On May 25, in the School pavilion of the Muzeon Park, the authors of the development and improvement projects of the Simonovskaya Embankment presented their works to the members of the jury, which, in addition to representatives of the customer, the OPIN company, included specialists from the Institute of the General Plan of Moscow and Moskomarkhitektura, Yuri Grigoryan, Vitaly Lutz and Alexander Tsimailo. On the same day, the results of the student competition were summed up. The first place in the rating of the jury was taken by the project called "Simonovskie Hills", the second - "The City Shore", the third - "Water. Culture. People".
The Moscow River has long been in the focus of attention of the city authorities. Having outlined the urgent need for the transformation of riverside spaces, the Moscow City Government, the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction and the Institute for the General Plan of Moscow prepared and held an international competition, the winner of which was the Russian bureau “Project Megan” headed by Yuri Grigoryan. After that, the work did not stop for a minute. A new step was the student competition organized by the General Planning Institute aimed at finding fresh, non-standard solutions that only young, energetic and not yet limited by "practical considerations" architects can offer. As the organizers explained, this is one of the first cases when the Moscow authorities, the developer and the capital's universities have teamed up to address the development of the urban environment.
Students of the Moscow Architectural Institute, the Graduate School of Urbanism and the New Leaders of Territorial Development School of the RANEPA were united in three mixed groups. Each of them was offered the territory of the Simonovskaya Embankment, located on the left bank of the river in the Danilovsky district of the capital, for analysis and design. Since the beginning of the last century, warehouses and large industrial enterprises were built in this place, and the embankment with a total length of 2 km remained inaccessible to the townspeople for almost a century. The task of the contestants was to create a connection between the city and the river, as well as to fill the embankment with new functions and high-quality public spaces for the residents of the projected Tsimailo and Lyashenko workshop of a residential complex stretching along the embankment. In addition to the actual space by the river, the students were asked to analyze in detail the surrounding area with a total area of 23 hectares. The whole work took a month. The result was expectedly interesting.
We present the projects of all three teams:
First place. Project "Simonovskie Hills"
Authors: Anastasia Veretennikova, Anastasia Shemetova, Anastasia Yurkevich, Yuri Korneo
It is proposed to preserve the aesthetics of the industrial area in the renewed ecological space. This idea became the basis for the design, which was preceded by an in-depth analysis of the surrounding area of the city. Danilovsky District is located in the South-East of the capital. Historically, this is an industrial area that is part of the industrial belt of Moscow; the ZIL plant is located here. The renovated embankment is sandwiched between Vostochnaya street and Krutitskaya embankment. Significant objects that should have been taken into account when designing were the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Simonov Monastery, on the opposite side of the river - the Danilovsky Monastery of the 16th century, as well as the Torpedo stadium. In the near future, the OPIN company plans to build a large residential complex on the first line of construction near the water.
The authors of the project, representing different cities of the country and different universities, said that their task was to turn all the minuses of the territory into pluses. So, they tried to play with the long and narrow geometry of the site, and use the industrial past as a cultural heritage.
First of all, the main points of activity of the area were highlighted, which should be connected with the embankment. The coastline is horizontally divided into three main levels, as well as the underground part - a large parking lot. The first level of space development is the courtyards of the future complex: it is proposed to improve them using industrial motives and connect them with the river. The next step is the area closer to the water: it will be turned into a picturesque green hilly area; the hills will create relief and landscape diversity, as well as reduce the noise load for residents of nearby houses. The entire area of the embankment is pierced by a winding cycle path with a length of about one and a half kilometers, which in winter turns into a track for skaters. Playgrounds for different age categories are also built into the structure, smoothly flowing into one another.
Wide cascades of stairs lead down from the upper level. Along them are such art objects as scattered barrels with a lawn "flowing" from them instead of oil. Pontoons lowered onto the river allow you to approach the water. On them, the authors came up with the idea of arranging small lakes, allocating areas for recreation and solitude. One "foot" is on land, the other - on the pontoon there is a restaurant: the authors propose to make its building out of an old iron hangar of the now destroyed Lenin oil depot.
Second place. City Shore Project
Authors: Elena Zaraiskaya, Ulyana Maisova, Alexandra Sokolova, Ekaterina Tokmakokova, Yulia Shtokalo
The authors of the project carefully examined the territory of the entire Danilovsky district, its infrastructure and transport potential, studied the interests of its residents. The authors even asked local residents what they want from the renovated embankment. The range of interests ranged from standard playgrounds, ping-pong tables and picnic areas to chess tables and lecture halls. Thus, the saturated space of the embankment became not just a promenade by the water, but an alternative to a real park.
The starting point of the project was the concept of "ports" proposed by Yuri Grigoryan in his project - the winner of the above
competition. The authors considered that the territory under consideration has the potential and the opportunity to become one of such "ports". By transferring the Meganoma scheme to the embankment, they added a large number of functional areas, between which they laid pedestrian routes and bike paths. The main points of attraction were the info point, a summer cinema and a pier with a pontoon launched. In addition, the authors have developed a model of transformable pavilions-modules. If necessary, they can be dispersed along the embankment in the form of small kiosks or, conversely, combined into one large heated pavilion, which is especially convenient in winter. An interesting detail: preserving all the perspectives of the temple and monastery, the authors of the project emphasize them with the help of special art objects in the form of a photo frame.
In addition to the coastline, the territories of kindergartens and schools designed for the residential complex are involved. They are proposed to be used for the placement of child development centers or for setting up a small vegetable garden where kids can grow vegetables on their own. Also, the project provides for staged implementation, calculated the economic feasibility of decisions, and proposed a concept for year-round use.
Third place. Project “Water. Culture. People"
Authors: Irina Voinova, Ksenia Lutsenko, Anastasia Zheleznova, Alina Boshnyak
The project, which took third place, included the most in-depth analysis of the current situation. This allowed the authors to identify the main problems of the area. So, they found that the two banks of the river in this place are very poorly connected. There are two bridges - Novospassky in the north and Avtozavodsky in the south, but they are located very far from each other, at a distance of more than 5 km. Transport accessibility also leaves much to be desired: metro stations are located exactly near bridges and very far from Simonovskaya embankment. A too narrow strip along the river does not allow placing all the necessary infrastructure on it. At the same time, in terms of its cultural significance, the Danilovsky District is able to compete with the central parts of the city. In addition to churches and monasteries, there is a stadium, a museum of Russian realistic art, and a cultural center ZIL.
The project is based on the idea of uniting in one territory the interests of all groups of residents of the district. To do this, it is proposed to create a conceptual link between the existing sports cluster, places of leisure and cultural objects, including the cultural cluster projected on the territory of ZIL and the Nagatinskaya Poima. The integrity of the area, according to the designers, is impossible without the construction of additional pedestrian bridges to connect different levels of development. In total, it is proposed to build two bridges: one of them was taken into account in the General Plan, the other existed here at the beginning of the 20th century and was called the North Simonovsky Bridge. The reconstructed bridge will run over the road from the new residential complex to the river.
The embankment itself is divided into three levels. The first level is reserved for transit traffic, the second - for the temporary stay of people, and the third provides access to the water. A large square becomes the main public space. Areas for picnics, active pastime and for relaxing in the shade of trees are allocated. All pavilions and small architectural forms are proposed to be solved using Russian national ornaments: according to the speakers, today this topic is very relevant. The bike path does not go directly to the embankment: it is proposed to run it in parallel with the road.
