The "Golden Section" festival currently taking place at the Central House of Arts lasts for an unusually long time, as much as ten days, and is full of events and activities almost like "Architecture" - largely thanks to the same curators: Nikita and Andrei Asadov. We asked the fellow curators a few questions.
Archi.ru:
The "Golden Section" is a famous festival, its heyday came in the nineties, when the new architecture of independent Moscow bureaus was shown at the festival, the "section" was downright a hymn to this new architecture of the nineties. But then, somewhere since 2005, the festival is endlessly reformed, as if trying to find its place in the new world. Attention to the question: how do you think this year's Golden Section differs from previous ones?
Nikita and Andrey Asadov:
We were responsible for the block of special projects (just like it was at Zodchestvo last year), and tried to set a certain general discourse, the “theme of the year”, which both exhibition projects and discussions within the festival could reveal. The topic was jointly chosen by the expert council and sounds like "Moscow: RELOADED". Further, as at Zodchestvo, we assembled a wonderful team of curators, which this time consisted mainly of young Moscow architects, burning with new ideas and ready to share them with others. The result was about six special projects, as well as a number of thematic round tables and discussions.
Among them:
- "Deleted Files / Victims of Restart" (curated by Mikhail Korolev and Rustam Kerimov), a project on protecting a vanishing heritage, with a round table of the same name;
- "Arch-Regiment" (curated by Rustam Kerimov and Ilya Mukosey), a project that allows a glimpse into the architectural kitchen, and consists of two parts: a photo collection of arch-shelves of famous and beginning Moscow bureaus and a series of real shelves, a kind of "credo" of young architects. Within the framework of the project, presentations of the participating bureaus will take place;
- “A pedestrian in the center of Moscow” (curated by Alexei Nevzorov) - a “squeeze out” of the most interesting and at the same time realistic ideas of the youth show “Perspektiva” -2014, with a discussion of the same name;
- "ThoughtsVsluh_Moscow" (curated by Yekaterina and Anastasia Geraskina): thoughts of eminent and young Moscow architects on how to wake up the sleeping areas of Moscow and make them more human;
- "Moscow. Details”(curated by Oleg Raspopov), a photography competition dedicated to the study of the uniqueness of Moscow architecture;
- "Yachts-skyscrapers" (curated by Alexander Zalavsky), unique architectural objects made of wood, a fusion of architecture and sculpture.
Now let's look at the other side: Andrey and Nikita, you were the curators of the non-profit program of the Zodchestvo festival, which took place in December 2014. Did you already know then that you would be in charge of the Golden Section?
Nikolai Ivanovich Shumakov offered us to become curators of the Golden Section directly at the Zodchestvo festival. Moreover, the task was more difficult: to create content-quality content in the absence of a budget. But we, who had the experience of "Cities", were not embarrassed by this task.
What is the difference between “Zodchestvo” and “Golden Section” from the point of view of curators? How do you feel about both festivals?
Of course, the "Golden Section" is more chamber and compact, but this makes it no less meaningful. From the point of view of spatial organization, here we had a goal - to breathe new life into the Architect's House and use all its space for exhibition projects.
And the global difference between the festivals is that if the “Golden Section” is about Moscow, then “Zodchestvo” is about the whole of Russia.
And finally, what was your curatorial idea and how did you manage to implement it?
The curatorial intention was an attempt to set a semantic discourse for the event, to fit all special projects into a common canvas of “rebooting” urban spaces to meet the needs of the emerging society. This is partly implemented in exhibition projects, but most of it will be implemented in the form of discussions and round tables - it is precisely in discussing the ongoing transformations of Moscow and adjusting the vector of changes with all participants in the process that, in our opinion, is the meaning of the Golden Section Festival.
Do you seriously think that it is being born? According to some signs, he is about to die … By the way, you have one photograph from the opening there - everyone is standing under the inscription “Union of Soviet Architects”. How Soviet is it, is it a society?
The fact that quite active changes are taking place today in all spheres of life, including architecture, today is felt by almost everyone. Not everyone agrees on what sign to put in these changes - plus or minus, comma or period. So the theme of the festival exists in two spellings: "Moscow: RELOADED" and "Moscow: RELOADED?" It would seem a trifle, but it quite clearly reflects the uncertainty as a result and even the very fact of the changes that are taking place in the city today - is it a cosmetic repair, or the result of much deeper phenomena that finally manifested themselves on the surface? And in general, what was it - the dying cry of a new society, or the first cry of a nascent class, or both at the same time?
There is no doubt that society is now Soviet, just as it is post-Soviet and neo-Soviet. This is also a question of the sign. Soviet society of the 20s and 30s, 60s and 80s are completely different societies, with different attitudes and goals, a sense of the present and perception of the future, different architectural and spatial embodiment of their ideals. And, all the same, each time this architecture is new, identical to its society and relevant for its time, each time criticizing its past in a new way, seeing the future in a new way and each time changing its sign to the opposite.
What are the most interesting projects of the non-profit program?
Each special project is interesting and unique in its own way. One of the most emotional ones turned out to be the project "Deleted Files / Victims of the Restart", where beautiful girls transform into Arch-angels guarding the disappearing heritage of architecture. The Pedestrian in the Center of Moscow project is an excellent guide to rebooting public spaces in Moscow by young architects. "Moscow. Details”is an amazing photo project that you can look at endlessly, because“God is in the details”.
The "Arch-Angels" project was shown recently at Arch Moscow in the windows of the Central House of Artists, is it the same or the other?
This is an expanded and supplemented author's version of the project, which premiered at ARCH Moscow several years ago - the second edition with new "victims of the reboot".
What tendencies in the life of Moscow architecture did the "Golden Section" show? Where are we going?
Judging by the competition, the functional composition of projects has noticeably changed - social and public buildings are increasingly becoming the object of attention. The younger generation of architects are more active in mastering analytical skills and a creative, transformative view of the world.
And the last question: will you curate all the festivals now? Do you plan to continue to cooperate with Zodchestvo and the Golden Section?
We are not responsible for all the festivals yet, but if they strongly suggest … For ourselves, we see this activity on the one hand as a continuation of the architectural festivals "Goroda", only in an "adult" format, on the other hand, this is a kind of research on the current state of Russian architecture, the result of which should be a kind of vision, embodied in practical steps - how much this will be possible, time will tell. For example, the result of the Cities festival was the emergence of a whole galaxy of architectural festivals, during which architects across the country transform the public spaces of their native cities on their own, although the first festival was conceived solely as an initiative to reconstruct a wooden pier in the Sukhanovo estate.
In addition, we are more and more aware of architecture as a powerful tool for transforming cities, their "reboot" for the needs of a new society. From this perspective, the architect, possessing a sum of unique knowledge and skills, the so-called "synthetic thinking", is able to lead the process of spatial development of cities, thereby restoring his capabilities and powers that have been lost over the past half century.
