The Sukhanovo estate - the legendary rest house The Union of Architects - for a long time, about 10 years, did not formally belong to the union, and managed to fall into decay. Nikolay Belousov made it, this decline, the subject of the festival, proposing the theme "Scream". The festival was held at the estate at the invitation of the SAR, lasted 2 weeks from July 22 to August 6 and consisted of master classes, design and construction of five facilities by 28 participants. They were selected from about 50 applicants through a small creative competition: those who wished were asked to design a "house for an animal", which baffled many, so this year there were not many participants compared to the past two festivals in St. Petersburg, which gathered about 80 person. The reduction in the composition, however, does not at all sadden the organizers and Nikolai Belousov - on the contrary, it rather pleases, since it is easier to pay attention to everyone and the work becomes more productive. In the future, "Drevolution" plans to limit the number of participants.
Belousov does not plan to retreat from another festival principle - minimal intervention of the curator in the creative process: “I give the guys the maximum possible freedom, I try not to interfere with advice so as not to become a co-author of works. They themselves chose the place, they themselves decided how they would reveal the topic. We did everything ourselves, the project, the layout, worked with a screwdriver. It is useful for architects to understand what efforts are required to implement the idea with their own hands."
The theme was appointed this year for the first time: starting at the first festival held in Galich in 2003, then, when Drevolyutsia joined the Cities, and 2015-2016 in St. Petersburg, there were no themes. Sukhanovo, in his melancholy, probably demanded the decay of the theme, and as a result, the objects' comprehension of the estate's space by means of objects turned out to be quite integral and consistent. The position of the jury this time turned out to be not very consistent, so below I will not place the objects in turn, but I will try to show them the way they "read" Sukhanovo.
Two objects are located in front of the main facade of the house, trying to restore its parterre - they look great together and, indeed, try to build an axis of view from the balcony of the colonnade to the pond, lost due to the trees overgrown on the right.
Best of all in this sense "works" the obelisk of the team from St. Petersburg, Moscow and Voronezh "Oseviki". In Sukhanov there was a stone erected under Peter Mikhailovich Volkonsky
an obelisk in honor of the visit of Alexander I, but it was not here, but behind the lower pond next to the Tea House. Both the house and the obelisk are now lost.
The architects chose a place for a lattice transparent, and even black, not very noticeable against the background of trees, an obelisk-shadow, drawing an axis perpendicularly from the center of the portico, then walking along it to the point from which the pond is now visible. It turned out 2 axes: from the house and from the pond, or one, as the authors say, "broken line". At their intersection, an obelisk was erected, so that both the palace and the pond are visible from it.
On Saturday, when the jury was working, the obelisk was not finished and the jury awarded it the last 5th place. The next day, when the work was completed, many of the experts repented, deciding that he might even be worthy of the first. But they did not change their decision, but they plan to offer the authors an internship in France.
Skeleton of the Past (Framework of the Future) / 5th place
Oseviki team
Polishchuk Maria (St. Petersburg), Razumovsky Yaroslav (St. Petersburg), Alexey Ushakov (Voronezh), Yakovleva Maria (Voronezh), Alexey Kolesov (Moscow)
“The Russian estate has always had a connection with water. A wide alley going down from the manor house to the reservoir is a classic technique for a noble manor park.
Today the park is overgrown in Sukhanovo. Gone is the main axis connecting the palace portico and the pond. The main perspective views have been lost. The neatly planted park lindens turned into a forest. This is how active development brings chaos to the structure of the city.
Our team found the only place that can connect the pond water mirror and the axis of the intercolomnium of the portico. The perspective has turned into a broken one. We found a point of view breakdown and decided to place a vertical dominant in this place, which would revive the once existing dialogue between nature and architecture.
The obelisk is a common morphotype of Russian manor-park architecture. In imperial Russia, in honor of the tsar's visit to one of his courtiers, it was customary to erect monuments or. In particular, an obelisk was erected in Sukhanovo in honor of Alexander I. But it was located in the depths of the park, near the Lower Ponds, near a spring.
Structurally, our obelisk is a set of beams connected into a single beam. The section of the tower is a square of bars. The vertical bars are installed so that the structure is almost transparent along the axis of the object. When examining an object, we observe a constant play of transparency / opacity, which creates a feeling of ephemerality. The wooden frame runs through the base, which in turn serves as a bench. The pyramidal completion creates the ultimate obelisk resemblance.
In our opinion, this obelisk was also erected in honor of the event. And this event is the decline of Sukhanovo. Our object is a symbol of the loud past, assessment of the present and hope for the future. ***
Between the obelisk and the palace, in place of the white-stone oval of a parterre bed separated by steps (most likely Soviet, and now overgrown), a team from St. Petersburg, Moscow and Voronezh built a platform, which, according to the authors, "cannot be walked", because each of its blocks solved in the form of a corner. Walking along it resembles a walk along the beams of a rutted house. A spoiled piano found in the bushes was installed on the platform. They brought him to Sukhanovo for some kind of wedding, but they forgot him; the instrument is upset, cracked and looks utterly melancholy.
