Heritage, Ecology, And Very, Very Bad Architects

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

The Open City conference was invented by the Moscow City Architecture Committee in order to soften the entry of architecture students into professional life. The two-day conference is preceded by workshops in which students design under the guidance of the masters of architecture, then pass defenses, where both workshops work and selected graduation projects are involved.

This is a good combination: fast, deep, hardworking children - these are such radon sources - manage to get to know and prove themselves in joint creative work with famous architects, it is possible that they can go to work for them. Moscow's chief architect Sergei Kuznetsov, design maker and inspirer interested in recruiting new smart heads, treats the conference passionately and informally: he spent the whole day at the Open City, vividly commenting on what was happening, frightening students with difficult questions and encouraging them with jokes, giving marks, and on the second day I came and held an awarding ceremony.

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1/3 Conference "Open City" © "Open City"
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2/3 Conference "Open City". Jury and curators of workshops. © "Open City"
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3/3 Conference "Open City". Exhibition in the "Ruin" of the Museum of Architecture. © "Open City"

Topics can be philosophical and poetic, or they can relate to a specific site in the city (literally being a study for a developer) or an acute urban problem, for example, renovation. The students' presentations were reminiscent of a reporting concert at the conservatory: such and such a class of professor such and such - Bashkaev, Lyzlov, Kuzembaev, Beilin… The professors were worried, rushing, like Timur Bashkaev, to give a speech. But according to the rules, it was supposed to be “discal,” as Sergei Kuznetsov said, so the guys kept their own blow. The results of the workshops were also shown in the form of installations, constituting an exhibition on the second and third floors of the Ruins Wing.

We present the results of several workshops and one of the theses defended at the Open City.

Workshops on the program "Heritage 2: 0"

This is the first time the theme of heritage at the Open City has been announced on such a large scale. Curator Petr Kudryavtsev (Citymakers), co-curator Nikolay Pereslegin (Kleinewelt Architekten). In his opening remarks, Moscow's chief architect Sergei Kuznetsov emphasized that two extremes should be avoided in relation to heritage in the spirit: “a monument means nothing to touch” and “not a monument means to demolish everything”. We need to work with heritage, including promoting information about it in books and in the media. A special heritage catalog has been timed to coincide with the OG-2019 conference. It analyzes major foreign and Russian reconstruction projects (Zaryadye, Garage, Luzhniki, HPP-2, New Holland) and the results of workshops, which were also presented at the conference.

Nine shades of reconstruction

Group leaders: Alexander Tsimailo, Olga Sytnik, Nikolay Lyashenko

The name of the project: RECREATION

The students analyzed the lost building on Tverskoy Boulevard, collected information about it, and each of them decided what was valuable, what to rely on during the reconstruction. It turned out to be: "stamp of time" - a monolithic wall with all the details; "Image" - when the proportions and silhouette of the house are repeated, but the window openings are expanded to the boundaries of the sandriks; "Visual memory" - the decor is generalized and simplified, but in fact the profile of the facade is preserved; "Rebirth" - the facade shows (as once in the paper project of Mikhail Filippov) the history of the window, which is gradually increasing and simplifying in decor; "Inside" - the frame is preserved,glass facades reveal the inner life of the building; "Ghost house" - a transparent volume with the outline of the former building; "Memory cannot be read" - an ephemeral volume of glass columns. In the installation, the workshop participants built a gradation of restoration options - from completely literal to abstract, where light rods simultaneously draw the outline of the lost house and serve to illuminate the library in its basement.

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1/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru
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2/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru
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3/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru
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4/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru
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5/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru
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6/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo © "Open City"
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7/8 Workshop "Reconstruction". Curators "Tsimailo, Lyashenko and Partners" Photo © "Open City"
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8/8 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Reconstruction" Photo: Archi.ru

As for the function of the library, in some cases it has been preserved, while in others it has been removed into the courtyard or underground.

The subject of protection for the workers' village

Team leader: Alexey Ginzburg

The name of the project: Avant-garde architecture

The aim of the project was to form a methodology for the study of workers' settlements on the basis of the "unfinished" material of an ordinary example, which no one has yet closely studied. An example was the working village "Dangauerkovka", for which, in particular, the students described the subject of protection - which included, in particular, filling of window and door openings, roofing.

