The three leaders of the second round of the competition for the architectural and urban planning concept of the International Financial Center in Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye were named on April 8.
Recall that work with the territory of the Zakharkovskaya floodplain began in 2004-2005 (see Kommersant and e-ca.ru). Now the territory of the future MFC is a low-lying floodplain in the bend of the Moscow River, overgrown mainly with grass, almost without trees. In the northwestern part there is a large reservoir - Zakharkovsky quarry, flooded and turned into an artificial lake in the 1960s. To the east, there is a horseshoe-shaped channel of the Moskva River oxbow, which in the 1960s - 1980s they tried to turn into a canal, but were not completed. Two triangular sections to the north of the quarry, located closer to the Novorizhskaya highway, also went to the MFC. In 2012, the territory became part of Moscow (at the same time the southwestern "prominence" was attached to the capital), and a promise was made to build the Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye metro station. The competition was announced in the spring of 2013; according to its terms, the authors of the concept were to place a business center on 460 hectares, as well as residential quarters and social infrastructure facilities; From the very beginning, the MFC was envisioned as a multifunctional city with districts of different specializations, which was even reflected in its logo. Eight consortium teams selected to participate in the second round worked on projects for five months.
Three leaders
ASTOC:
A city balanced against the tide
project name: Upstream. The balanced Сity // Against the current. Harmonious city concept
authors: Team Moscow - Astoc / HPP
The main theme of the project, its authors made balance and equilibrium: in contrast to the widely accepted image of a financial center as a place of dense, oversaturated with energy, money and information flows - here, responding to the pastoral expanses of the river floodplain, Team Moscow planners proposed “a city that throbs 24 hours 7 days a week, while providing an opportunity to rest and relax. They proposed to combine the diversity of Manhattan with the quality of life in Copenhagen, complementing this union with the “principles of Cerda's masterplan for Barcelona”.
In the meantime, it is felt that in this project the emphasis is on residential areas. The authors straighten the ornate contours of the Zakharkovsky quarry, turning it into an oblong hexagonal pond. In front of the pond there is a trapezoidal square - the center of the entire settlement, echoed by small areas evenly scattered among the quarters. Along the bank of the Moskva River, the authors have located a strip of the natural park - green wedges grow from the park into the city, which, as they approach the main square, gradually become more and more equipped and turn into squares.
In the project it is proposed to “straighten out” the horseshoe-shaped line of the oxbow of the Moscow River, making it more gentle. The resulting canal echoes the coastline and string up the blocks, forming something similar to the Boulevard Ring (or the Moika River) - you might think that the layout of the residential part repeats the radial-circular structure of Moscow, while remembering the St. Petersburg canals. The authors lay a local tram line along the canal; the main highways connecting the district with Moscow are being transformed into tree-lined boulevards.
KCAP: Business on the Lake
project name: IFCity on the lake
Authors: KCAP Architects & Planners, De Architecten Cie., Buro Happold, Karres En Brands Landscape Architects, Mlab, Fakton and Prospertity Project Management
The consortium led by KCAP Architects & Planners put more emphasis on the layout of the financial center itself (IFCity), which the authors called, no less, the Financial Kremlin. However, the financial center is less like the Kremlin, and more like Venice. So, the authors placed the IFC in the same way as Team Moscow, in the northern part of the territory, but the banks of the quarry are not aligned, but, on the contrary, are complicated and indented, supplemented by several islands. Part of the buildings of the financial center grows directly out of the water - their authors have taken under the "campus", a venue for international meetings and conferences. The main part of the IFC, the banking center itself, was named in Petrovsky "Shipyard": "Sberbank's headquarters, the stock exchange, a leading rating agency and the Higher School of Finance" are located here. The mixed-use developments on the islands have been named “Venetian Lofts”, and the residential buildings on the southern shore of the lake have been given the romantic name “Wall Street Quarters”.
The authors of the master plan casually speak of other residential quarters, which, like Team Moscow, occupied the “abdominal” part of the floodplain, the main part of the territory, as if they were of the second stage. The river bank here is also given over to a landscape park, strictly quarterly buildings are lined with boulevards, but the river oxbow is no longer visible: instead of it, the lake is connected to the river by a straight canal dividing the town into two unequal parts.
