Exhibition “Gray Belt. Transformations”opened in the Hermitage building of the General Staff on 26 September. The small exposition includes competitive projects of Russian and foreign workshops dedicated to the urban planning rethinking of the former industrial territories in the south of St. Petersburg. The opening took place within the framework of the II International "Forum of Spatial Development", the program of which included many reports and plenary sessions dedicated to the now fashionable theme of "comfortable urban environment". Urban scientists, architects, philosophers and government officials for two days intensively discussed the fate and "global mission" of Russian cities. Exhibition “Gray Belt. Transformations”became one of the events of the forum, far from being the central one. Only the visit of the Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and the Director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky gave the event a special weight.
The problem of the "gray belt" has been discussed for a long time in the city. The workers' outskirts of the early 20th century, which after the revolution turned into gigantic industrial areas, pose serious questions to the authorities. It is not entirely clear what to do with whole blocks of workshops, warehouses, design institutes and other legacy of the Leningrad industry.
KGA announced a closed competition in May this year. The authors had to “propose a concept of spatial development of the territory within the boundaries of about 4,000 hectares in the west of the Yekateringofka River and to the Neva in the east, from the Obvodny Canal in the north and to residential areas in the south, and also illustrate the possibilities of implementing the concept by the example of transforming one pilot "territories". The tasks were assigned by lot among the architectural firms selected by the jury based on their portfolios. According to the draw, the pilot projects for the Volkovskaya territory were designed by the Finnish Helin & Co, Studio 44, the Dutch MLA + and the St. Petersburg Studio 44. Yekateringof went to Muscovites: TPO Reserve, Rozhdestvenka and Yauzaproekt. And the territory of the French Bucket was given to the Norwegian Transborder Studio, Zemtsov-Kondiain bureau and the group of Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Tchoban.
French bucket
Choban & Gerasimov / Petersburg-Moscow
The consortium of Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Tchoban has developed a project according to which about half of the territory should be occupied by city and regional parks. The direct authors of the project, Anna Kutilina and Anastasia Lakrisenko, said that their main idea was to create a "second lung" for St. Petersburg, designed to complement Krestovsky Island. Consequently, the architects proposed greening the former industrial areas in the south of the city. The project also envisions the relocation of the city's hospitals, which now occupy historic buildings in the city center, into the transformed “gray belt”. The vacated buildings could be given over to hotels, the authors say. An ensemble of the "museum necklace" could be spread along the Obvodny Canal. The architects also proposed to equip a new zoo on the territory under reconstruction, and an innovation center on the site of the Kirov plant.
Zemtsov, Kondiain & Partners / Petersburg
They suggested creating a new business district in the gray belt that could reduce pulsating migration. The creation of an "intermediate" belt of business activity between the center and the residential areas of the south will shorten the daily movement of citizens and relieve the transport system. The result should be a new for the Petersburg agglomeration "polycentric model of development", which would make satellite cities and sleeping areas "self-sufficient centers of civilization."
Transborder Studio / Norway
The goal of the project is to use the existing resources of the “gray” belt, namely green and blue (water) elements of the landscape, industrial heritage and existing systems of public infrastructure, as tools for sustainable development. The Transborder Studio concept includes a landscape strategy for creating highly efficient ecosystems, a strategy for developing green production areas along transport corridors, and a strategy for hubs - high-density epicenters around metro stations. These strategies lay the foundation for a "green" future not only for the "gray" belt, but for the whole of St. Petersburg.
The landscape strategy of the project is “Four Big Parks” (Primorsky Park Yekateringof, Linear Park, Volkovka River Park and Nevskaya Embankment Park): their ecosystems will provide the city with air and soil purification, rainwater collection and filtration, biodiversity growth and energy production.
Productivity Buffer is a strategy for the location of industrial zones in the gray belt, including large production, logistics and repair zones in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The strategy is aimed at active exploitation of spaces around contaminated buildings and infrastructure elements and envisages their transformation into efficient industrial zones and innovative landscapes.
