The competition for the creation of the concept of a tourist cluster in Oymyakon was announced in May this year. Its initiators are two Yakut organizations, the LETO Urban Environment Competence Center and the Future Generations Trust Fund. The partner and operator of the competition is the Agency for Strategic Development "CENTER". The participants of the competition had to present their solutions for the development of the village of Oymyakon, which would help the Yakut settlement turn into a center of world extreme tourism.
The winner of the competition was announced last week. It was a consortium that included the Moscow bureau ASADOV, the Yakut architectural firm LSTK-Proekt, as well as the tour operator Russia Discovery and the consulting company KNIGHT FRANK. As a reminder, the names of the three finalists of the competition were announced in July. In total, 22 applications were submitted for participation.
The village of Oymyakon is a famous pole of cold, the lowest temperature for the northern hemisphere was recorded here -71.2 ° C. Winter, that is, the temperature is below zero - 9 months a year. "Designing in an extreme climate requires special knowledge, so the cooperation of local bureaus that have experience in permafrost conditions and architects from other regions who have a new approach, a special vision is especially valuable," said the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolayev, who personally supervised the competition and was the chairman of the jury. Aisen Nikolaev noted that Yakutia is in great demand among tourists, however, due to the underdeveloped infrastructure, the republic cannot accept everyone: it is necessary to reject up to 80% of applications.
“This process has become not just a competition and the choice of the best solution, but a combination of expertise, in which everyone has learned something,” says the head of the Center agency Sergey Georgievsky, “and at the same time a great inspiration for all those involved in the development of not only the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), but also the Arctic as a whole, the east of the country and those territories that have been forgotten and neglected for a long time. Oymyakon is a place that can really be an international tourist attraction”.
Investors are planned to be found by 2021, the construction of the first stage should begin in 2022-2023. The project cost is estimated at almost 1 billion rubles.
winner: AB ASADOV
Leader of the consortium AB ASADOV, Moscow
KNIGHT FRANK, Moscow / London + LSTK-Project, Yakutsk + Russia Discovery, Moscow
The authors of the winning project proposed a master plan for the transformation of the village of Oymyakon with the replacement of all engineering networks, a new wooden embankment, an eco-farm, a bath complex on the river with the ability to swim in an ice-hole, several parks of different specializations, including a site for the main Yakut holiday Ysyakh, art- objects and playgrounds.
The walking route is a system of two networks: a more corpus system of carriageways and a thin grid of pedestrian paths. Pedestrian and bicycle paths are wooden, in some places they form bridges raised above the water; viewpoints are accentuated on the embankment, open places regularly alternate with warm ones, allowing you to warm up. The route covers the entire territory of Oymyakon, connects the elements of the new program, offers many "options for passing", working for a variety of perception. Among the elements is the museum of the Oymyakon merchant-benefactor
Nikolai Krivoshapkin in the western part of the village.
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zooming 1/4 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 2/4 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 3/4 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 4/4 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
The core of the master plan was the building of the hotel complex, whose free petal plan a little resembles the contours of the village itself, the "spurs" of which are freely scattered around its center, which turns the complex into a kind of volumetric logo. The arched stylobate unites 3 volumes of the hotel, 1 restaurant, and 3 more - a museum complex with an “exit to the ice cave”. From the museum, the transition to the museum park begins, and the entire stylobate is equipped with an amphitheater along the inner arc, which "looks" in the direction opposite from the park, to the main street of the village.
All buildings are equipped with atriums with zenith light, which will allow you to spend time in a warm, but with natural light.
“The task was not trivial, for architects it is a serious challenge - to create a comfortable environment for tourists who arrive there, and for the entire settlement as a whole,” says Andrey Asadov. - First of all, tourists simply need a place to stay there - but, on the other hand, it is important that they be interested and have something to do. The village is already known in Russia and throughout the world as a center of extreme tourism, guides take those who wish there: they mostly get there from Yakutsk, by car for two days, although you can, of course, by helicopter … But there is almost nowhere to stay in Oymyakon, that's why many come, look and leave, spend the night in other places. Our task is to detain tourists in the village, to provide both comfort and a program, a "base" for exploring a territory with extreme nature. So far, in addition to nature in Oymyakon, there are, strictly speaking, two attractors - a museum and a stele denoting the village as a cold pole”.
The concept is designed for 3 stages and, according to the authors, after the completion of the third stage, the number of visitors to the village may increase from 1,000 to 10,000 people per year, that is, 10 times. And the potential of the place as a whole, subject to the consistent development of tourism, is more than 50,000 people a year, says Andrey Asadov.
Visitors to the Pole of Cold are divided into two categories, says a member of the consortium, Russia Discovery: extreme sportsmen and expeditioners, some prefer pure sports and adventure, others come to see and “check in” rather. The program was developed based on the preferences of both, for all tastes.
In addition to the program and the master plan for the village itself, the authors, looking more broadly, developed a travel route from Yakutsk - all the same for two whole days - and made suggestions for its improvement and arrangement, both in terms of comfort and interest.
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zooming 1/3 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 2/3 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 3/3 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
And, finally, the authors suggested updating the Oymyakon brand and saturating it with imagery. Which is conveyed, on the one hand, by the design of details - from signs and signs to souvenirs with logos, also developed by the consortium. It is emphasized that travel is possible and interesting not only in winter, when the frost is 70 degrees and the northern lights, but also in summer.
