Oleg Shapiro and Dmitry Likin, founders of the Wowhaus bureau, together with Maria Kachalova and Nadezhda Chadovich, chose the theme “Urban Therapy” for the final master's theses of their studio. The essence of the topic is the transformation and development of urban areas and objects that have lost their original purpose, but retained the citywide and cultural value. The students referred to such territories the Moscow Hippodrome, the Northern River Station, Mosfilm and even the Kremlin. And they tried to offer their own - sometimes gentle and delicate, and sometimes radical and bold - scenarios for their rehabilitation. About what came of this, we asked the heads of the studio, Oleg Shapiro and Dmitry Likin.
Oleg Shapiro
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“For me, there are three main themes that arose in the process of working on diplomas. The first is, in fact, the subject of the diploma. The second is our communication with graduate students and their communication with us, a visible opposition. And third, finally, since a master's degree is not so long in Russian reality, you need to understand its concept and goals. For example, in the Moscow Architectural Institute this year the last students with a specialist diploma were still graduating. And MARCH graduates masters with English diplomas. But the Russian university itself is extremely childish. And in this sense, it seems to me, we managed to change the approach, we deliberately moved away from the traditionally Russian paternalistic teaching.
The undergraduates themselves are architects, in fact, already ready to work after the bachelor's degree. These are people who are quite capable of acting further, engaging in architecture. If these people want to obtain the highest architectural design qualification, they go to the master's degree, which is divided into two parts - a diploma and a dissertation. I take this dissertation seriously. This is not an explanatory note to the graduation project, but still a story with elements of research, as serious as possible.
In this regard, we came up with the topic of the diploma. The tasks that we set for ourselves and for the graduates are: conducting some in-depth research; selection on the basis of this study of the design object; in turn, the study of its context, its internal structure, its development resources within and urban planning potential. It is clear that it is impossible to make the entire object as a graduation project. Therefore, we choose a piece and, within the framework of the overall development of this territory, we perform this piece. Since we are talking about the degradation of territories and their restoration, we have named our topic “Urban Therapy”. That is, we believe that this degradation is curable. Moreover, we understand that as soon as such a huge object begins to degrade, it "infects" the environment, which, if not declining, is limited in activity. Complementing the old function with others, finding them, filling in the missing aspects of modern life, we return the object to the status of the actual center of urban life. It is all the easier to do this because each of these objects has its own specific symbolic meaning. They are all, roughly speaking, brands. They are not destroyed in the mind, everyone expects from them what we help to realize. Further research went. The first are urban planning, there is a whole set of them. Thus, we understand what is possible in a given place, including transport accessibility, how active the function is real, what kind, what is lacking in this area and what functions can be used to make up for the lost activity. Next came the study of internal history. We had to understand the resources of use and that the recoverable function must be non-removable, coalesced into the base function.
We assume that quite adult people (we had those who are about 40, who are over 40), by their own decision and at their own expense, came to receive the highest degree of architectural education. So they need it. They know how to research, design, do the work on their own and are ready to go into a normal life. We assume that in addition to motivation, undergraduates have enough, for example, education, experience and energy for this largely independent work. In this sense, in our group, the paternalistic and patronizing role was minimized."
Dmitry Likin
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“For our studio, we proposed the theme“Urban Therapy”, which implies attention to valuable but physically depleted objects. The cities have a huge number of significant territories that once served as centers of gravity and revived all the neighborhoods around. Today, many of them are gradually dying. The task that we set for the students is, firstly, to find such buildings and territories with an important function, which has lost its relevance over time, but cannot be completely lost. Secondly, try to restart the found objects, reprogram, reveal their value, understand the role for the city and townspeople, revise the function, give new meanings, while maintaining uniqueness.
As part of our training course, we tried to pay special attention to the search for objects in need of resuscitation. For this purpose, excursions were made, research was carried out. Each graduate was independently determined with the choice of the site. In addition, we tried to attract lecturers from a wide variety of fields, capable of forming the most complete and versatile view of the problem in students. For example, the lecture course of the specialists of the sociological research group KB23 was extremely useful. The students also liked the lecture by Ilya Oskolkov-Tsentziper, who explained how to conduct research in programming an urban object. But the main thing is that we tried to accustom students to the idea that architecture is the result of some kind of consistent mental exercise.
