At first glance, modern Berlin is almost the exact opposite of Moscow. Unhurried, comfortable, with a developed infrastructure of public spaces and green areas. Moscow, from the point of view of a Berliner, is chaotic and promotes conflict rather than dialogue, and the procedure for introducing modern architecture into the historical part of the city does not always pass the test of logic. In this pair, Berlin is synonymous with comfort and communication, and Moscow, at least until recently, with chaos and alienation. Its properties are urban disorganization, lack of systematic work on rethinking public spaces inherited by the city from Soviet times. However, this is only at first glance. Modern Moscow, like no other metropolis, strives to renovate and create comfortable spaces for communication.
Back in May, the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov, brought the New Moscow exhibition to the Berlin architecture forum Aedes, which presented the main competitive projects for the reorganization of Moscow spaces in recent years.
Now, the Berlin Architectural Gallery under the leadership of the architect Ulrich Müller, who, by the way, plans to further expand the geographic focus of the gallery towards Russia, has joined the story of the modern rethinking of Moscow's public spaces.
Dmitry Likin and Oleg Shapiro, partners of the Wowhaus architectural bureau, and perhaps one of the main converters of public spaces in the capital, brought the amphitheater to Berlin instead of the standard set of tablets and layouts. More precisely, they brought his idea - the structure was made on site, just a few days before the opening. The amphitheater, made of high-quality plywood, occupied almost the entire space of the gallery, being at the same time an exhibit of the exhibition and a functional object - sitting comfortably in its rows, viewers can continue their immersion in the bureau's work by turning to the video screen showing the main works of Wowhaus, or simply having a pleasant time with a glass of wine.
The appeal of architects to the genre of the amphitheater is obvious. The amphitheater is the most important and most readable archetype of public space, space for communication. The idea of creating just an object-expression perfectly matches the traditions of the gallery: Müller prefers more conceptual solutions to the standard set of architectural exhibits. Moreover, often these solutions are created specifically for the gallery and are objects or installations designed to somehow provoke the viewer to think about the purpose of architecture, immerse him in an atmosphere of dialogue and exchange of creative ideas.
The Wowhaus amphitheater is not just a tribute to history, but a kind of narrative about the works of the bureau itself. The amphitheater is the main architectural solution for both the Strelka courtyard and summer open-air cinemas (in Gorky Park and Fili Park). In addition, according to the architects' conception, the bizarre heap of steps of the amphitheater from the side opposite to the visual rows is just a kind of library of forms, created based on the projects developed by the bureau.
The space between the two structures of the amphitheater was designed as an entrance platform. Having got here from the street, the first thing a visitor turns his eyes to is a series of monochrome photographs of Moscow territories. These are the sites and areas where the Wowhaus objects were implemented or for which the Wowhaus objects were designed: Green Theater, Tverskaya Square, Revolution Square, Olive Beach (Gorky Park), Krymskaya Embankment, Strelka Institute. Thus, the task is set: rethinking abandoned or underdeveloped territories. The very space of the amphitheater-forum is one of the possible solutions to this problem, and, in fact, a forum for communication and search for solutions to similar problems.
The Moscow amphitheater Wowhaus, a forum built into the space of the Berlin Architectural Forum, brings together two capitals so different at first glance. The theme set in this way finds its continuation in a series of planned events: public lectures, film screenings of Russian cinema, informal meetings of architects.
The opening remarks were delivered by the German culturologist and writer Mikael Schindhelm, who is also known as the curator of research on public spaces on Strelka. Mr. Schindhelm presented to Berliners modern Moscow as a space of certain contradictions: the openness of multinationality and the absence of an adequate dialogue between cultures, huge green spaces within the city and their lack of development. At the same time, Moscow was presented as a space of enormous opportunities for transformation. And one of the main characters of these transformations today are undoubtedly the Wowhaus architects, says Mikael Schindhelm.
One of the main implemented projects of Wowhaus is the reorganization of the Crimean embankment. The once dull path along a narrow pedestrian sidewalk, for example, from the Central House of Artists to Krasny Oktyabr to the Strelka bar, has now been turned into perhaps the most pleasant Moscow promenade. Interestingly, the architects managed to actually build an architectural path from one of their objects to another: from Gorky Park (Olive Beach and winter skating rink) to the amphitheater in the yard of Strelka. Taking a look at the exhibition from prosperous Berlin, it becomes obvious that Moscow is becoming more and more pleasant to live in, and the transformed public spaces of the city center are also capable of creating an ideal environment for the exchange of ideas and communication.