As a result, it turned out that by displacing several partitions in apartments, modern comfortable housing can be obtained; to revive the stagnant territory, while preserving the spirit of the place.

New life of an old profit-maker

Team leader: Nikolay Pereslegin

The name of the project: The architecture of apartment buildings at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century

Nikolai Pereslegin began by saying that the restorer is no longer a bearded outsider. Reconstruction and development of heritage today is a clear trend in modern architecture. Then he spoke about the relevance of apartment buildings (they make up the bulk of the beautiful architecture of the historic city, they are in demand due to high ceilings and stunning decor); about the types of tenement houses (lordly, middle-class and bed-and-box); about the rating of their architects (moreover, the record holder for the number of houses built by Zherikh turned out to be not the most famous): about the structure of tenement buildings in which commercial ground floors and small apartments have in common with modern trends.

Архитектура доходных домов конца ХIХ – начала ХХ века, выставка «Открытого города», 2019 Фотография: Архи.ру

In conclusion, a model of housing rental service from a well-known architect was proposed - the Live in Story website and mobile application, at the same time an encyclopedia of apartment buildings and a rental base. The test picture with the interior of an apartment building gained about 8000 subscribers on Instagram. This means that the service is necessary, - the authors conclude.

Passport of modernism

Team leader: Wall bureau

The name of the project: Soviet architectural modernism

Проект «Архитектура Модернизма», выставка «Открытого города», 2019 Фотография: Архи.ру

The architecture of Soviet modernism is known to be difficult to preserve, since it does not have official statuses and legislative protection. But sometimes it is possible to convince the customer not to demolish the building, - Ruben Arakelyan specified. This was the case with the Moscow Palace of Youth, which is being reconstructed by the Wall. Students found about 200 buildings in Moscow, identified 65 of the most valuable and compiled a passport for them with data on the area, function, form of ownership, object of protection. The cinema "Russia", the Moscow Palace of Pioneers and even the First Humanitarian Building of Moscow State University got there.

Open City workshops on a free topic:

Nomad suitcase

Team leader: Totan Kuzembaev

The name of the project: Trail of the nomad

Totan Kuzembaev, faithful to his favorite theme of nomadism, worked with students on a group of objects on the theme of eternal travel.

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1/7 Workshop "Nomad's Trail". Architectural workshop of Totan Kuzembaev © "Open City"
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2/7 Workshop "Open City", 2019 / Totan Kuzembaev's group Photo: Archi.ru
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3/7 Workshop "Open City", 2019 / Totan Kuzembaev's group Photo: Archi.ru
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4/7 Workshop "Open City", 2019 / Totan Kuzembaev's group Photo: Archi.ru
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5/7 Workshop "Nomad's Trail". Architectural workshop of Totan Kuzembaev © "Open City"
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6/7 Workshop "Trail of the Nomad". Architectural workshop of Totan Kuzembaev © "Open City"
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7/7 Curator of the "Nomad's Trail" workshop Totan Kuzembaev © "Open City"

Boys and girls with suitcases took the stage and took out art objects for the land park in Pereslavl-Zalessky. It turned out to be quickly assembled wooden structures, tree roots, illuminated paper figures. Handwritten diaries made of matting or cardboard of a completely designer look were attached to art objects. In them, students wrote down their thoughts and experiences on the topic of nomadic life. It turned out that 18% of people have the vagrant gene in their blood. For some, nomadism is associated with dances with tambourines, mantras and shamans, for others with airplanes. In the installation by Totan Kuzembaev's group, everything was made of wood or its derivatives. The digital world "fell out" - Totan, however, explained that access to the network was planned in the form of holes in a suitcase, but the author of the project changed his mind at the last moment. Jury members Elena Gonzalez and Ruben Arakelyan highly appreciated the results of the workshop. It was said that poetry and philosophy in works is exactly what students need, and when looking at objects, the soul rests. Some items, moreover, vividly reminded that the New Year was coming soon.

