A month ago, on June 30, the results of the competition for the concept of reorganizing the embankment at the River Park residential complex on the banks of the Nagatinsky backwater were announced. 54 teams took part in the first stage of selection, five of them went to the second round, the project of the WOWhaus bureau won, and the concept of T + T architects took the second place. The jury separately noted the work of the student team of the Moscow State Construction University (MGSU), which participated in the competition on special conditions, without claiming prizes.
The subject of the competition was a fragment of the embankment of a residential complex, which is being designed by the Ostozhenka bureau on an area of 29 hectares stretching along the western bank of the backwater. The complex is designed for 6100 residents. In connection with water, the project for the reorganization of the River Park embankment is part of a larger undertaking - the development of the coastal areas of the Moskva River, the competition for the concept of which ended in December 2014, moreover, this is the first related competition for the arrangement of a specific site.
The implementation of the project is scheduled to begin this year and complete in 2017. We are publishing the concepts of five participants in the second round of the competition.
1st place: lighthouse for the backwater
WOWhaus
The architects of WOWhaus, famous masters of the arrangement of Moscow embankments, made the lighthouse the protagonist of their project. The Nagatinsky backwater is now completely unlit, this is a dark place, the authors explain and place the symbol of light: a large lighthouse in the most prominent place, on the corner, where the Western Bay and the Nagatinsky backwater meet, and opposite the strait leading to the Moscow River. The embankment promenades leading to it are formed around the lighthouse, it becomes a semantic and compositional center. The entertainment part of the embankment also includes ships that were previously closed for access.
The rest of the embankment is conceived as a series of mini-parks and squares strung on a common axis. A small square in the southern part, at Kolomenskaya Street, turns into a park around the fishing pond, from where you can get to the main square, a resting place for both walking and yachtsmen from the sailing school. In the center of the square is a ship turned into "gardens on the water"; the authors used in their concept ships already standing in the backwater. Further, a green promenade with thematic small squares strung on it: "Sails", "Fish", "Anchors", goes to the apple orchard - the main park zone of the district. And finally, the route ends at the Lighthouse square with an observation deck. The embankment is planned to be equipped with picnic fields, an amphitheater and wi-fi points.
2nd place
Bureau T + T architects
T + T architects paid maximum attention to the future residents of the residential complex: "because these are the most visitors here." After analyzing the territory, the architects discovered several key entry points: southern, central and northern, placing three main entrance groups there and subordinating them to the main routes of walking.
Playgrounds and squares for quiet recreation are located opposite the stylobates of residential buildings and alternate with mini-playgrounds between the houses, forming spaces for local residents. Around the yacht club and children's sailing area are grouped active recreation areas, including an outdoor amphitheater. In addition, the short route leading from the central entrance, from Rechnikov Street, should become busier. The key point is a rectangular promontory at the bend of the embankment, marked not by a lighthouse, like at WOWhaus, but by a two-storey glass pavilion of a cafe with a green ramp and terraces. The architects paid a lot of attention to "little things": a decorative pavement with lines of black granite, pixel gradients and even graphic compositions, not without a share of humor - for example, in front of the business center, the authors drew plankton with a hint of "office". Trees and flower beds are surrounded by benches, maple alleys alternate with linden and apple trees; the luminaires form "arches" marking the transition from one zone to another. The project provides for the launch of river transport.
3rd place
Land Milano Bureau
The Italian workshop (whose project for arranging the Khodynskoye Pole, we recall, is now being implemented in Moscow), proposed to zone the River Park space simply and clearly: quiet zones are located in the depths, around residential buildings, and active ones - along the embankment; they are separated by a cycle path. The active part, the embankment itself, in turn, is divided into eight sections for different purposes, from water games to watching the sunsets.
Despite the fact that architects prefer natural materials and landscaping, the embankment turned out to be filled with infrastructure and urbanized. The multi-level "inviting square" at the southern entrance, designed in the form of an amphitheater, is especially rich. In the center of the territory there is a wide green boulevard with a depth of 280 meters, and in the northern corner, the authors proposed an observation deck and an "arts center".
Following the idea of Yuri Grigoryan, who won a large competition for the territories of the Moskva River, Land Milano was proposed to place in the depths of the backwater and its northern offshoot an island with "higher aquatic vegetation" that purifies water.
4th place
Turenscape Bureau
Difficult to implement, but an original solution was proposed by the architects of the Chinese bureau Turenscape. Its name is “Double balconies. Double Impressions”speaks for itself: at the heart of the two tiers of the embankment and two continuous strips of the promenade.
The so-called "double balconies" (the second level of the embankment promenade) are subdivided into "forest" and "river" ones. The forest can be accessed from the courtyards of residential buildings directly, passing through the forest, all the way without parting with the natural environment. With the help of "river balconies", the river, according to the authors, merges with the city embankment. Part of the idea of "double impressions" is the Garden Promenade, a continuous paved path with a series of awnings attached to the stylobate wall. Another area is the Natural Promenade, a continuous corridor integrated with the coastal promenade and connected to the ramp ramps of the Forest Balcony. The project also includes ideas for the biological treatment of backwaters.
TURENSCAPE go further, offering their concept of double embankments for the entire river and thus appealing to the already past competition: this promising part of the proposal is called "City Ports". However, despite the interesting philosophy, the jury recognized the project as too complicated and expensive.
Special Jury Mention
MGSU team
A team of students from the Moscow State Construction University took part in the competition on special conditions and deserved, according to Sergei Kuznetsov, a special prize. The students proposed to build on the existing "magnet objects" around the residential complex, among them: Kolomenskoye, Dreamworks Park in Nagatinskaya Poima and the surrounding metro stations - uniting them by the river and the park. Living and "inanimate" nature, according to the authors, in the project are parallel and complement each other. And the backwater itself - the fact of the forced withdrawal of river water beyond the established channel, is already blurring the boundaries between man-made and natural principles - young architects believe.
The students proposed to implement the idea of memory of the place by transforming the container groups of the dock into public spaces, with the main one being the Museum of River Transport. This project is dominated by the status quo: the authors strive to minimize intrusions into both urban and natural landscapes.
The jury included:
- chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov,
- Sofia Trotsenko, President of the Winzavod Foundation for the Support of Contemporary Art,
- Head of Meganom Bureau Yuri Grigoryan,
- Director of GKU "United Directorate" Mosgorpark "Marina Lyulchuk,
- Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Architecture Tatyana Guk.