The ingenious work involves the reprogramming of Troitsk, which has become part of New Moscow. The author Ksenia Zvereva proposed a new functional program for the whole city using the example of a standard sleeping area."
*** Climb the wall
University campus on the territory of the Kremlin Oleg Sazonov
The work unfolding in Moscow on the improvement of public spaces now does not affect the territory of the Kremlin in any way - the most significant architectural monument of the capital remains virtually closed to the townspeople, which has been talked about for a long time, but they are not doing much. The author set himself the goal of overcoming this historical injustice, at least in the project. And, preserving all of today's Kremlin functions, open the Grand Duke's fortress for free access to citizens and tourists.
Oleg Sazonov traced how the functions and saturation of the Kremlin changed from the day of its foundation, and came to the conclusion that today the administrative function has become dominant, leaving cultural and educational functions far behind. The Kremlin is excluded from the social context, and history is ousted behind the Kremlin walls. It is possible to revive and reprogram the space without affecting the existing use cases by introducing new activities.
So, inside the Kremlin, it is proposed to create a new university center, it is he who should become a generator of life. In addition, a full-fledged public space is being formed on the territory with squares, an amphitheater, recreation areas, exhibition and museum spaces and galleries. Access to these renovated areas will be provided through temporary structures - stairs and ramps, reminiscent of lightweight scaffolding. They are attached directly to the Kremlin wall from the side of Red Square. A flat area is organized behind the wall. And on the wall is an observation deck. It is also possible to walk along the walls of the Kremlin.
Oleg Shapiro
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“We ourselves would not have dared to take the Kremlin, which was chosen by Oleg Sazonov. It is interesting that in his research the Kremlin is surrounded with a huge density of all kinds of activity. The only place where there is no activity is the Kremlin itself, there is emptiness."
Dmitry Likin
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“Among the most successful works, I would note Oleg Sazonov's attempt to reprogram the Moscow Kremlin. Oleg became the unofficial leader of the studio, because he was not afraid, as they say, to swing at the sacred. He quite boldly suggested that the Kremlin is a vast cabinet that needs to be made accessible and open. He came up with a funny system of "restarting" the Kremlin, suggested ways to open it up to the city and the world. At the same time, he retained all existing functions - managerial, political, educational and cultural, making the entire territory more alive than dead."
Oleg Sazonov, project author:
“I got into the group almost by accident, I wanted to join another one at first, but almost immediately realized that I was completely in my place. The point of view of our teachers was different from the standard opinions. They invited us to look at the profession from the outside - from the side of sociology, for example. Our studio theme is generally very social, so Dmitry and Oleg expanded our field of knowledge, inviting specialists from other professions to classes, who helped to look at themselves and their work from the outside. I am glad that we largely worked independently, the teachers have repeatedly focused on this. It was nice to hear at the consultation that we are free and can run our own project, there were no strict rules. We were not given advice, but some references to objects, built a dialogue with us, helped to find clues - this was the picture. Our design was very consistent and every step had to be proven. If a decision was made, it had to be substantiated from start to finish. In general, in our profession, you need to be able to prove what you do.
I believe that my diploma is the result of a correctly set task, a formulated assignment. I'm happy with what happened. It was interesting for me and therefore everything worked out."
*** Not just horse racing
Development of the territory of the central Moscow hippodrome
Andris Shneps-Shneppe
The main building of the hippodrome, built in the mid-1950s by the architect Ivan Zholtovsky, and the entire territory of the hippodrome are today extremely little used by the city. The main problem of the giant complex, which occupies more than 26 hectares, is its isolation and irrational use of space.
The author of the project proposed to optimize the use of the stable area, expand the functionality, and saturate the complex with new activities. In particular, to set up a large park open to the townspeople. Green lawns are provided even inside the treadmill where the races are held. The viaduct proposed by the graduate student made it possible to form the shortest walking route from the main public part of the hippodrome and the stands building to the park in the project.
In addition to renovating the equestrian sports complex, which becomes publicly available in the project, the author plans to create a new rehabilitation center for hippotherapy inside the hippodrome. Today, this function is especially poorly developed, despite the popularity of this method of treatment. The new modern center, according to the author's idea, in addition to hippo, play and music therapy, will include a variety of creative workshops, gyms, an inclusive school and a hospital. For children with disabilities, the project offers a system of transitions and ramps, various route scenarios.