An upgrade is not without mushrooms

Team leader: Nikolay Lyzlov

The name of the project: Upgrade architecture

Looking ahead, I will say that this presentation caused a storm of emotions. Several girls presented temporary houses from which there is no garbage left. The basis is a network of communications that allows you to build housing anywhere: in the forest, in the field, in the mountains. As Nikolai Lyzlov explained (the students forgot to mention this), this is similar to the NER, these are also new elements of settlement, but the system is not linear, but like a mycelium. This is a rhizome, a house on it, like a mushroom, grows and dies, sometimes fertilizing the soil with itself. The students offered modules made of concrete, clay, mushroom bricks (where without mycelium!) And recycled plastic.

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1/5 Workshop "Upgrade Architecture": installation at the exhibition Photo: Archi.ru
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2/5 Workshop "Upgrade Architecture": installation at the exhibition Photo: Archi.ru
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3/5 Workshop "Upgrade Architecture": installation at the exhibition Photo: Archi.ru
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4/5 Curator of the Upgrade Architecture workshop Nikolay Lyzlov © Open City
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5/5 Workshop "Upgrade Architecture" © "Open City"

After the presentation, Sergei Kuznetsov showered the speakers with questions: Why is the project made in the aesthetics of garbage, in the style of the film Kin-Dza-Dza? Is ecology only interesting? And beauty? Yes, construction affects the environment, but if they have already invaded, wouldn't it be better to build a Villa Rotunda? Why plastic and mushrooms? Is it really necessary to build a branch of hell on earth, plus which only in the fact that all this will decompose by itself? The students reiterated their eco-arguments in response. Jury member Mikhail Beilin called the project “architectural Greta Thunberg”. He said that this is a faithful eco-concept, it does not have to be liked, it is aesthetics of a different order, and he personally takes off his hat. It is a little surprising that there were no wooden houses, because it was Nikolai Lyzlov who argued that Russians surplus like sugar in tea, that is, they fit into the concept of dissolution, and with aesthetics in a tree, things are more fun than in plastic. But the students were given freedom, they made their choice.

High-rise horror stories

Team leader: Timur Bashkaev

The name of the project: The image of the city of the future

After this presentation, there was even more emotion. Future architects presented the concept of a micropolis in a metropolis. Superdense hyperbolized Manhattans are being built in the existing city, similar to Moscow City and futuristic projects of the 1960s. They concentrate human capital, and high-class specialists turn out to be close to each other, the authors declare.

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1/3 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Image of the City of the Future". Timur Bashkaev's Bureau Photo © "Open City"
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2/3 Exhibition based on the results of the workshop "Image of the City of the Future". Timur Bashkaev's Bureau Photo: Archi.ru

Micropolis options: busy-polis - for 50,000 residents and 100,000 employees. Co-polis for the community generation with coliving, co-houses and co-apartments. High-polis - skyscrapers with parks, where cars never intersect with pedestrians, and Rank-polis, in which residential cells are moved higher or lower, depending on the efficiency rating of residents. The moment of inequality between ordinary townspeople and the tough inhabitants of micropolises, as well as the rating of residential cells, caused a lot of questions. Mikhail Beilin said that the rating of the cells resembles the film "Black Mirror", and it is better not to flirt with a black mirror, but on the whole the project is elegant and the protection is brilliant. Sergey Kuznetsov saw oratorical potential in the speakers. “We are undergoing renovation, we are being criticized for buildings over 20 stories high, and you are proposing one hundred-story skyscrapers. Are you ready to convince people to live in skyscrapers? When the inhabitants start to become hysterical, we will send for you,”he said.

Although, of course, the ironically critical "black-mirror" subtext of this work is quite obvious.

An architect couldn't be worse

Group leaders: Philip Yakubchuk, Mikhail Shatrov, Synthesis; MARSH Lab

The name of the project: Meta Workshop Bad Bad Architect

It was a real show, opening with portraits of Le Corbusier and Don Corleone. The idea of the curators and the students was to "do what is good and what is bad, and what is so good what is good." The authors have brought the popular superstitions of urban construction to the point of absurdity. For example, "The Wall is a universal remedy against bad taste, violence and bastards." If you don't like the building, we are building a noise protection wall on the highway. Or the theme “Moscow is the most needy city”. The problem of the lack of toilets is solved by a cluster of toilet stalls in significant places, for example, along the entire perimeter of Red Square, which are painted gold to harmonize with the architecture, and in Mytishchi budget urinals are installed on tree trunks. Section "Rethinking Renovation". Renovation area 24,000 km²… They have about 800 million one-room apartments. Instead of disassembling the Khrushchevs, the authors reassemble them into a single tower 2 million km high. It takes 1586 years to get to the top floor.

