Elena Gonzalez - President of MARSH Lab, architecture critic, curator.
Archi.ru:
What is StereoSatka? How does it differ from other projects for the renovation and development of single-industry towns? Who are its participants and initiators?
Elena Gonzalez:
- The term "StereoSatka" itself was not invented by us, but taken from a social network. The user, in our opinion, very accurately identified the vector of the city's development - from one-dimensionality to the diversity and “volumetric” of city life.
Satka is a regional center in the Chelyabinsk region with a population of about 45 thousand people, located 176 km from Chelyabinsk. It traces its history back to 1756, when an iron-smelting and iron-making plant that belonged to Count Stroganov was founded here. The intensive development of the city began at the beginning of the 20th century after the discovery of magnesite deposits here.
Satka is a monotown with problems typical for such cities. But here, unlike other places, the city-forming enterprise - the Magnezit Group - is successfully operating. This is a big plus, since the company is the initiator and donor of significant social and cultural urban projects implemented by the Sobranie Foundation for Support and Preservation of Cultural Initiatives founded by Magnezit, and at the same time, a minus, because urban development is largely focused on and closes at the plant.
The company's management is well aware of this and strives to break the dependence of the city on production, to create new sources of transformation in Satka. To this end, the Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE), under the leadership of the head of the department of cultural studies, Vitaly Kurennoy, developed the "Strategy for the socio-cultural development of the Satka Municipal District." It was presented in Satka on December 13, 2013 at the II Forum "World without Borders".
An important section of this document is the transformation of the urban environment. Our work, the work of the non-profit partnership "MARSH Lab" is concentrated in this area. In November 2014, a group of Swiss planners and architects was involved in the work, who proposed their project "CUT - Catalysts for Urban Change". The idea of the project is local changes using temporary structures that serve as a catalyst for large-scale transformations.
How does the industrial component of Satka affect the project, complicates, enriches it?
- The peculiarities of Satka include a unique combination of natural and man-made (industrial) landscape. In the very center of the city, there is a grandiose quarry surrounded by waste heaps. Today it is freed from its industrial function and becomes part of the city. Of course, the question arises of its integration into the urban space. The same applies to the former industrial zone surrounding the quarry. All these issues cannot be resolved without the participation of the plant and the city administration - fortunately, here we see a consistency in understanding the problems and efforts.
The industrial landscape and facilities are the absolute value of Satka. At the same time, there is an important aspect that is often ignored (or not visible) by "third-party" converters. The local population does not perceive these objects as a cultural asset, for them the industrial component is a part of everyday life, everyday life. This should be taken into account.
Another important aspect is the technical "advancement" of the inhabitants of industrial cities. By participating in production, people receive a fairly high level of technical knowledge, which provides a good basis for the development of precision manufacturing and other innovative industries in the field of new technologies.
How will the project be presented at Zodchestvo? What constituents of it seem to you to be the most important for the overall Russian experience?
- We will try, within the framework proposed by the curators, to show the main directions of the strategy for transforming the urban environment and developing alternative areas of employment: general plans and concrete steps taken today. The CUT project will be presented at the end of November and we hope to include it in the Urban Biennale in China in December 2015.
What are the plans of the creators of StereoSatka for the near future?
- Together with the Sobranie Foundation, we plan to create event content for the 2015 calendar. These activities will develop around the "activity points" of the city discovered during the work, which will be presented in the Satka exposition at the "Zodchestvo" exhibition. The main task of these events is to launch permanent processes in the field of urban improvement and new communications, the main of which is to unite residents and create creative communities. For example, we would very much like to use the experience of the "Cities" festival in relation to the urgent needs of the city.
All this is impossible without the participation of the inhabitants of Satka - we see them not as a “target audience”, but as designers and creators who need help. It is our task to provide this feasible help. Therefore, the main direction of our activity in the near future will be work with local activists and caring citizens.
