Masha developed a project for such workshops on the basis of the plant, which is also quite often practiced in the world, but she did it in a very original way. One of the fragments of the industrial zone was worked out in detail, including a separate house for three artists. It housed a sculptor's workshop, as well as a carpentry and pottery workshop. In great detail and witty it was thought out how the masters coexist, live and work there. The project turned out to be beautiful and very romantic.
Natalia Kuzmina. Garages for citizens. Covered parking on the territory of the art cluster.
Here I would like to point out an ingenious architectural and spatial idea. The author's intention was to surround the entire territory of the plant, which is inhabited by a large commune, with a narrow tape of compartments that outwardly very similar to garages, but functionally intended for anything but cars. Small workshops, shops or storerooms could be located there. At its core, it is a fence, but a functional fence. A long walking path, overgrown with grass, runs along it. Some compartments serve as entrances to the territory of the commune, where all the buildings of the former enterprise are given over to living quarters and institutions necessary for the life of people. It turned out to be a very elegant and understandable solution.
The students worked very hard to reveal the topic, and, as it seems to me, they coped well with it. I am especially glad that the works turned out to be as diverse as possible, without repetitions, everyone managed to come up with something of their own, unlike anything else."
