Elizaveta Klepanova:
- Did you have contacts with Russia - working, scientific?..
Elizabeth Merck:
- Of course, living in Munich, I often hear that rich Russians buy something here. Also, when I worked in Halle (I was the chief architect there for six years before getting a position in Munich) - and this is the former East Germany - from time to time we crossed paths with the Russians. Since Soviet times, Halle had twin cities in Russia, and sometimes delegations came to visit us. There were also Russian investors there.
I want to say that Soviet modernism has always been something special for me. My doctoral dissertation is devoted to the role of color in the architecture of the 20th century: Bauhaus, the Style group, the architecture of this period in Russia and Turkey.
Peter Ebner:
- How do you think, can the chief architect of the city have his own private studio at the same time?
EM:
- In Munich there was such an architect - Theodor Fischer [architect of the late 19th - 1st half of the 20th centuries, co-founder and first chairman of the "German Werkbund" - approx. Archi.ru]. He combined the position of chief architect with the leadership of the workshop and at the same time did a lot for the development of the city, one did not interfere with the other.
I don't have my own office. And even if I did, I would not be able, for example, to participate in contests, which I myself conduct. This would be a clear conflict of interest, dishonest and undemocratic. But if an architect before taking office had a private practice with real design experience, then this is a big plus.
P. E.:
- What would you like to transform, improve in the architectural and construction policy of Munich?
EM:
- I would like us to have fewer lawyers, and so that we have less to follow endless laws, to deal with bureaucracy. It seems to be true to follow the rules, but we are already at the stage when they do more harm to the architectural appearance of the city than good. Urban planning in Germany is now almost entirely in the hands of lawyers, and it is they who dictate to us what can and cannot be done, always complicating everything.
Here, as an architect, you have the opportunity to do something really interesting only if your firm has a legal department, which, given our low fees, is almost unrealistic.
Another thing that raises questions is the presentation of the project to the public. Don't get me wrong: this is a necessary component, but you need to speed it up somehow so that it does not drastically slow down the design and implementation process.
P. E.:
- In Munich, the population is constantly increasing. The city is predicted to grow over the next 30 years. Are there any programs that take this trend into account?
EM:
- At the moment, we have developed a concept for the development of residential areas in the suburbs. But the question of its implementation is still in limbo, since we need to obtain consent for implementation from the Munich planning region. We would like to preserve all green corridors as much as possible, not to lose the convenience of the transport structure. For this, it is necessary to carry out as much work as possible with the outlying territories, create new metro and city train stations.
As in most European cities, we have to work within the existing structure, and I, as the chief architect, need to control this process very tightly. Sometimes it is possible to allow the implementation of innovative projects in certain parts of the city, but at the same time preserve the existing buildings without destroying them with new structures. For example, Munich needs new residential buildings - but not at the expense of the city's green areas, its historical environment, and the wealth of its urban structure.
Sometimes we come to a city, find wonderful architectural projects there and think: why can't we get the same result in Munich? I believe that in such cities, the quality of public space is often lost, and this does not happen in Munich. But, of course, I would like to be able to maintain the quality of public areas and implement radical projects.
P. E.:
- I think it is very important to maintain diversity in the city. I want to understand that now I am in the Munich district of Rome, and then I find myself in Schwabing. I would like to avoid repetition, monotonous building.
Often interesting solutions are submitted for competitions, which, however, are rarely implemented. Munich has 5-6 outstanding buildings in terms of architecture, but everything else is of a very average level.
EM:
- I could talk for 3-4 hours in a row about several competition projects that are unknown to anyone and, most likely, will simply be forgotten …
We have very high land prices and investors prefer not to take risks so as not to lose money. I would like both customers and developers to be more open to architectural experiments, but, as you know, customers usually come with an already formed idea of what they would like to get, and, as a rule, this is far from outstanding architecture.
When you make a drawing on A4 sheet, it doesn't make it bad or good because of the limitations imposed by the paper size - it's all up to you. Under any rules and restrictions, there is always an opportunity to make the work interesting, but, unfortunately, few architects can do it. And developers always want a project in line with the "mainstream" to make it easier to sell.
E. K.:
- You are talking about interesting competitive solutions, which, most likely, will never be implemented, but I see, for example, the construction of the Siemens headquarters in the historic center of Munich, which is extremely dubious from my point of view, and I ask myself: why was it necessary to hold an international competition, to get a result like this? I think that a building of this level could be made by any local architect. I have always believed that competitions are needed precisely in order to get outstanding architecture.
EM:
- I disagree with you. Since this building is located in the historical center and is adjacent to the buildings of Leo von Klenze, it must comply with certain standards, take into account its surroundings. In addition, I myself was on the jury of this competition and I can say that among the submitted proposals there was no best project that took into account the context.
P. E.:
- What if we just look at the facades of this building? Typical architecture of the outskirts, in my opinion. It looks like an ordinary boring office building.
EM:
- Yes, we can talk about it, but we, as city authorities, do not dictate how the facades should look. I am responsible for ensuring that the building is not higher than what is required by the standards, and these are completely different issues. I also see a number of disadvantages in this project, for example, in facades with elements of natural stone, but I like glass facades.
I want to say that if Siemens management wants such facades, we, as a city, cannot stop it. We, of course, have a city commission for the design of projects, but it can only advise, propose to consider options, but no one obliges anyone to create a specific image. We looked at Siemens facades several times and tried to change them a little, but as a result, the authors and customers did everything as it was convenient for them.
In general, only a few architectural workshops are capable of designing special buildings in historical buildings. Here is Herzog & de Meuron's Five Courtyards - a great example of interesting modern architecture, perfectly integrated into the environment. But such projects are rather rare in our country.
