This time the event was held within the framework of the International Urban Week. The hall brought together young and distinguished architects, representatives of construction companies, architectural critics and art historians, design engineers, designers, students from various cities - St. Petersburg, Moscow, Togliatti, Cherepovets, Berlin - in short, all those who are not indifferent to the future of architecture.
The nerve of the ARCH MEETING organized by FUTURA Architects is a professional conversation about the present and future of the architectural world. The topic for discussion this year was the issue of the commercial component in architecture; experts from various fields were invited to the conversation.
The meeting was set by young Moscow architects Alexey Polishchuk and Rustam Kerimov (bureau Portal and A-GA, respectively). In their opinion, a professional needs to maintain a balance between the two components of architecture - dream and reality. The aesthetics of residential areas of the urban periphery is largely determined by the market situation, and the architectural form here is very sensitive to the factors of construction practice, the ideas and desires of the developer, etc. According to Rustam's ironic statement, it is possible for a practicing architect to “cleanse karma” by creating public spaces that harmonize the “neighborhood” of historical and commercial buildings. In the best case scenario, established architects should give novice colleagues the opportunity to speak out and jointly find the best solution within the framework of professional competitions.
In general, the issue of the contextuality of the new architecture is one of the most important for historical cities. The creation of new forms and, at the same time, correctness in relation to the traditional image of the city were shown in the speech of the St. Petersburg design engineer, teacher of the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering Anton Smirnov. The path of historical St. Petersburg to the architecture of the future, in his opinion, lies through a small architectural form, and here one should not be afraid to use the achievements of Western architectural and engineering ideas.
A targeted examination of specifically Western experience in the field of urban development and the influence of commerce on architecture and vice versa became the topic of reports by the architectural critic Maria Elkina and researcher of the State Hermitage Ksenia Malich. Maria "led" the audience through the streets of Vienna, showing them the buildings of Adolphe Loos, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Dominique Perrault, and drew the audience's attention to the fact that in the long term it is an architectural project, or rather the famous name of its author, that makes "objects real estate”more successful commercially and attractive in terms of investment. The absence of a commercial component, combined with high demand, gives rise to the unification and "routinization" of architectural forms, which was demonstrated by Ksenia on the example of Holland in the 1950s-70s. Healthy competition and civilized development are effective tools for creating high-quality architecture.
Sergey Tchoban's speech (Moscow bureau SPEECH and Berlin workshop nps tchoban & voss) focused on the well-known weakness of modern architecture in comparison with tradition, namely, the lack of attention to detail and hence the loss of the weight and significance of the architectural image in everyday perception. Referring to the practice of his bureaus, Choban demonstrated that it is possible to achieve a harmonious unity of the exterior and interior of a building through the detailed study of all elements without exception.
At the end of the meeting, some more interesting messages awaited the participants: a speech by one of the St. Petersburg developers Anzor Bersirov, a critical video review of the Venice Architecture Biennale from the Italian architect Jada della Bonta and information about the "long clause" from the architect Oleg Manov (FUTURA Architects). Actually, the guests of the ARCH MEETING were invited to participate in the architectural graphics competition, the results of which will be announced in February 2015. Its theme will be the architecture of "Maximalism", that is, a certain ideological "antagonist" of minimalism of the 20th century.
In addition, the next issue of the FUTURA magazine, published by the FUTURA Architects bureau, was presented at the meeting. A distinctive feature of this magazine is the complete rejection of photographs and renders in favor of manual graphics. The quintessence of the publication is an appeal to the graphic heritage of the masters of architecture. This year, thanks to the support of the Sergei Tchoban Foundation for Architectural Drawing and the Museum of Architectural Drawing in Berlin, the magazine turned to the drawn fantasies of Lebbeus Woods, one of the brightest creators of the 20th century.
Another FUTURA of this year - an appeal to a non-trivial and even a little fanciful topic self-sufficiency in architecture, an attempt to "grope" this state through a word and a picture. An architect in his professional capacity is closer to the image of the Creator-Demiurge than other people: his ability to turn ideas, thoughts and the very breath of life, spirit into matter evokes the admiration of the uninitiated. But can an architect, being the creator of worlds, have another property of the Absolute - to be self-sufficient ? Should I?
Each new FUTURA yearbook is a continuation of the professional conversation that is born in the framework of the APX RALLY meetings. It is still unknown which of what was said at the meeting will be reflected on the pages of the next issue of the journal, but it is safe to say: the discussion continues!
