Ideologists of the project “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era Andrey and Nikita Asadov believe that modern Russian architecture has overcome another historical milestone and deserves not only to sum up the previous period, but also to discuss plans for the future. We talked with the authors about the theme of the exhibition, its three formats and the importance of the project both for the professional community and for all those interested.
Archi.ru:
30 years is a serious figure for modern history. How did you come up with the idea of the exhibition?
Andrey Asadov: In the spring of 1989, the first four architectural workshops were organized at the Union of Architects of Russia, including the workshop of Alexander Rafailovich Asadov, our father. We realized that this is a whole layer of history, which turns 30 this year, and decided to take stock and track the chronicle of the modern history of Russian architecture as a whole.
Nikita Asadov: It was important for us to study this history and realize what happened at what moment, what was valuable in all this, in order not to miss, preserve, and pass on further. And the biggest question is what place does architecture occupy in the general historical context? How can we use the accumulated potential, multiply and independently formulate a vector that would be interesting to develop in the future?
A. A.: Over the past 30 years, Russian architecture has gone through a whole evolution, directly related to the development of the country. Our team, which also included Elena Petukhova and Yulia Shishalova, identified the main stages of this evolution and traced all the interaction. The exhibition is based on a large-scale study, thanks to which it was possible to collect a completely objective picture.
How was the study conducted from a technical point of view?
A. A.: Questionnaires were prepared and sent to nearly 300 experts: architects, architectural critics, journalists - everyone involved in our profession. They were asked to identify the most striking architectural events, faces and most interesting objects. Moreover, it was possible both to choose from the already prepared basic list, and to propose additional events and buildings. This opportunity was used by the majority of our respondents. Thanks to this option, the study focused on many significant events, including regional ones. Then the number of votes cast for certain milestones in the architectural chronicle was counted and the final list of events and projects was formed.
Have you personally somehow participated in the selection of key objects for the exhibition? Or did what you see at the exhibition determine some kind of rating?
A. A.: The exhibits are those objects that have received the most mentions among the research participants.
ON.: The only thing we left for the architects was the freedom to propose this or that object for the exhibition from among the buildings that were among the leaders of the survey. Thus, the exhibition presents the results of a double rating - both by the number of votes in the study and by the importance for the authors themselves.
-
Image 
zooming 1/4 Opening of the exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev. Speech of the exhibition curator Andrey Asadov © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 2/4 Opening of the exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev. Speech by the Director of the Museum Elizaveta Likhacheva © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 3/4 Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 4/4 Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
If you did not select the participants of the final exhibition for the sake of the objectivity of the picture, then maybe some events or projects can now be noted subjectively?
A. A.: Of course, fresh projects make a greater impression, and earlier ones are already perceived calmly, but they are all milestones in architectural history. For example, some of the selected exhibitors at the exhibition are represented by their early projects. But this does not mean that this was the pinnacle of their creativity, it was just that an object was chosen that influenced the development of architecture at that time and was of particular importance for its author.
We tried to achieve the objectivity of the cut, we were interested in how the participants of the professional workshop themselves evaluate the achievements of their colleagues. At the same time, we are very glad that one of our objects also got into the top thirty.
Was this architectural and historical cut only in Moscow or in the regions of Russia too?
ON.: In terms of personalities, we were not limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but gave the experts the opportunity to compile a full coverage of the country. Based on this, the general picture was formed.
A. A.: And our team decided to show the result of this research in three formats at once.
For instance?
A. A.: The first format is an exhibition that will be open until June 16 at the Shchusev Museum of Architecture.
ON.: Through the exhibition, we popularize the research itself as much as possible, so the choice of the site was important to us. The Museum of Architecture was perfect because it is focused not only on the professional community, but also on the general public.
-
zooming 1/6 Collection of copyright art objects. Installation based on the Vodka Ceremonies Pavilion. Alexander Brodsky. Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 2/6 Collection of copyright art objects. Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 3/6 Collection of copyright art objects. Installation based on "House by the Sea". Evgeny Gerasimov, Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners and Sergei Tchoban NPS Tchoban Voss. Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 4/6 Collection of copyright art objects. Installation based on the "Picturesque Bridge". N. Shumakov, Metrogiprotrans. Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 5/6 Collection of copyright art objects. Installation based on the White Square MFC. ABD architects together with APA Wojciechowski Architekci (Poland). Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
-
zooming 6/6 Exhibition “Russian Architecture. The Newest Era "in the Museum of Architecture. Shchusev © ARCHNEWAGE
A. A.: Towards the end of the exhibition, a book will be presented, on which a separate team worked under the leadership of Yulia Shishalova, with the support of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction and the website of the Moscow Architectural Council. We present fragments from the book in the form of a timeline - - time aboutth scale on which general historical and architectural events are strung. Another format is the site that the amazing Likesisters team has worked on. In addition to temporary aboutth scale, here is a unique collection of video interviews with project participants.
ON.: And one more important part of the exhibition is the discussion program. This is a more lively and interactive format where you can communicate with both the authors of the study and the authors of the works presented at the exhibition. Listen, comprehend, ask questions. And this is the most understandable and vivid presentation of the exhibition - as an event within the framework of which this historical segment will be lived and the position of what to do next will be formulated.
Where do you see the meaning and benefits of such projects for the architectural community? What can the conducted research give to professionals?
A. A.: In my opinion, it is always useful to analyze past events in order to understand what has already been achieved and where everything is going.
ON.: I was interested to see a fairly condensed selection. If before 1990 there were already a number of collections by periods, from the avant-garde to paper architecture, then it was quite interesting to try to make such a selection for a segment of the newest era of Russian architecture. And including understanding how these collections can be formed so that they are fairly objective. I think that this material will be in demand in the future, because the objectivity has been preserved, and here I see the main value.
But the Museum of Architecture, where the exhibition is taking place, has a fairly large traffic from tourists and people who have recently become interested in architecture. Is your exhibition somehow adapted for this type of visitors?
ON.: This is a good opportunity in one place and in a fairly short time to understand what modern architecture is, what has appeared in it over the past three decades, what is most striking and valuable in it from the point of view of professionals.
A. A.: Architecture is considered the mother of all arts, but recently the perception of architecture has been greatly lost - it has largely turned into some kind of appendage of a building complex. It is very important for us that modern architecture is perceived not only as part of the country's history, but also as an independent object of art.
Therefore, in addition to all professional ratings, we have tried to make the exhibition clear and popular. That is why we asked the authors of the selected projects to present their building as an art object expressing the main idea. It seems to me that this is the most attractive part of the exposition - something mysterious, three-dimensional, sometimes even with audio and video effects. I hope this format will be of interest to a wide range of people.
The exhibition will run for a month. Will there be any continuation of the project after the exhibition?
A. A.: We hope that with the completion of the exhibition, the project will not end its existence and will set the basis for future analysis over the next decade. Due to the limited time for preparing the project, our team did not interview all experts, but this is a design project, especially its online version. It can be easily replenished with stories of the past tense and the future.
We also want to organize an exhibition tour of the project in the regions, in each of which it could be replenished with its own regional collection of the best buildings and its own history. It is very important to cover the whole country with attention without being locked in the capital. Let's see how this can be done, but there is already interest from the Ministry of Culture and the Museum of Architecture itself!
