The first round was held on July 12, during which six projects were selected for revision, taking into account the wishes of the jury. In truth, the changes were invisible to the naked eye, and even with a fair amount of patience, the "ten differences" were hard to find.
The authors of the project of the AM-TRI and Khvoya workshops removed from their presentation the “radical” temporary structures, including the “hinged” ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which had flown around all the reports, and left a neutral everyday design in the form of round symmetrical granite benches. The drawing of the "suite" paving has slightly changed, in which only the motifs of the circle, inspired by historical prototypes - the first St. Petersburg pavements, remain. The main expressive accent at the junction with Nevsky Prospect will be a reckless fountain in the form of a granite slab with streams of water flowing down it.
In the project led by Dmitry Lagutin, the sculptures of the guardsmen ceased to be stationary. However, even in this situation, the statues, as well as high lanterns, seemed to the jury too active for the current appearance of the street.
As the chairman of KGIOP Sergey Makarov emphasized, the main plot of Bolshaya Morskaya Street was and remains the arch of the General Staff, and nothing should obscure it. In addition, it seemed to me that the arrow of the meridian and the lines of the composition parallel to it visually emphasized the transit nature of the street, as if urging passers-by and urging them not to linger. The same feeling arose from the project of Anton Nikolaenkov.
On the other hand, the CLEVER'S workshop team abandoned lanterns and other active elements, focusing on night illumination. As a result, the daytime version of their concept seemed empty, not expressive.
The concept of "Beautiful Petersburg" personally bribed me with the obvious desire to make the street cozy and habitable, here the preference was given to the townspeople, and not to architecture. The authors took care of the street scene, the areas of summer cafes and bicycle parking and permanent greenery, thought out the turns of the benches that form "separate" spaces. All this, as well as the departure from strict symmetry and visual transitory orientation, helped to create a relaxed atmosphere, a much-needed walking area. However, the drawing of the benches itself raised doubts. In addition, one should not forget that eight houses on the Bolshaya Morskaya competition site are residential, so excessive tourist activity is unlikely to be desirable here.
The project of Alexander Demin's group, as it seemed, remained unchanged.
As a result of voting, the winner was announced the project of workshops "AM-TRI" and "HVOYA", recognized as the most tactful in relation to the current appearance of the street. The authors were advised to slightly modify the shape of the benches and think about trash cans. According to one of the leaders of the winning concept, Vadim Spiridonov, a working project with an estimate should be ready by the end of this year. The improvement works themselves, according to the KGA, should be completed by the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
