Maria Kutai, Penza, "THING!"
When founded, by whom, where they studied and worked, why they work in their city
We all studied at the Penza State University of Architecture and Construction at different times, worked in different architectural workshops in Penza, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. In 2016, we united into a team to jointly participate in competitions for the design and construction of art objects. In this work, you could express your ideas and quickly implement them.
Then we began to offer the Penza administration ideas for the improvement of public spaces, participated in seminars and round tables with representatives of the authorities and developers. As a result, an art object "PENZA" appeared in our city, and one of the major developers suggested that we make a project for the improvement of courtyard spaces in one of the complexes. Other construction companies and organizations began to contact us. Under the auspices of KB Strelka, we were engaged in the design of the improvement of two significant areas in the central part of Penza - Lenin Square and Slava Street.
Penza is not very large, but there is a request for the design of public spaces from the administration and business, and we, in turn, are pleased to develop our hometown. Also, our bureau is now engaged in the design of transport and interchange hubs for the Moscow metro, we are actively adopting the best practices for creating a comfortable environment and at the same time introducing it in Penza.
The best projects and what has been implemented
At the moment, the implementation of our project for the improvement of the main square of Penza is underway -
Lenin Square. The concept was implemented by us together with KB Strelka. The main idea is to reveal the history of the place - to highlight with the help of paving the channel of the river that once flowed here, the return of city furniture and lighting poles, reminiscent of the historical ones. In this project, solutions were applied that were "revolutionary" for our city - the return of the park instead of parking in the southern part of the square, the use of mobile MAF in the central part for its daily use. The design and estimate documentation was carried out by us together with A. A. PTM. Breusov. At the moment, we are supervising the implementation of the project, as a result, this space should make the city safer, more environmentally friendly, more comfortable and more interesting for residents.
We are also engaged in projects for the improvement of courtyards and park spaces in residential areas. One of the first implemented projects was
the territory of the "Favorite" residential complex in Penza (the project of the 3rd stage, see here). "Favorite" - the horse with the greatest chances of being the leader. The general idea that unites courtyard spaces and their various functional areas is the image of a horse. Art objects and elements associated with this animal are used as accents: horseshoe benches, a chess horse in the board games area, a sports horse in the work-out area, a horse in a coat, and a unicorn as art objects. All objects are united by a route - the metaphorical path of a horse in time and space, the movement along which turns for residents into an entertaining game and interesting leisure with different types of activity.
We recently won a federal competition for projects to create a comfortable environment in small towns, organized by the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, and now the city of Kuznetsk, Penza Region, will receive 100 million for the implementation of this project. Two more of our projects, the city of Kamenka in the Penza region and the city of Kuznetsk in the Novosibirsk region, reached the final and are recommended for participation next year.
In Moscow, we are engaged in the design of transport hubs for the subway. We create a comfortable transport, pedestrian infrastructure, recreation areas, and also offer the reconstruction of pavilions above the exits from the metro. At the same time, in each project we try to reveal the individuality of the place associated with its history.
Interesting buildings in your city over the past 10 years
We really like the Penza Cinema and Concert Hall of the Mart architectural bureau. This building has a very solid dynamic form, it was advanced, unlike other buildings in Penza both seven years ago and now.
At the moment, in Penza, the Savior Cathedral, lost in Soviet times, is being built according to the project of O. Cheruvimova (Penzgrazhdanproekt LLC). It is perfectly perceived from the main pedestrian street of the city and is a worthy dominant of the street's perspective.
Prospects for the development of the profession in your city
What positively affects the development of the industry
The preserved historical buildings, the layout of the central part of the city, the developed artistic culture: a century-old art school, an art gallery with a wonderful collection of paintings have a positive effect. To some extent, this helps to form an understanding of the beautiful in young people. Unfortunately, later these talented people leave, and those who stay often cannot realize themselves in the city. But there are some positive trends - the city has paid attention to the creation of a comfortable, including aesthetic, urban environment. The movement in this direction is not easy, but it certainly is.
What inspires in the world
Representatives of our bureau are versatile young people, we are inspired by a lot: the world with its nature, different seasons, sunrises and sunsets. Of course, architects: Russian and foreign, such as Pavlov, Leonidov, Melnikov, Shchusev, Shekhtel, Russian medieval architecture, Luis Kahn, Mario Botta, Niemeyer.
About colleagues: who is interesting, who is the future
There are many talented associations of young architects, for example, the O'Gorod team. They organize architectural festivals, thanks to which Nizhny Novgorod has been filled with interesting art objects. Thanks to the O'Gorod festival, three of our art objects have appeared in Nizhny Novgorod. Several members of the association have formed the Institute for the Development of the Urban Environment, are engaged in the improvement of cities in the Nizhny Novgorod region, they create modern, stylish and comfortable public spaces.
In general, there are a lot of colleagues who inspire us: Dutch (Nizhny Novgorod), Project Group 8 (Vologda), Park (Moscow).
