It must be admitted that over the past 22 years, which have passed since the first Arch of Moscow, the exhibition has firmly established itself: its constituent parts and logic are quite clear. Perhaps, the number of events and venues for their holding is growing, while the exhibition retains its main "core". However, a section dedicated to object design has appeared in the underground DNA hall.
By tradition, one of the most notable expositions is the stand of the architect of the year, located at the crossroads of all the paths of the Central House of Artists at the entrance to the second floor. These walls have been large and spectacular for many years, but the first architect of the year from St. Petersburg, Nikita Yavein, surpassed them all, because he brought to Moscow many models that made up a full creative report of Studio 44 for 25 years of work, plus even earlier projects, for example “A house for families of three generations” proposed by Yavein for the Tashkent competition in 1978 (!). It turns out almost forty years (39). The exposition itself resembles an exhibition in the Danish Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale: a fragment of scaffolding with a staircase that allows you to enter the second tier is an excellent spatial attraction that immerses the viewer in examining and photographing models, many of which had to be restored before being sent to Moscow.
What could be more fascinating at an architectural exhibition than models - these voluminous "doll houses" of professionals, the most visible, in addition to the buildings themselves, are traces of the architect's work. But Nikita Yavein also brought a catalog of projects over the past 4 years, as well as - who would have thought - his own impressive desktop.
Then everything unfolds, as already mentioned, according to a well-worked out scheme (like "anecdote No. 71" from a well-known anecdote). On the ground floor, there is a bright red Archcatalogue, where selected invited architects show their works on the theme of the future of the city. Of the 25 invited, 18 exhibited, occupying 20 tablets (Boris Bernasconi, Sergei Skuratov, Nikolai Lyzlov did not appear …). But each bureau is presented not only with a small stand, but also with a slide show.
Many exhibited according to a real project, which in fact suggests the format of the catalog, others - like the Rozhdestvenka and Wall bureaus - showed sad reflections about our future in the mini-apartments of human anthills, quite a dystopia. They are already building 15 m2 apartments - Ruben Arakelyan told me at the opening. His dystopia is checkered, suspiciously reminiscent of Vladimir Plotkin's Airbus; the dystopia of "Rozhdestvenka" is based on the fantasy of Alexander Mozhaev, here the question is not in the cells outside, but in the fact that inside the apartment is 4 m2, and is combined with a bathroom, of course. On the facades, on the contrary, there are arches.
Next to the Archcatalogue there are spacious stands of educational institutions: the Higher School of Urbanism of the National Research University Higher School of Economics with an object on the topic of urban noise, MARSH and, along with them, internships by the Wowhaus bureau.
At such an exhibition as Arch Moscow, it is customary to “look for architecture”. So, in addition to the two above-mentioned expositions, the third is an exhibition of the Next program itself - young architects - on the third floor, collected through a competition held by Elena Gonzalez (and Ruben Arakelyan): invited authors presented projects that won a shortlist presented in hall 17, that is, also in the usual place. There are 20 participants here, they are presented more freely, each stand is an installation. The model of the A20M bureau, for example, is shoved into a metal pipe. Futura was brought in a very heavy, according to the architect Oleg Manov, a model of a bony visor, similar to the terminal of the World Trade Center Santiago Calatrava (something the architects from St. Petersburg are inclined to transport solid large exhibits). GAFA architects show a modular-modular home using Lego bricks as a prototype.
Following the results of the Next exhibition, the jury will determine the best young bureau 2017. It should be noted that some of the participants of the previous Next's already feel great on the first floor in the Archcatalogue, so the movement from young to mature - well, at least within the framework of the Arch of Moscow exhibitions - is present.
A completely different way for architects to participate in the exhibition: on the second floor, the furniture manufacturer Lumi shows
benches designed by celebrities from Alexander Brodsky, Vera Butko and Anton Natochiy, Totan Kuzembaev. Brodsky's bench is an ordinary city bench, but with a drinking table. You can vote for the shops at the exhibition, the selected one will be put into production.
Another permanent participant of the Arch of Moscow in a permanent place is constantly beautiful: curator Yekaterina Shalina shows architectural graphics - the place of the architect's escapism from everyday worries and ethical choices. This time, the atmosphere of Hall 15 is formed by a pale purple wall.
The City Signs project shows the new material in a sustainable old design with sketches on the lanterns.
The ring of halls on the third floor, as always reserved for educational exhibitions on European architecture, this time is devoted mainly to Scandinavia, and three exhibitions out of four: winners of the Swedish Wooden Architecture Prize, Norway's top 10 and the best buildings, according to Archdaley, are curated by Anna Martovitskaya and speech: magazine. The exhibition of 10 young Finnish bureaus was organized by the Embassy. The “Magnificent hut” (Izba magnifique), which compares the Astashevsky terem with the Parisian one, stands out from the circle a little, and shows the projects of their restoration.