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zooming 1/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 2/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 3/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 4/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 5/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
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zooming 6/6 The concept of a tourist cluster in the village of Oymyakon, the winning project © Consortium AB ASADOV + KNIGHT FRANK + LSTK-Project + Russia Discovery
On the other hand, the same “speaking” imagery is taken up by large forms: in particular, the hotel buildings are designed as megasculptures of the mythological bull Chyskhaan, which sends cold to the earth. It turned out symbolically: the bull causes frost, but inside it is warm and you can warm up by watching the freezing earth. Let us recall that the shape of the hotel complex as a whole interprets the petal contours of the settlement. It is possible that simple wooden buildings for cafes and restaurants also resemble barracks, part of the history of the northern region, for a reason.
The authors present the project of the renewed Oymyakon as a place for “lovers of comfortable adventures”. When asked if there is a contradiction between comfort and extreme, Andrei Asadov answers philosophically: “A person needs a safe place. You can go in for extreme sports, but it's better to know that you will return somewhere where it will be warm and comfortable. This is important for anyone, extreme sportsmen as well”. In addition, the head of the consortium emphasizes that extreme elements are built into the tourist program itself - for example, swimming in an ice hole on the river: “both in our proposal and in the projects of our colleagues there are a lot of ideas for various pastimes, I would like all of them to serve the comprehensive development places.
The jury called the concept sound and feasible. ***
runner-up: BAZA14
Leader of the consortium BAZA14, Yakutsk
Megabudka, Moscow + Center for Urban Projects "Shtab", Moscow + NLTR Practice, Moscow
Geographically, this project covers not only Oymyakon, but also other villages located along the section of the Old Kolyma highway - Kyubyume, Yuchyugey, Tomtor, as well as settlements from Yakutsk to Ust-Nera.
The authors of the project propose to lay ten radial tourist routes from Oymyakon in order to provide a variety of leisure activities in winter and summer. Here is an incomplete list of such tours: a reindeer sleigh trip, a sightseeing tour with the study of local animals and plants, a rafting on the Indigirka, a tour of the abandoned gulag camps. You can choose from the proposed options in the tourist center of Oymyakon, on the website or through the application on your mobile phone.
“The main idea of our project is Oymyakon for everyone,” the authors say. “We believe that amazing places like Oymyakon should be accessible and recognizable by a wide and varied audience with different needs and budget levels. Therefore, first of all, we offer regular transport links and services along the developed route, where the central point is Oymyakon. This will allow any person to visit the village on their own at a convenient time.
One of the first to emerge was the idea of independently designing travel according to the interests and capabilities of the user: choosing from a variety of available options for routes, transport, accommodation and leisure. We have created a prototype of an online platform accessible via the website and mobile app. There, tourists can choose points of interest, cafes, order Sherpas, buy a plane ticket, book accommodation, see events in various locations along the route.
To diversify the route, we worked on transport, architecture and an event program: we talked with the manufacturer of Sherp all-terrain vehicles, came up with a unique attraction-museum of cold Antibans, developed various places for living and leisure, navigation.
When developing the brand, we started from the uniqueness of the place: the coldest inhabited spot in the world, local architecture, history. The stele of cold Lödenets appeared already as the apotheosis of the brand, the focus of all ideas. An important part of the project is the participation of Oymyakon residents. The Tourist Information Center will coordinate the services provided by local residents for tourists, oversee the work of the platform, and monitor the fullness and relevance of information."
finalist: MLA +
Consortium Leader
MLA +, St. Petersburg / Rotterdam
design:: unit, St. Petersburg + TS-Center, Yakutsk + PROMKOD, Moscow
The consortium members hope for decisive steps from both residents and leaders to change the future of the village, and therefore gave their concept a loud slogan "Cross Oymyakon!" (a reference to the well-known expression "to cross the Rubicon"). The concept also has a name - "p (o) lus of modernity".
The first place in this project is the interests of the villagers and the ecosystem approach. Everything that will be built for tourists should benefit, first of all, the indigenous population. The authors also propose to create a carbon-free infrastructure through the introduction of sustainable vehicles - for example, passenger drones, airships.
The authors believe that the creation of the cluster will attract not only “idle” tourists to the region, but also “more active” scientists, students, as well as startups and researchers. Their presence will change the picture of employment of the local population - scientific ones will be added to tourism activities and services.
“The project proposes the strategic development of the Oymyakon region,” the consortium members explain. - It is on this scale that the sustainability of the project is seen. The tourism sector within the framework of the project is understood as a tool for socio-economic development. Only three components - the snowbus all-terrain vehicles, cargo-and-passenger airships and airfields - radically improve connectivity, accessibility, safety and stay planning without the need to build and maintain roads, manage waste, which will have a beneficial effect on the state of natural ecosystems.
Acupuncture accommodation in attractive places of the tourist route network of stationary objects of various capacities - shelters, suites and residences will expand both the geography of the network and the topic of stay: pristine nature, Oymyakon endemics, abandoned cities and gold mines, GULAG, modern history, effects of global climate change … The project limits the location of mass tourism, but encourages travel in small groups of 5-8 people. As the guest infrastructure develops, the project attracts a qualitatively different audience - academic tours, social culture researchers and startups testing technological innovations in extreme cold conditions.
Phase states and effects are reflected in detail in the structural diagram of the project [https://unit4.io/repository/oymyakon]: as a result of a qualitative change in the landscape and environment, the resource supply of households and settlements is improved, costs are reduced, while the regional economy acquires a new perspective without significant changes in the usual way of life”.
The composition of the jury of the competition can be found on its website.