Or the project "Perekatikreml - a lottery for the regions": the Kremlin moves to the winning region with all its contents and starts the development of this region while Moscow is resting. It was also proposed at the Kremlin to make a media facade with a changing picture in order to establish a connection between the authorities and the people. Finally, the idea of "All circles of the Pit" suggests that the amphitheater "Yama" just needs to be deepened to the metro, then all human vices will be located according to the severity in different circles of hell: drinking, fighting, Moscow protests, despair, finally, the lowest circle of hell - rush hour at 5.40 in the Moscow metro.

Sergey Kuznetsov said that the authors of the workshop have no idea how they got to the point. So in Zaryadye Park, according to the standards, it was precisely that toilet cluster that was required, and it was designed, but then, fortunately, we managed to do without it. The chief architect was delighted with the presentation and invited artistic architects to work. And Mikhail Beilin was, in his words, "crushed by the coolness of the curators."

Diploma works

Were presented during the first day of the conference; The conference jury also evaluated the presentation and projects of the alumni. To your attention - one of the presented and marked projects.

House of houses

MARSH, Daria Karmazina

The project impressed with the depth and seriousness of the response to civilization challenges. The work was made in the framework of the workshop of Evgeny Assa "Rethinking Gravity" and is inspired by life in Butovo. The author describes the state of sensory deprivation arising from standard panel apartments with their meager spatial experience. “Modern apartments have become impoverished in terms of the scenario of movement and rest. A modern apartment dulls emotions and extinguishes feelings, turning life in it into a uniform comatose sleep. " The idea is to develop apartments-houses with different scenarios (house-stairs, house-ring, house-atrium, house-tower) and arrange them into a loose patterned structure “House of Houses”.

The house of houses occupies a block and most of all resembles the Piranesi space. The apartments are connected by stairs, and moving inside and between such apartments really becomes a spatial adventure (in principle, this is a rapid development of what Moses Ginzburg began in the two-level apartments of the Narkomfin House). The diploma is very thorough. Daria Karmazina analyzed all movement algorithms and designed everything, including the arrangement of furniture. Also, the transport schemes, the infrastructure of the area are spelled out, structures are proposed (except for the foundation - wooden). The Piranesian House of Houses is intended for Butovo as an alternative quarter. The combination of a flight of thought and professional thoroughness of the study delighted the jury. Sergey Kuznetsov also noted the high quality of the graphics and suggested submitting it to the Archigraphics competition. As well as part of the presentation, the author's dress was praised - also a kind of original architectural design. ***

List of winners of the "Open City" - 2019

Daria Karmazina, MARSH, defense of the diploma before the Archcouncil
Yulia Aleksandrovskaya, MARSH portfolio presentation at Portfolio Review
Maria Turgeneva, MARCHI, workshops on architectural photography
Sofia Zhadkevich, Moscow Architectural Institute, research program "Heritage 2.0", studio "Soviet Architectural Modernism", curator Ruben Arakelyan
Daniil Narinsky, MARSH, workshop "Bad, bad architect"
Anna Chernoyarova, SPb GASU, workshop "Bad, bad architect"
Natalia Kalinina, Moscow Architectural Institute, workshop of Timur Bashkaev "City of the Future"
Diana Denisova, Moscow Architectural Institute, workshop of Totan Kuzembaev's workshop “Nomad's Trail”.
Land-art park project in Pereslavl-Zalessky "and
Nikolay Lyzlov "Upgrade Architecture".
Sofia Veselova, Moscow Architectural Institute, workshop by Nikolai Lyzlov "Upgrade Architecture"
Tatyana Danilova, Moscow Architectural Institute, workshop partner of Open City, Etalon Group and AHR Architects Residential Island Central park: embankments as an element of urban planning
Semyon Selyutin, Moscow Architectural Institute, Open City partner workshop, CITY XIX century. Participatory Design: Principles of Designing a Pedestrian Public Space Using the Example of the Divnoye Minipolis