The international competition started on May 19 and was held in two stages: 79 teams from different parts of the world expressed their desire to participate in it, but the jury selected only ten consortia from six countries to participate in the second stage. Then, for two months, these teams were engaged in the development of their proposals for the reconstruction of the park, and on September 16, the day before the official announcement of the results, the jury chaired by the head of the Moscow Department of Culture Sergey Kapkov determined the winner of the competition. It turned out to be not an easy task: as the deputy chairman of the jury Marina Lyulchuk emphasizes, “each [of the participants of the 2nd stage - approx. Ed.] was worthy to take first place, and the winner was identified only by the total amount of points. " The meeting lasted more than six hours: the jury could not come to a consensus, and only the vote revealed the leader - the concept of Groundlab and Wowhaus, which will determine the strategy for the development of the park's territory for the next 15 years.
Naming the name of the winner of the competition, Sergei Kapkov noted that in this project the jury liked not only the architectural and ideological component, but also the well-developed, strong economic model for the development of the park with the attraction of extra-budgetary funds. So the economics of the project has become one of the most important evaluation criteria. In addition, the feasibility and environmental friendliness of all concepts were studied, since the main design condition was the preservation of the natural balance.
Sokolniki Park is one of the largest parks in Moscow. This is more than 500 hectares of green spaces, of which 200 hectares are a specially protected natural area. At the same time, most of the land (about 300 hectares), separated from the central zone by a road, is practically not used by the townspeople today. In this regard, the contestants were required to find a solution to combine the two parts of the park into a single natural complex. Andrey Lapshin, director of Sokolniki Park, noted that in all projects that won prizes according to the results of the voting, this issue is somehow resolved - and this also became a determining factor in choosing the winner.
The jury awarded the second place to the SokoLab project of the Franco-Russian consortium headed by Debarre Duplantiers Associes (France). The third place was shared by two projects. According to the voting rating, the third place was taken by the "Tea Time" project, prepared by a consortium led by architects Turenscape from China. However, the park management also really liked the project "Sokolniki Park: the evolution of heritage", developed by specialists from the Netherlands LOLA landscape architects, as well as professionals from Colombia, Russia and Belgium. In addition, the concept of another Dutch team MLA + B. V., In which the history of the park is delicately intertwined with modernity, was noted.
We present the projects that have won prizes:
First place. Embassy of Nature project
Authors: Bureau Groundlab (Netherlands), AB Wowhaus (Russia), Institute for Spatial Planning "Urbanica" (Russia)
Oleg Shapiro, head of the Wowhaus bureau says:
“Sokolniki is one of the largest park zones in Moscow, which, moreover, is geographically connected with Losiny Island. Considering the scale of this green area, we proposed to call the project “The Embassy of Nature in Moscow”. The main theme of the project was the communication between man and nature, carried out at various levels: from observing wild animals to planting and caring for plants.
The natural corridor of Losiny Ostrov, according to our concept, will be extended to the center of Sokolniki. This huge section of the park will become a conservation area outside the urban development of the city. Structurally, the body of the park can be divided into three types of use of the territory. The first is the belt connecting Losiny Ostrov with the park. In view of its primordial nature, this belt received the code name "forest" in the project. The second layer is a forest-park space that surrounds the “forest” and is much more accessible to the townspeople. Finally, the third part is a regular park located at the entrance to Sokolniki, where all entertainment and sports functions will be concentrated.
It was decided to preserve the historical multi-beam structure of the park, while each glade will receive its own function and will be decorated with specially selected green spaces. The transport scheme will also be significantly changed. Priority is given to pedestrians, however, it will not be possible to completely remove car traffic from the cross-section: it is proposed to separate car and pedestrian flows, separately providing for overpasses for animals between Sokolniki and Losiny Island.
Particular emphasis is placed on the economic concept of the park's development, according to which the activities of the expo center and sports facilities will be actively developed."
The jury members noted the special functionality of the proposal, given the careful attitude of the project to the history of Sokolniki and its compliance with the spirit of the park.
Second place. SokoLab project
Authors: Debarre Duplantiers Associes (France), Ingerop (France), Prostor (Russia), Fetish Film (Russia), RDNK (Russia)
In this project, the jury members liked the detailed study and thorough research of the park's features.
Third place. Project "Park Sokolniki: evolution of heritage"
Authors: Lola Landscape architects (Netherlands), AZON Architectural Group (Russia), Taller 301 (Colombia), Land + Civilization Compositions (Netherlands), Symboisis Grontmij Belgium NV (Belgium), Studio Transformer (Russia), Polyester
The elegance and simplicity of the proposals and their implementation are noted. So, on one of the glades, the authors proposed to create a walking promenade surrounded by palm trees, and on the site of greenhouses to lay out a large lawn sowed with lawn.
Third place. Project "Tea Time"
Authors: Turenscape (China), KB Strelka (Russia), MIX Design Studio, AECOM LLC (Russia)
The authors came up with a new conceptual name for the park: "Park-samovar". The project focuses on the traditions of Russian tea drinking. The entire park space is filled with all sorts of thematic areas where you can stop and have tea.
*** According to the results of the competition, an exhibition of all projects of the finalists will be open on the territory of Sokolniki Park for a month. According to Andrey Lapshin, the most interesting ideas of the winners of the competition will be used in the implementation of the park reconstruction project, and their authors will be involved in the project in certain areas. Sergei Kapkov also noted that the solutions proposed by the architects in this competition will be highly demanded by the city, since the implementation of the program for the transformation of park territories approved by the mayor of Moscow is planned for the near future: to date, more than a hundred park spaces have already been transferred to the Department of Culture, which has been tasked with them. reconstruction until 2017
List of jury members:
Jury Chairman - Sergey Kapkov, Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Department of Culture of the City of Moscow;
Deputy Chairman of the Jury - Marina Lyulchuk, Director of GKU "United Directorate" Mosgorpark ";
Deputy Chairman of the Jury - Olga Gritsan, Head of the Department for the Development of Park Areas, GKU "United Directorate" Mosgorpark ";
Julia Kudryashova, Deputy Head of the Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection of the city of Moscow;
Digby Wit, Chief Executive Officer of the International Federation of Parks and Recreation Directorates;
Evgeny Ass, rector of the architectural school MARCH;
Taisiya Volftrub, President of the Association of Landscape Architects of Russia, Chief Landscape Architect of the AMPIR architectural bureau
Elena Gonzalez, architectural critic, curator of the "Archmoskva" exhibition;
Elena Solovieva, head of the research and design association "Regulation of urban planning activities in historical territories and territories of protection zones of cultural heritage sites" State Unitary Enterprise "NIiPI of the General Plan of Moscow";
Gabriele Filippini, architect, professor, head of Studio Arch Gabriele Filippini;
Guillermo Peñyalosa, an expert in the development of urban parks, the development of mobility and the involvement of residents in transforming the urban environment, executive director of the Canadian organization 8-80 Cities;
Muriel Russo-Ovchinnikov, creator and creative director of the agency "Lieu Commun";
Evgeniya Galetka, managing partner and CEO of the Journey event agency;
Yulia Shakhnovskaya, Director of the Polytechnic Museum;
Natalia Danilina, Director of the Ecological and Educational Center "Zapovedniki".
Natalia Matveeva, Head of the Sector of Landscaping Monuments of the Directorate for the Preservation of Special Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow.
