Archi.ru:
How did it happen that you started teaching at Moscow Architectural Institute?
Vsevolod Medvedev:
- We graduated from the institute in 1997, and the next year the head of our group, Dmitry Sergeevich Solopov, invited me as an assistant to lead graduate students. At the same time, Mikhail Kanunnikov was summoned by Gdaliy Moiseevich Agranovich, who was then in charge of the department of architecture of industrial buildings. For six or seven years we worked separately, and then Oskar Raulievich Mamleev became the head of the department of Prom. He pursued a very progressive policy, put a lot of effort into the development of the department, and he managed to significantly increase its importance within the institute. Not least due to the fact that he began to invite young teachers, while giving them the opportunity to adjust the educational program. It was Oscar Mamleev in 2005 who invited the three of us to recruit our first group. At first, of course, it was not easy - no special experience, no authority, and we hardly differed in age from our students … But in four years we gradually managed to gain their trust and gain authority, and as a result we are very pleased with that graduation. Then it was easier - our teaching trio became a “mini-brand”. The group that we are releasing now is already the third for us.
Tell us more about it, please
V. M.:
– To get to us, the guys - more precisely, the girls, because our group turned out to be entirely girlish, - we had to endure a serious competition. About sixty people applied to the group, of whom we selected ten by portfolio and interview results, and ten more came to us by rating. A very strong set - creative, hard-working, already in the second year they had solid portfolios. It so happened that at the moment when we recruited this group, there was a change of leadership at the department, Mamleev was forced to leave his post, and many teachers left with him. The department has weakened and lost its progressive vector of development. After some thought, we decided not to leave - and since we stayed, and since the group was so wonderful, it was clear that the process had to be approached with all seriousness and responsibility, to invest in full. Frankly speaking, it just became very sorry and insulting to quit, the work that worked out and gave pleasure. And this, of course, gave results: excellent projects turned out that were published, won competitions, participated in exhibitions and were repeatedly noted by the professional community.
Mikhail Kanunnikov:
- Here is confirmation for you - when our students Anya Tuzova and Polina Korochkova applied to Hani Rashid for a master's degree at the Vienna School (Institute of Architecture at the Vienna University of Applied Arts), they were taken immediately, barely looking at their portfolio.
V. M.:
- We are very proud of this, to be honest. Zaha Hadid, Hani Rashid are architects whom we respect very much, whose views are especially close to us. When girls were applying to the Vienna school, I was worried as if I was doing it myself. There is also a colossal competition! But they were taken unconditionally.
On what basic principles do you build the educational process?
V. M.:
- First and foremost, we do not strive to form a “universal soldier”, but to maximize the individual creative potential of each student. We can say that we are promoting the cult of personality: it is important for us not to put pressure on the future architect, but to help him develop and show what is in him. It seems to me that the identification and development of creative individuality is the main task of the project manager at the Moscow Architectural Institute.
M. K.:
- In addition, we try to motivate students as much as possible, to interest them. So that the desire to study architecture, with which they came to the institute, does not fade away in the learning process, but, on the contrary, develop and intensify. There are different ways to do this - we, say, already from the third year began to conduct internal competitions in the group, and the best projects are determined not only by ourselves, but also, so to speak, by the general public - through online voting. The winners, as expected, receive prizes, their works are exhibited, published on archi.ru, that is, they receive full PR support. We arrange excursions for them to objects of modern architecture, including those under construction, we invite practicing architects to lectures …
V. M.:
- We try to immediately immerse students in real architectural practice. Unfortunately, the tasks that are given to them at the Moscow Architectural Institute are absolutely divorced from reality, so we have to significantly correct them, tie them to specific areas and technical tasks. We invite our designers and engineers for consultations. Already from the fourth year students have been working in our bureau, moreover, as independent creative units, equal authors of competition projects. And, by the way, it was quite successful, we won several competitions. And a year ago we implemented an interesting idea - our girls developed a club project in cooperation with students of the Stroganov School.