Oleg Shapiro
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“This is more than 40 hectares of territory, which are generally impenetrable, which today are a 'garage for horses', as our student (1,500 horses) said in the center of Moscow. And this is a rare for the center of a large city non-intensive use of the territory”.
Dmitry Likin
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“The remarkable work of Andris Šneps-Šneppe is related to the transformation of the Hippodrome. The author quickly realized that the racetrack was like an endless horse depot in the city center and was not functioning properly. To the existing narrow function, he added city-wide - recreational and public spaces, a rehabilitation center, a sports complex."
Underground Leninka
Transformation of the Russian State Library
Oleg Raspopov
The complex complex of six buildings, forming a system of courtyards, colonnades and something like a Roman forum, was built according to the design of Vladimir Shchuko and Vladimir Gelfreich in 1928-1941. Today, according to the observations of the author of the project, the function of the library has lost its original meaning. Although visitors remain, their number is decreasing. Libraries across the country are in need of modernization, improvement and saturation with new technologies.
In order to attract more readers and visitors, the author proposed to create a multifunctional exhibition and multimedia space in the library. All library buildings are preserved. Only the Ivanovsky Hall is being built, which is outside the strict regulation area. Preserving the historical appearance of all buildings, the author unites multiple spatial resources of the library with one communication core. Most of the connections and routes are organized in the underground floor, which is freed up and filled with new functions. This is made possible by strengthening the foundations and installing a modern ventilation and air conditioning system.
The author arranges one of the entrances to the underground space of the library from the side of Mokhovaya Street through the metro. Another entrance, the main one, is from Vozdvizhenka. In addition to the communication core, a children's center is also located under the square. At ground level, a system of interconnected internal squares and courtyards appears in the project, space for which is freed up after the alleged demolition of technical buildings. There is also a city forum with an observation deck overlooking the Kremlin.
Oleg Shapiro
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“There are objects that can degrade for a long time, but do not disappear, they cannot be canceled. For example, our bureau sits at the Manometer plant. The plant was closed, all functions were removed or destroyed as unnecessary, and now there are ARTPLAY offices. But in terms of such objects, functions cannot be destroyed. For example, we are talking about the Library named after. Lenin. It is a national library, a standard status object for any country. The functions of the national library are to store a certain array of published activities, conduct research, and provide services. Until recently, the Library. Lenin was not public. And she was full. It is clear that with the onset of all sorts of other information technologies, some of its functions die off, and we see that library visits are falling. It has already become public, but visits are still falling. It is clear that this is not an endless story, but its content is degrading."
Dmitry Likin
co-founder of the Wowhaus bureau, head of the master's studio MARSH:
“We all really liked the project of transforming the Lenin Library - delicate and thoughtful. The author Oleg Raspopov decided to master the underground space of the library, preserving it for the city, making it more accessible and attractive."
Maria Kachalova
Lead Architect at Wowhaus, assistant to the head of the MARSH master's studio:
“I think we got a great result, although, of course, we are all perfectionists. The result is a kind of test of us, whether we can discard our personal taste and evaluate the work through the eyes of a student, how he saw how he heard the information, how he passed everything through himself and gave the result just like that. And maybe I don't really like such practical solutions or materials and forms, but this is a student's work and I cannot impose my taste on him. I have to step back and rather understand if he was able to answer the questions of the assignment. And those who made it to the finals, I believe, have answered the questions. From the point of view of the children, I understand that it was difficult for them to listen to the different opinions of teachers. We were in tune with Nadya Chadovich, because we ourselves had recently graduated from the institute. She and I often talked about one thing and tried to help students in terms of streamlining the process. And besides this there were the opinions of Oleg Arkadyevich and Dima. And the fact that they managed to somehow synthesize all opinions in their projects is a great experience for them - how to maneuver between several opinions and not lose their own.
I liked that the guys independently identified their objects accurately and quickly. A very different typological picture has developed - sports, cultural facilities, etc. Oleg Arkadievich and Dima, probably, will decide to take a break from teaching for now, but I would still work, because it is very energizing and organizing. ***