RESERVE:
Variety in natural surroundings
project name: MFC Moscow. Business in nature
authors: TPO "Reserve" - Maxwan
Of the three finalists, the TPO Reserve and Maxwan projects have been worked out in the most detailed, detailed and rational way. It seems that neither business, nor city, nor culture prevails in it; although the dominant role of the MFC is emphasized here as well. The area is divided into seven districts, each with a very individual spatial structure, allowing for the greatest variety of experiences. And yet, rectangles with an orthogonal plan prevail here, superimposed on the curved lines of the landscape with chains of ponds (this approach is somewhat reminiscent of the concept of the Skolkovo innovation city, proposed a few years ago by Rem Koolhaas). According to the authors, this layout allows them to free up as much green space as possible; the transport structure is thought out in such a way as to reduce the dominance of the car in the street space and, accordingly, to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. The project claims high BREEM and LEED scores.
The financial center itself occupies the middle of the territory: a large rectangle stretched between a quarry-lake with a “marina” on its shore and a “city farm” on the bank of the Moskva River is named “Central”. Here, around the Sberbank building on the main square, buildings of iconic architecture, offices and headquarters are grouped.
The second largest rectangle of the "Park" area is separated from the Central by a strip of greenery, strung on a long pond, which originates in the lake. It is filled with residential areas with small courtyards, two boulevards and several squares grouped around schools and kindergartens. To the west is the "River" district, to the north - "Zaozerny" and the business residence "On the hills". The extreme western and eastern positions are occupied by completely green areas with a very free layout (as opposed to the rational orthogonal grid of the other five): this is the Golf Club residence (so appropriate for a financial center) and the In the Forest residence, a generously landscaped cottage community.
Five of the seven districts are connected by the Spine - a wavy road that connects important points: the church in Rechnoye, the library, the educational center and the mayor's office in Parkovoye; music hall in the "Central" and a museum in the "Forest" area.
The authors call their project “the first viable MFC in the world” and “the first one focused on nature”. In addition, an interesting scheme of layer-by-layer development of districts, proposed in the master plan, instead of the traditional development of the territory in parts by turns. At first, five main spots are planted with greenery (however, the development of the sixth and seventh regions begins already at the second stage), and then little by little each district is built up - thus the territory will be developed gradually, but the whole.
Other participants of the second round
XDGA: Slobodskoy circle
project name: MFC - Sloboda XXI
authors: XDGA, FAA, MDP-Buro, Happold-Morri
Here, the business core includes almost 80% of all development and is inscribed in an ideal circle, next to which residential areas are located."Business Circle", with an orthogonal grid of streets oriented to the south-west, three roads intersect in different directions, which creates a composition on the ground in the spirit of Malevich (from space, this version of the MFC would look like an enlarged version of the Skolkovo business school building by David Adjaye) …
The authors pay much attention to the gradual development of the territory - mainly around transport hubs, starting in the north, where a shopping center is one of the first to be built. Then dotted enclaves of housing and offices emerge everywhere, and finally, the downtown area expands to the circle outlined by planners, filling it entirely. Thus, development takes place in a gradual "natural" sequence, although according to a strictly outlined plan and within the framework of a rigid grid of streets.
According to the authors, their project has the qualities of sustainability, and will allow the new city to respond flexibly to "the poorly predictable future of the world and Russian economy."
SOM & Chernikhov:
Boulevard over the oxbow of the river
project name: Planning solution of the international level
authors: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Llp and Andrey Chernikhov Architecture and Design Studio Ltd.
The project, developed by SOM and Andrey Chernikhov, places several districts in the park's space: the main business district is inscribed in a square and is located on the eastern bank of the Zakharkovsky quarry. It is adjoined by two large urban areas ("multifunctional clusters" saturated with public spaces) - together they form the core of the city. It is complemented by: two districts to the north of the lake, located closer than others to the Riga highway - their authors call them a “catalyst for the development” of the entire MFC, and construction starts from here. The area stretching along the southern shore of the lake belongs to "high-density residential development", as well as the river district located to the south, on the bank of the Moskva River, these settlements, separated from the central part by greenery (and connected by roads), are actually suburbs.
