The International Cultural Forum was held last week in St. Petersburg, one of the traditional sections of which is “Creative Environment and Urbanism”. The theme of the most eventful day was chosen in the wake of the last World Cup: “International events as a driver of the development of cities and regions”.
Among international events, they recalled the Olympic Games and other major sporting events, all kinds of Expo, political summits, Universiades, the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, or even further - the war with Sweden, which led to its emergence. All speakers agreed that there are much more advantages from large-scale events for cities than disadvantages. The difficulty lies in effectively using the given chances and planning in advance how the “legacy” of these events will be used: not only buildings, but also infrastructure, as well as developed architectural principles or a new sense of self, as is the case with Russian cities after the 2018 World Cup.
The Barcelona Phenomenon
Many recalled Barcelona: apparently, as a certain absolute of the proposed topic, since its
the makeover after the 1992 Olympics was truly impressive. The improvement of the transport network, the gentrification of depressed areas and the expansion of recreational areas gave the coastal capital of Spain a powerful impetus to development, and the influx of guests has probably only increased since then.
Similar processes were partially launched in the Imereti Lowland, although, according to Nikita Yavein, head of the Studio 44 architectural bureau, in Sochi it was an almost random effect that no one predicted: “everything did not happen as they thought, but better than thought. In short, the city acquires an unusual characteristic of a spa and scientific center.
Nikita Yavein said that according to the initial "scenario" only the Fisht stadium and the Big Ice Palace are used - they are still sports facilities. Three buildings - the Iceberg Ice Palace, the Puck Ice Arena and the Ice Cube Curling Center were supposed to be moved to other cities along with the equipment and structures, but in the end they remained in place and one way or another continue to perform sports functions.
The skating center "Adler-Arena" has not become an exhibition complex, while tennis players and gymnasts train here. The media center was planned to be turned into a shopping center, but it is turning into a more interesting object: forums are held here, on the second floor they are going to open a museum of technology with laboratories and even "punch" the streets, turning the complex into a "city".
In 2015, the Talent and Success Foundation bought the Azimut hotel and placed
educational center "Sirius", where successful in science, sports or art schoolchildren from all over the country come all year round to learn new things, communicate and grow stronger in the sea air within a month. Studio-44 designed three new buildings for the center - School, Sport and Art, the architecture of which reacts not only to the landscape, but also to the Olympic facilities, that is, it continues the sports cluster, which now has a lot of children and youth organizations. It turned out that “the half-empty hotel provoked the emergence of a new type of education. And she launched a chain reaction of transformations: the question arises of converting other hotels into educational institutions and creating a scientific cluster based on the Olympic legacy."
“The funnel of events is drawing in more and more people, whom you sometimes meet more often in Sochi than in St. Petersburg,” says Nikita Yavein. The architect believes that "a bit of an ideal city is emerging - a resort and educational city, similar to Skolkovo, but more natural: because of the feeling that you are on vacation, it is easier to work or study."
Acupuncture cities
The success of Barcelona also taught that it is more important to invest not so much in objects as in improving the urban environment. Pierre de Meuron believes that international events should lead to a local effect, to improve life in certain parts of the world. The architect cited as an example the Eiffel Tower, a temporary structure, without which it is now impossible to imagine Paris. But this was also an accidental effect, and it is better to plan it anyway: “look for a“red dot”in the city and insert a needle into it to improve health. New objects are not the ultimate goal of construction, it is necessary to create spaces for people, infrastructure for public life."
Gavin McMillan, senior director at Hargreaves Associates, agrees that big events should be used to solve the problems that have accumulated in the urban environment. His bureau was preparing for the Olympic Games
London and Sydney. In both cities, architects have transformed the proposed areas into parks, “green corridors” connecting all sports facilities. As a result, the environment has been revived, many birds and animals have returned. After the games in London, the park was integrated into the everyday life of the townspeople.
Here I would like to note that the chief architect of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Grigoriev, among all the objects under construction for international events in the northern capital, unexpectedly singled out the Palace of Congresses in Strelna, in which "both weddings of ordinary (not quite) people and summits like the G20 are held" …
Preparing St. Petersburg for major events, perhaps, is still more reminiscent of preparing for a wedding than “conscious consumption”: for the sake of a few days they spend a lot of money and put a polish on them, which does not happen on ordinary days. And then the "suit" hangs in the closet for a long time and waits for some other solemn event. If we talk about creating an environment for public life, then over the past few years, in preparation for the arrival of guests in St. Petersburg, only one public space has appeared - a site on the southern road of Krestovsky Island, which very quickly became popular, despite its remoteness from the metro.
But there are still many good examples. According to Vladimir Grigoriev, the Ice Palace, which was being built for the 2000 World Ice Hockey Championship, transformed the entire area of Bolsheviks Avenue, the new Expoforum works for city and international events, and it is very difficult to overestimate the Ring Road and the WHSD. The chief architect of TPO Reserve, Vladimir Plotkin, recalled how, thanks to the APEC 2012 Summit, Vladivostok “opened up to expert opinions, rethought the urban environment, as a result, the city was landscaped, its various parts were connected by bridges”.
It seems that Moscow came closest to the philosophy of "acupuncture". Chief Architect Sergei Kuznetsov said that if other cities in Russia received new facilities and infrastructure in preparation for the 2018 World Cup, then the capital had a very special effect: Nikolskaya Street became known all over the world, and the attitude of Muscovites to their city has changed a lot. I think, not only thanks to "Zaryadye": if you step out of the routine of everyday life and look around "like a tourist", it will be very beautiful.
Not only buildings
Vladimir Plotkin devoted most of his speech to the fact that major events not only give rise to iconic objects, but also initiate theoretical research that has a tremendous impact on world architecture. Joseph Paxton was remembered more than once with his miracle - the crystal palace, built for the 1851 World's Fair. In 1929, Mies van der Rohe presented a pavilion at an exhibition in Barcelona: "a recitation of a new attitude towards space and layout." Richard Fuller showed the famous geodesic dome at an exhibition in Montreal in 1967, and Otto Frye also showed the awning there.
Architect and artist Asif Khan, author of several spectacular Olympic venues, suggested using the opportunities that open up in preparation for major events "for experimentation, exploration and synergy."