Together, the lattice obelisk and the old piano in the parterre form the speculative outline of a bygone estate - this is not surprising, for a country palace, perhaps, the parterre is no less important than the palace. The ebony of both objects works in unison, also associating with conflagration and increasing sadness. Needless to say, the piano is installed on the axis between the portico of the house and the obelisk - together they form the figurative skeleton of the lost estate life. ***
"0. R." / 2nd place
Team 112
Vorotnikova Ksenia (Moscow), Zhernakova Natalia (Moscow), Posadsky Yan (Voronezh), Sushchin Alexander (Voronezh), Cheremnova Anna (St. Petersburg)
“The abbreviation“OR”stands for“zero”and“piano”. The architectural installation is located in the front yard of the Sukhanovo estate and occupies the site of an abandoned oval flower bed. She is on the compositional. On the axis of the park between the palace and the pond. The object helps to bring out the lost emphasis of the historical layout. At the same time, “OR” suggests rethinking the meaning of this place that has developed over the past century.
“The installation consists of a flooring and a piano. Each of them is an object with “anti-function”, reflecting the discrepancy between the current state of the estate complex and its history and image. The overgrown flower bed turns into an impromptu stage on which Sukhanovo's performance of everyday life is played out. The shape of its white-stone border is an oval, "zero", a symbol of the cultural emptiness that has formed in the estate with the substitution of its function. The flooring replaces the flower bed, like a patch on fabric. Its dark gray, almost black color visually turns the patch into a gaping hole. Assembled from alternating planks, laid on the edge and flat, the flooring is deliberately inconvenient for walking.
The core of the installation was a broken piano found in the park, which stood in the bushes. It served as a symbol of the restless spirit of the place, a living personification of an exiled culture. With a twisted rusty mechanism, it can only emit a cacophony of sounds ("op"), reflecting the current discord in the estate. It is like the cry of despair of a place that can hardly resist the destruction and alien invasion of homo vulgaris. " ***
The third project, developing the theme, is located on a pond next to a well-source, where many locals come to fetch water. A team of architects from Vologda "Left" associated the decline of Sukhanovo with the "Cherry Orchard", and placed two platforms with tables for tea drinking on two opposite sides of the Lower Pond. This is not surprising, since before the revolution there was a "tea house" by Sukhanovo near the Lower Pond, so the object also became a reminder of it.
The platforms slope towards the water, and the pathos of the object lies in the fact that the conditional Ranevskaya on one side (where the well is) and the conditional Lopakhin on the other must agree, otherwise both will perish. From the third bank both platforms are visible and this is the "point of hope". We will leave the interpretation of Chekhov on the conscience of the authors, as far as I remember, there was no such thing as “agreeing”, but the object that received the 1st place in the jury turned out to be one of the laborious ones - at least due to driving piles into the water. In addition, one of its authors swam through the duckweed from one bank to the other with a thread in her hands, in order to create a direct connection between two mirror objects. In terms of labor intensity, only the same obelisk can compete with it. Three projects, including "Linden Tea" together also form the frame of the manor idea, but the first two react to the house, and "tea" to the pond, an important part of the manor culture. The objects of "tea" also serve as a pretty gazebo: the view of the pond from both points, despite the fact that half of it is covered with wandering duckweed, which is nailed to one or the other bank, is excellent.
"Linden tea" / 1 place
Left command
Alymova Maria, Kosterin Alexey, Krutikov Ivan, Kudryakov Denis, Nikolaev Alexander, Repina Olga, Taslunov Alexander (Vologda)
“Tea drinking on opposite sides of the pond in the shade of linden trees: is it possible to come to an agreement when you are on opposite sides?
In Sukhanovo there is an apple orchard behind barbed wire, overgrown with grass. The garden is not only a creation of nature that must be preserved by man, it is the personification of a manor that cries out for help.
The leitmotif of Chekhov's play "The Cherry Orchard" is consonant with the sad story of Sukhanovo. The current lopakhins see in him only a piece of land, a source of income. And the local Ranevskys continue to feel nostalgic for the past and contemplate the fading of the former luxury in inaction. Both have their own truth.