But the main attraction of the project was the idea of equipping the Moskva River oxbow. Covering the channel with an enchanting roof, the designs of which are based on the engineering ideas of Vladimir Shukhov, the architects turned the horseshoe of the channel into a luxurious pedestrian boulevard connecting the three main districts. "The roof of the old woman" - the authors assert, - is a unique element of the new city. The water will flow as nature intended; in addition, all rainwater is planned to be filtered and returned to the river.
It is proposed to build the "roof of the oxbow" gradually, in several sections. An indoor beach, a sports complex and a branch of the Pushkin Museum are planned in its pedestrian zone. The boulevard will also pass through the archaeological area, where a museum could be set up. It is easy to see that this is the second project of all those listed, where much attention is paid to the channel of the Moskvoretskaya oxbow.
GENSLER: Castle Towers
project name: Fincap - the new financial capital in Moscow
authors: Gensler & Associates International Ltd
The Gensler project turned out to be more tall buildings than other concepts. The "new financial capital" is not built up as closely as the Moscow City, but outwardly it nevertheless immediately evokes associations with a "traditional" financial center, so it is impossible to make a mistake in defining the main function of the city. The towers in the central part and the quarters of Stalinist proportions around them - everything is separated from the riverside greenery by a wide strip of road, reminiscent of the Moscow Ring Road in miniature.
The lake turns out to be on the periphery of the territory, its contours of the lake are ordered, and in the place where it is necessary to build a bridge, the shores are economically reduced into a narrow strait. The park is concentrated in the southern part along the river bank, in it, pressed against the rural Zakharkov - three small cottage villages, which are echoed by miniature settlements on the river bank; these settlements are definitely perceived as "suburban", "Zamadovskie".
MAD: Space Snowflake Landing
project name: Forest city
authors: MAD, Arup, EADG
Perhaps the most unusual proposal. According to MAD, the city plan is a six-pointed star ("snowflake") with a perfect circle in the center. And if XDGA placed the business part in its circle, then MAD gave it to a park with artificial canals. The ring encircling the circle serves as the main transport artery. Closer to the ring, the tallest office buildings are located, then the height gradually decreases, moving to the "buffer" residential buildings, and finally, at the ends of the crystal there are social infrastructure and facilities intended for recreation.
The six legs of the snowflake thus fold into symmetrical clusters; the middle of the circle looks like New York's Central park. Around the "snowflakes" there is a forest, green zones, one of which continues in the southern part of the site on the river bank. This green strip is cut by a road on which fan-shaped blocks are strung.
PANERAI: City of Canals
project name: MFC: a new image of Moscow on the international financial market
authors: Panerai & Associes, Mecanoo, Henrich-Artigues-Bennasar, Jauzaproject, Buro Happold, Spectrum
The authors surrounded the Zakharkovsky quarry with a "Park of Culture"; the buildings of the financial center retreat into the central part of the territory, forming a rectangle there, cut in half by a wide, straight channel leading from the lake to the river. The business district is the "heart of the city", it contains not only banking and office buildings, but also a large shopping center. To the north of the port (it is proposed to start the construction of the city from the port), another canal leads to the city center, narrower, but also straight and with a large street on its banks. The authors call it "canal street"; city life with restaurants, shops and hotels should be in full swing here. The transport scheme is carefully drawn; the authors are planning two rings of internal transport: in the northern and southern parts.
The main, northern part is subordinated to two orthogonal grids, placed at an angle of 45 degrees to each other. In the "forest town" stretched along the river in the southern part of the territory, the layout becomes freer; it will house an international school, equestrian and sports club.
It is curious that this team is the only one that has publicly started talking about transforming the landscape in order to avoid floods (and they are right; the floodplain is a low-lying place and is surrounded by water on almost all sides).
The organizer of the competition is CJSC Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, the consultant is the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design.