“Ten Stories of the Gray Belt” is a strategy aimed at setting up ten centers with dense development of mixed function. These hubs include offices for "smart" business, cultural, educational, commercial and public institutions, housing. The authors of the project propose to concentrate growth around the existing and planned metro stations of the "gray" belt in order to develop "transit-oriented" buildings and infrastructure there.
Ekateringof
TPO "Reserve" / Moscow
The Moscow bureau also proposes to turn the "gray belt" into a green one, however, creating limited clusters of comfortable buildings in new districts. A distinctive feature of the project is the concept of "islands": isolated rectangular blocks located in a green space. They are connected by a well-thought-out transport system consisting of large highways and several interchanges on a regional scale. The pilot project of the Yekateringof Park assumes its moderate transformation into a more comfortable and large center of urban leisure.
"Yauza-project" / Moscow
They also focused on the landscape gardening theme, but with a strong tourist bias, proposing to remove the Admiralty Shipyards and create a single large embankment from the Summer Garden to the Yekateringof Park. Otherwise, according to the bureau's project, parks, residential and business zones are moderately interspersed into the "gray belt". "Yauza-project" offers one of the easiest, in comparison with colleagues, intrusions into the existing development of the area.
Rozhdestvenka / Moscow
The project provides for a phased expansion of the Obvodny Canal - the architects proposed to make it navigable and turn it into a recreational area. The development of light rail transport based on railway lines is also proposed: in particular, the launch of an express train from Pulkovo to the Baltic Station. A transport hub is planned on the road from Moscow to Helsinki. On the site of the Kirov plant, the St. Petersburg City appears.
Volkovskaya
Helin & Co. / Finland
Also develops an ecological theme, but focuses on wooden architecture. A full-fledged eco-city is emerging on the site of former factories and railways. The development is mixed, combining residential and business areas. The green space will dominate. Only the Kirovsky plant is preserved in the project - as an important industrial facility.
"Studio 44" / Petersburg
The project of the studio "Studio 44" by Nikita Yavein to the greatest extent offers the development of what is already available on the territory. A motorway is being built along the existing southern half-ring railway, and along the way, "green paths" are being created for pedestrians, cyclists and alternative modes of transport. According to the architect himself, "the main ideology" of the project is the "transformation" of the industrial area - the project "does not provide for the eviction of industry and its destruction." However, residential quarters of various classes will also join the existing industrial buildings.
MLA + / Netherlands
Close to Studio 44's approach is Maccreanor Lavington Architects - MLA +, which also aims to preserve industrial heritage. However, this is done with the complete loss of the original industrial function: factories and railway junctions remain, but in the form of lofts or public spaces. We have before us a typical "gentrification" in the style of Western megacities.
There will be no winners. Executive secretary Anna Katkhanova called the competition "a set of proposals" on the basis of which the architectural authorities will develop the final plan. The city administration is pleased with the works of the contestants, who, according to Katkhanova, “plunged” into the problematic and demonstrated a non-“formal” attitude to the competition. The “gray belt” marked the “beginning of a dialogue” on this urban planning problem, and the city authorities expect that the ideas of the architects will help to develop a unified strategy for the development of this territory.
“Gray Belt. Transformations”demonstrates important trends in modern Russian urban planning practice, as well as cultural and social shifts in society. It seems that they are trying not to think about the industrial future of Russian cities anymore. Petersburg of the future is a green, post-industrial city. With the exception of Nikita Yavein, no other bureau sees any serious industrial potential in the city. The economy of the transformed "gray belt", according to most projects, is a rather blurred set of "post-industrial" and "innovative" business projects, cultural centers and museums.
The movement of thought of architects is quite definite. But is such a "green" environment possible within the framework of the existing post-Soviet economy? Competitive projects, of course, opened a discussion about the fate of the "gray belt" of St. Petersburg, but it is still far from over. The challenge is to strike a balance between old and new, industrial and post-industrial, business, residential and social. Otherwise, there are risks that in place of the "gray belt" there will be only a huge deserted park. Park named after Soviet industry.