M. K.:
- It was important for us to teach students to defend their projects, to present them as advantageously as possible. We have repeatedly visited the meetings of the Archcouncil to see how the projects are coordinated by “adult” architects. And everything they saw - large three-dimensional pictures, perspectives, models, video presentations - were included in the program.
You lead the group of three. How is it organized technically?
M. K:
- We tried different forms. At first, all three of us sat at the table, listening to each student. Then they divided the group into three parts, each leader got about six people, and for the next project they changed places. Under such a system, you have a leading teacher, but of course you can also consult with others. Each of us is strong in our area. Strength, benefits, beauty. Vsevolod Medvedev is a generator of ideas, besides, he is from a family of artists and perfectly sees the composition, color, all questions about the final presentation - also to him. Zurab Basaria is a master of rational and balanced decisions. I am more busy with constructions, modern materials, planning structures, … These are the "mini-chairs" formed within the group.
What does teaching work give you as practicing architects?
V. M:
- A lot of things. Students - they are always on the cutting edge, in the know of the most advanced trends. It is impossible to relax with them, they constantly keep you in good shape.
M. K:
- It's like solving an endless crossword puzzle about architecture.
V. M:
- When you have new people and new ideas in front of you all the time, this is a huge stimulus for your own creativity - for which, unfortunately, in everyday practice, there is not always enough energy and time. And in our group there are generally platinum shots, from which you not only get a creative charge, but also really grow professionally.
What qualities do you think a graduate of an architectural institute should have?
V. M:
- Ambitiousness! His plans must be the most ambitious. Further life, of course, will teach him something, correct him, but if there is no this initial impulse, nothing will come of a person. It should seem to a young architect that it was his ideas that the world was waiting for, that he is able to say a new word in architecture and art. It is a new word, and not to replicate the replicas of famous masters, constantly being intimidated by the historical environment, regulatory restrictions, customer requirements, etc.
M. K:
- We want them to be ready-made leaders, to be able to form a team for themselves and lead it.
What, in your opinion, are the main problems of architectural education today?
V. M:
- If we talk about the Moscow Architectural Institute, then its main problem is the lack of development. Even if there is a proactive teacher, and there are very few of them, all his undertakings hit the wall, the institute is very reluctant to modernize the educational process. Another colossal problem is that different departments do not interact with each other at all, as if they exist in parallel worlds. As a result, students do not have a holistic picture of architectural activity, they do not understand how everything is connected in reality. In addition, I believe that the educational process is unreasonably extended. Bachelor's and Master's degrees take a total of seven years - that's a lot! If we bring the first two courses into one year, reduce the subjects that are not relevant today, and devote much more time to the specialized ones - the project, drawing, painting, structures, the history of architecture, the effectiveness of education will increase significantly. And one year is enough for a master's degree instead of two.
Zurab Basaria:
- The institute has practically no production base - no model workshops, no modern computer classes. At the same time, the ambitions are quite stellar, which, in our opinion, does not quite correspond to reality. New schools appear and the Moscow Architectural Institute is increasingly difficult to withstand competition even at the national level, not to mention the global one.
V. M:
- Unfortunately, the professional community almost does not participate in the life of the institute, almost none of the famous architects can be dragged there. It is good that recently some educational programs have begun to appear at the city level, Sergei Kuznetsov began to attract students to Moscow projects. And, of course, many thanks to Nikolai Ivanovich Shumakov and the Union of Moscow Architects, they provide tremendous support. A new department "Comprehensive Professional Training" has been created, the main task of which is to provide practical training for students. It is at the site of the Central House of Architects that an exhibition of diploma works of students of our favorite group will take place in June.
What would you like to wish your students in the future?
Z. B:
- Of course, first of all, to be realized creatively, finding your own unique author's signature. This is perhaps the most important thing for an architect, but also very difficult to achieve. And of course, to have time as much as possible.