In the past, there was a tea house on the Lower Pond. In our rethought version, it is divided into two parts: one for the Lopakhins, the other for the Ranevs. Opposite parties can talk over a cup of tea, come to an agreement. But the two halves of the whole are gradually sinking to the bottom. Thus, tea participants have three paths. Stay on your part of the pavilion, get bogged down in a quagmire of compromise, or find a consensus and gain integrity, looking at the situation from the outside and finally meeting at the same table. ***
The other two projects are not so closely related to the structure of the original, proper manor memories. In front of the courtyard entrance to the main house, whose semicircular colonnade was built by none other than Konstantin Andreevich Ton, an object "Pro … Sukhanovo" was installed. At the bottom, he has an arc of wooden swing, at the top, a toilet resembling a birdhouse with a real hole in the floor - a metaphor for energetic "pissed off". The object was nicknamed "sracheli", they threaten to bring it to "Zodchestvo". The author's description mentions the playful part of the estate culture, but the authors themselves, showing the object, spoke more about the pioneer childhood in Sukhanov.
About … Sukhanovo / 3rd place
Team "Sukhanich"
Vyborova Daria, Levchenko Maria, Nikolaenkov Anton, Purenkov Anton (St. Petersburg)
“The dynamic construction on the principle of a rocking horse is a reminder of the play culture of palace and park ensembles. "Crowned" with a traditional village dress, it makes the viewer think about the recurrence of their actions and personal perception of the Sukhanovo estate.
The Sukhanovo estate is a place of happy childhood. People came here on summer vacation, lived here, studied and played. But now Sukhanovo is thrown like an old toy. The game continues on the wreckage. The devastation is carefully covered, veiled and covered with holiday petals. To understand and hear the real Sukhanovo, you need to look at it from the other side. This is how children can watch, exploring untouched routes in the game and climbing into inaccessible and strange places, not thinking about the danger. Therefore, the theme for our object is a cry from childhood.
During our work, we collected many memories and opinions about the history and state of the estate, acquaintance with the local residents brought us into the true face of Sukhanovo. This contrast with the stately world of the estate determined the path of our project.
The object is located on an axis with other new and old small forms, restoring and continuing the line of direct descent from the palace to the pond. Grotesque landscaping, which visitors will not pass by, but which does not fit with the surroundings of the holiday, speaks of problems that they do not want to see. The dynamic design on the principle of a rocking horse is a reminder of the play culture of palace and park ensembles. By directly using the object as fun, a person is in unity with the history and architectural texts of the crumbling estate.
The swing became the basis for the traditional building - the village toilet. This form, combined with functional openings, makes the viewer think about the recurrence of their actions, their consequences and personal perception of this place.
Our object is a response to imaginary well-being, for which Sukhanovo has become a platform”. ***
The fifth object of the Moscow "team A", which became famous at previous festivals, is called "Echo" and is located closer to the entrance to the estate next to the ruined house of the manager. A small amphitheater-staircase looks at the staircase and the dilapidated doorway of the house, turning the ruin into an object of contemplation. The goal is to accentuate the state of the estate. They say that at first there was another option - a "splinter", something like a wooden imitation of a mini-explosion near the walls of the manager's house; but in heated debates within the team, he lost.
ECHO / 4th place
A-Team
Avershina Alyona (St. Petersburg), Bormatova Anna (Moscow), Balakhnin Anton (Cheboksary), Egorychev Egor (Kolomna), Larkina Evgeniya (Moscow), Levandovskaya Alexandrina (Moscow), Okhryamkina Anastasia (Moscow)
“The silent scream of an abandoned building is reflected in the architectural object repeating its most important part - the entrance group with a dilapidated porch and a steel door boarded up by old boards, but repeats not literally, but inversely.
The object is located opposite the "Manager's House", built in the first half of the 19th century, in a semi-ruined state. Instead of hiding the current state of the building from the eyes of passers-by, he, on the contrary, focuses attention on it. The concept is based on the idea of reflection of a cry - an echo. The silent scream of the building is reflected in the architectural object, repeating its most important part - the entrance group with a dilapidated porch and a steel door boarded up by old boards, but repeats not literally, but inversely. Above the stairs, blank walls appear, and under the stairs - exposed structures as a symbol of the imminent disappearance of the building in the absence of proper treatment. The vertical of a young tree is taken as the reflection axis. The ladder, made according to measurements and inconvenient for walking, as in the original.
You can walk around the object and sit on the steps, reflect on the current state of the building, the estate, and just about life in general. The walls turn into blinkers and the gaze rests on the dilapidated porch with the door closed, forcing one to ask the question: "Why are they showing me all this?" ***
The fact that not everything was going well in Sukhanov was known for a long time, the theme of "Drevolution" was predictable, although at the same time it was bold. All together, it turned into a new route, and if you follow the objects, the estate looks less like a holiday home or a wedding ground, the route shows cultural patterns, which means that most of the places are chosen correctly. I must say that although the reference to "The Cherry Orchard" is too textbook, the festival creativity has grown together quite well with the weeping at the estate, and no reproach, it somehow took shape and cultivated. Everyone is used to festivals-workshops, now there are a lot of them, it happens that at such events there are objects that are too lightweight, the plots are repeated, causing déjà-vu. In this case, it turned out a little more thorough and elegiac, perhaps because of the given theme.