Press / Nature in the city
The portal of the Moscow Architectural Council talked with Valery Nefedov, professor of the Department of Urban Planning at SPbGASU, about the prospects of the Zaryadye Park. In his opinion, "Zaryadye" can "form new tastes among the population, standing on a par with the world's ultra-modern parks." What we still lack is a natural framework - a network of interconnected green spaces that have been created for a long time in European cities. For this, mini-parks, territories of 3 or 4 hectares, are very important, since they are the ones that solve the social problem of parks. Nefedov is convinced that “it is the parks that are within walking distance - when, leaving the entrance of his house, a person here could go in for sports, just relax with friends or with children, witness various cultural events, that can change the way of life of the townspeople for the better”.
The portal also tells about the six finalists of the international competition for the concept of the development of the coastal areas of the Moscow River.
"Kommersant-Saint Petersburg" published an article about the attempts of developers to attract clients with "organic architecture". Such experiments are still rare, and their success is doubtful. The developer of the low-rise residential complex "Pribrezhny Kvartal" in the village of Lisiy Nos talks about his project: minimal felling of trees, preservation of the landscape and, most importantly, individual projects. Some of the houses "bypass" relict pines, somewhere trees grow right in the houses, the construction of "mushroom houses" is envisaged (there are architectural analogs of chanterelles, porcini, red mushrooms and even "chaga house").
Afisha-Gorod is examining the winning project in the competition for the development of the concept of Sokolniki Park in all its details, and The Village has prepared a photo report on the recently reopened Sirenev Garden, which was developed by the British firm LDA Design and the Moscow bureau Alphabet City.
What does Moscow want?
Boris Kondakov, the architect of the Research and Development Institute of the General Plan, told the Big City about one of the most important current projects of the institute - the creation of another historical ring in the capital, on which most of the avant-garde masterpieces are located, as well as several pedestrian bridges. The route of the ring “will use the great potential of the middle zone of Moscow, will connect a well-established urban environment, which today is perceived as a scattered and unconnected territory”. Kondakov's opinion about the practice of holding competitions is interesting: he evaluates it as very positive, but adds that there is "a parallel with the thirties, when there were also many different competitions, as a result of which almost nothing was realized."
The UrbanUrban portal asked Rustam Nasriddinov, the co-founder of the young architectural group IRRA (Irrational Architecture), why he and his associates want to preserve Luzhkov's architecture. Rustam explains that "architecture, like the trunk rings of trees, clearly shows what society was like at one time or another of its life," therefore it is important to preserve the most striking evidence of the era, which, undoubtedly, are the "House-Egg", the shopping center "Atrium "," New "hotel" Moscow ", theater Et Cetera and other" monsters ". However, even these young provocateurs do not want to leave Luzhkov's buildings as they are now, and they offer a lot of experiments and transformations.
By the way, the Strelka Institute, a generator of ideas for Moscow, is turning its Strelka.com website into a full-fledged online magazine about the city and architecture.
Foreigners in Russia
The Samara State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering recently hosted a workshop on the theme "Art in the City" with the participation of architect Vincent Sollier and designer Philippe Jouyat. Portal "ProGorod Samara" interviewed the French. In their opinion, the city's population density is too low, and the potential for new construction lies in abandoned industrial zones. They believe that it is not worth preserving everything, but “it is necessary to choose key places through which it will be possible to read the history of Samara's architecture,” and the choice should be made by the public. Foreigners also noted that there are no modern buildings in Samara: “the new architecture has not yet reached your city”: what we see here appeared in Europe 30 years ago. And the newspaper "MK Samara" does not seem to be new ideas of the French about the transformation of the Samara space: proposals to turn abandoned buildings into cultural sites have long been liked by everyone except the local authorities.
Berlogos magazine spoke with the head of the Valode & Pistre architectural bureau, Jean Pistre, who became a guest of the international forum in Yekaterinburg 100 + Forum Russia, dedicated to high-rise construction. *** Yuri Bolotov from The Village wrote for the women's magazine Wonderzine the story of Zaha Hadid's ascent to the heights of architectural glory in a very dramatic way. The author believes that “having turned from a paper into a mass architect, Zaha Hadid found herself in a trap: she became a fashionable superstar architect exactly when the fashion for such stars began to fade”. Right now, “leftism, frugality and a social approach” are in vogue, and “Hadid’s buildings are the exact opposite: in 2014 she was scolded for the inefficient use of space in her buildings, that her work is expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain, that she builds everywhere especially in China and the oil tyranny of the Middle East, where human rights are not respected at all. " The conclusion is completely disappointing: "In 2014, her unusual buildings are just buildings."
Blogs
“Big City” debunks popular myths and stereotypes that urbanism has managed to acquire: that there are no opportunities for a working person in cities for the creative and the rich, about the dangers of hipsters, about the favorable growth of cities and the attractiveness of low-built areas.
Arkady Gershman posted on his blog a project for the reconstruction of Astor Square in New York, which can be useful to our architects not only in terms of specific solutions, but also in the design of the presentation: it does not raise questions even for those who do not speak English: the landing pattern is clearly presented trees, examples of materials, types of lighting, etc.
However, not all Western experiences are all that good. UrbanUrban talks about how skyscrapers are destroying city life: they reduce the chances of neighborhood relations, lead to gentrification and inequality, are unhealthy, etc.
A film by Svetlana Rusakova "False" about what lies behind the false facades of St. Petersburg has appeared on the "Living City" blog. The short film, the protagonists of which are city rights defenders and the dilapidated house of General Zykov on the Fontanka, has already received an award at one of the international film festivals.
