Archi.ru:
Why did you even need to think about the requirements of the next generations?
Julius Borisov:
- The physical lifespan of buildings is long enough, and the next generation will use the housing that people buy today. Therefore, it is important that the building does not become obsolete not only physically, but also morally, that is, it was convenient for our children and grandchildren to live there. I made an attempt to figure out what they would need.
Your speech at the round table was dedicated to "housing for generations X, Y, Z". What is this classification based on?
- It is connected not so much with age as with the mental paradigm. Different generations have different behavioral stereotypes and different aspirations, including in the field of housing. For example, my grandfather built a house for himself, and he built it “for centuries” in order to pass it on to his children and grandchildren. Parents received an apartment from the state, that is, they could not choose anything, they took what they gave. We buy our apartments ourselves, for us this is an investment, which means that it is important for us to pay less, so that later, when the area develops, they will rise in price. The next generation of housing will mostly be rented, changing apartments like gadgets. The presence of their own home for them, most likely, will not matter at all: if they have money - they rented an apartment in London, no - they left for the outback, where it is cheaper. That is, they will pay not for the right of ownership, but for the time spent, for the use, and not only for the apartment, but also for the region, the city. Accordingly, the requirements for housing and the criteria for assessing it will change, and the housing itself will become completely different.
What exactly?
- First, the changes will be associated with increased mobility. People will want not just an apartment or a house with a basic renovation, but one that has everything, including cups, spoons, forks. Where you can enter, like a hotel, and live right away. It sounds fantastic, but I think in ten to fifteen years it will already be the standard.
The second is the possibility of easy customization of housing using modern technologies. For example, you pressed a button and the pattern on the walls changed. The building will turn into a mixture of software - smart home software and hard - the building itself. It doesn't matter where you live now, in Moscow or, for example, in Astana, but you took the settings from one apartment and transferred it to another, and everything is already configured for you in it.
Third, housing will be very flexible, similar to office spaces. Previously, companies built buildings for themselves and almost specially designed furniture for them. Suffice it to recall the Chrysler Building or the Soviet ministries. Now the office building is like a bookcase: the company moved in, made repairs, worked for two years, and left; the next came, they broke everything and again made it for themselves. Previously, furniture was inherited, but now you can go to IKEA, buy everything there, then throw it away. The same will happen with housing: its main advantage will not be the building itself, not the shell, but the environment - the location and social connections. That is, the value of the house will lie in the fact that young architects or musicians live in it, and not in facades or marble interiors.
In other words, the criterion "benefit-strength-beauty" will cease to exist?
– The Trinity itself is not going anywhere. The question is what is beauty, what is strength, and what is benefit. It will not be the essence that will change, but the form, because technologies are changing.
How will the principles of the architect's work look in this case?
– In the 18th century, the essence of the architect's work was to paint beautiful facades, they didn't even care too much about the layouts. Relatively speaking, it was a planar solution, a kind of 2D. The constructivists added another dimension, I would say, made the buildings three-dimensional.
Further, in the seventies, everyone began to study the processes that take place around buildings. And now there are already countless "dimensions". It is necessary to take into account how people will live in the near future, what processes will take place, how social aspects will change, how then the building will be demolished and environmentally disposed of. The result is a gigantic multidimensional model, and the architect is still in control of the entire process. He still remains a conductor, but instead of a simple set of "violin, cello and drums" he now has super expensive and complex synthesizers. He commands sociologists, brands, communicates with social activists, consults with psychologists, and so on. Roughly speaking, only a person who possesses systems thinking can digest all this into design and estimate documentation. Everything becomes more complicated, and the requirements for architectural education change accordingly. Turning time, space, money and sociological data into blueprints is now also architectural knowledge. Knowledge of GOSTs and technologies alone is not enough anymore.
Is a new type of housing for “Generation Z” being built in Russia?
- Now we follow the paradigm that developers define, and they respond to existing requests. So for now, the approach is quite conservative. But you need to think about the future, you need to be visionaries. Conferences and meetings of specialists from different fields allow us to get closer to the new paradigm; they provide an opportunity to look into the future not only with our own eyes, but also through the eyes of smart colleagues and smart competitors.
When will the global change in ideas about housing happen?
- There is no magic pill, the transition process is very smooth. Already now the state and AHML are thinking about the future and trying to make rental housing. Developers are conducting social experiments to create a community, the environment is being designed.
Architecture is important - it's hard to hear otherwise from an architect - but quality surroundings are just as important. Sometimes good neighbors, normal parents in school or kindergarten turn out to be more important than architectural "tricks". Of course, this is very sad for an architect, we are increasingly moving into, let's say, industrial design. But what to do - there is a change of priorities, and for me this is a fact.