But the main thing is different. To cooperate with Moskomarkhitektury Arch Moscow began in the last years of the leadership of Alexander Kuzmin. Then, it must be admitted, the stands of the committee were somewhat knocked out of the general structure of the exhibition; they are now convincing in design.
For seven years already, the stand of Moskomarkhitektura is one of the largest and most "solid". Behind it, again traditionally, there is a chain of stands of large developers with their projects. They also form the core of Arch Moscow.
This year, the ICA exposition is dedicated to new urban planning standards - more precisely RGNP - regional urban planning standards developed by the department for Moscow.
The exposition is laconic, beautiful and does not really show anything yet, although it is clear that the old norms are focused on micro-district development, and the new ones - on quarter buildings, as well as on multifunctionality, a variety of architecture, and the sufficiency of infrastructure, including shops, restaurants, cafes. “The time of faceless“cars for housing”, mechanically placed in the middle of uncomfortable wastelands, the inhabitants of which are doomed to spend their leisure time in the same mega mall, is apparently coming to an end,” the ICA booth says.
It is also indicated there that the average number of storeys according to the existing standards is 5-17, according to the new 8-18. That "ownerless" gardening is supposed to be cultivated, turned into greenery either of private courtyards or public spaces. That the percentage of residential buildings and the territory of driveways and parking lots does not change, but the territory of schools and kindergartens is slightly decreasing: from 19% to 17%.
Explanations were given by Sergei Kuznetsov at a conference held yesterday evening in the main auditorium of the Central House of Artists. The auditorium was packed, mainly with architects, but also supporters / opponents of the renovation program. This is, very briefly, what was discussed. Work on new RGNP for Moscow has been going on for more than a year since the beginning of 2016. It is planned to complete it by the end of this year - and therefore to adopt new standards, which, among other things, will be used during renovation (apparently, this means that the renovation will not "cancel" the standards, but will use new ones, although there are probably many nuances here). In the new standards that are still being developed, in addition to the concept of a microdistrict, which in the old standards is sometimes replaced by a “quarter”, there are three concepts: the smallest unit is the urban block, which is, in fact, a house with a yard free of cars. The larger unit is a block; it is a group of urban blocks with intra-block driveways providing 20% permeability, as well as a kindergarten. The microdistrict, according to Dina Dridze, is a unit of account, that is, it is calculated based on the number of residents and the radius of accessibility. According to the developers of the RGNP, they respect the old norms and strive to preserve everything positive that was in them, adding permeability and getting rid of the "looseness" of public spaces.
One of the most interesting was the presentation by Alexey Novikov, Dean of the Higher School of Economics, National Research University Higher School of Economics. According to him, the National Research University is preparing a report on the international experience of renovation projects. Against the general background, Moscow is one of the densest and at the same time "loose" cities, and this combination is very unfortunate for the city, so "the city is doomed to renovate for another hundred years." However, according to Novikov, the bill on renovation, which is now being considered by the State Duma, must be withdrawn and revised, and quite radically. First, there should be criteria for the need for renovation. Secondly, it is required to add variability in the principles of compensation so that the owner can choose, at least, between compensation for space or money. The economy of the territory should be calculated not from the cost of square meters on the territory, as it is done now, but from the income from the territory as a whole, including the “third function”: cafes, shops. Renovation should not be carried out by one construction company, it is only possible to regulate the "tuning" of the activities of different construction companies. In addition, according to Alexei Novikov, there are much more unstructured territories in need of renovation in Moscow than is currently being considered, and one should not be limited to five-story buildings. But the dean of the Higher School of Economics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, recommended not speeding up what is happening now, but rather slowing it down. And also not to increase the number of storeys too much and pay attention to the concept of "adaptive city", which is extremely popular in the world now.
But the most important thing, I suppose, was that Sergei Kuznetsov - for which the conference was convened - announced the start of the renovation competition. Now, until June 24, on the website of the Arch Council you can
apply. Portfolios will be considered, however, taking into account the wishes of the Union of Architects expressed the day before yesterday, the possibility of a "creative proposal" will probably be considered - however, how this part of the competition will be arranged is not yet clear.
The meeting was attended by activists, and from both sides: some demanded to include 32 Izmailovo microdistrict in the renovation program, others strongly opposed renovation in general, but let's face it - the topic is acute, and it turned out too emotional, the meme "live in your own urban blocks" was instantly born, which is already surfing the web in its most impartial form. Although it would seem, what the fault was in the cleaning of the block - this is just the smallest unit of division of urban development, which, in theory, should become the basis for a more attentive and detailed work with the urban space. A much more painful issue of ownership was raised by Elena Gonzalez - Sergei Kuznetsov retorted that this meeting was dedicated to the announcement of the competition and focused on architectural issues.
In a word, the topic of renovation, which is burning now for Moscow, is inevitable, one must think, will become the main one at the current Arch Moscow. In any case, the competition has been announced.
