- How do you like the "Spring MARCH" in Kazan?
- This is a very interesting situation. The design and educational process, within which dozens of architects, designers, managers and representatives of local administrations first had the opportunity to attend a course of lectures and take part in seminars-"workshops" of practitioners, by the way, very prominent in their fields … Then, breaking into teams, they had to conduct a collective express research and conceptual design in specific selected areas, under the guidance of invited professionals. The teams united both students and practitioners, very young and mature, only beginners and experienced specialists. Such an immersion in the process of actual design, with a break from production, with excellent support and organization of the process and with the support of this program at the level of an adviser to the president of the republic - such a program has no analogues yet. It seems to me that those who have already passed and will continue to go through this project get a unique opportunity not only to participate in the real transformation of the environment of their cities, districts, villages, but they will also be able, if they wish, to change a lot in their view of the profession, learn new things, see a different range of possibilities.
Did your team independently determine the design areas or were they offered to you?
- The sites were selected in advance. Elena Gonzalez and her MARSH Lab, together with the host, did a great deal of preparatory work. The sites were different in scale, content, and distance from Kazan … So I was offered an uncontested option, as I was told, at the insistence of the project leaders.
What is special about the Minger village? There are only 249 residents, and the Sabantuy held there has already hit the press. Is that why you chose the "sabantuy path"? Or was it an order?
- There is more than enough special in the village of Minger. After all, it was originally an ancient settlement with a rich history, known since the XIV century. The first documentary mention of the settlement dates back to 1678. This place is rich and varied. And above all - the local nature: hills, fields, steep banks of the Mesha River form a diverse landscape around the village.
And from the recent man-made sights - the Minger Tower - the "grandniece" of the famous dominant of the Kazan Kremlin, but a whole few meters higher. It has a hotel, observation platforms, baths, and even … its own registry office.
In addition, forests are being reborn around the village, on many hectares of hills along the river. They have been planted for several years where they were once lost, it seemed, forever. And also man-made lakes appear around the village: not one or two, but many. Some, however, then disappear, but new ones appear.
The largest in the republic, Sabantuy, has been held for many years on a large territory near the village, and a lot of different things have been done for this: there are seven different bridges across the river, and also: stages, platforms, stands, several kilometers of paths.
All this and much more, including jobs for residents, appears with the zeal of one person - in Tatar "huzh": the owner of these places, a large businessman of the republican level, a native of Minger - Jaudat Minnakhmetov and his relatives. The same person was actually the customer of the concept of the development of public spaces in the village within the framework of the "Spring March".
What is the essence of your project?
- The first stage of the proposed development of the territory is in the floodplain of the Mesha River, around five man-made lakes. We called it a landscape “floodplain park”. The proposed solution is based on the preservation and development of the existing natural features of the territory with watering, planting of greenery and restoration of the forest and floodplain landscape, creating an environment with the opportunity to both relax and have fun in the natural environment for these places, returned and raised on the site of a swampy lowland in the floodplain of the river Mesha.
And "Sabantui-trail" as a set of environmental equipment was proposed by us as a set of necessary elements for organizing the recreation space. The already existing paths and the previously formed functional zones of the festival were formed spontaneously, without a common integral concept - as a set of separate objects. After the analysis was carried out, the concept of equipping an almost kilometer pedestrian zone along the river with a set of environmental modules was adopted, which ensure the necessary functioning of the main communication axis of the territory not only during festivals, but also at other times - in the off-season, all year round, as part of the organized thematic tourist route. over the river, around Minger.
Bridges, as an integral part of the "Path" - its image component, it is proposed to subject the design to actualization and turn into an environmental attraction.
I sincerely hope that the proposed concept will be accepted and the guys from my team will have a real opportunity to finalize the project and implement it in the future. I am also ready to continue cooperation if the opportunity presents itself.
What are your impressions of the joint work with young architects of Kazan?
- Strong and positive. First of all, from the high degree of motivation of young colleagues, their desire to learn, absorb new things … I was very pleased with their willingness to work, a sincere desire to learn more and do better. The guys who worked with me managed to be a real team for the entire project period, and this can be more difficult than even coming up with something original. I am sure that they have good prospects in the future. Both professional and personal!
How productive are these workshops?
- The answer cannot be unambiguous, since too much depends on the specifics: preparation, organization, motivation of participants, level of project support. If these factors coincide, and most importantly, with a real possibility of project implementation, such programs can and should work. This is how the Spring March in Kazan is already working. And most importantly, such programs can become an appropriate alternative to the "progressorship" imposed from the outside.
