In the sky, there is only talk about parks: it often seems that this is the best part of the city, a sign of a healthy, stable and safe environment. Kazan hosted a large-scale World Urban Parks congress, where there was a constructive conversation about what parks are, how to design, build and manage them.
The Congress was attended by 1,500 delegates from all over the world, including renowned celebrities of the world urbanism, such as, for example, Evert Verhagen, Richard Murray or Ken Smith: quotes from celebrities and representatives of the establishment can be seen here, but we talk about what is important and it seemed the most interesting.
Comfortable environment for small towns
Short: the competition criteria can be used for any public space, this is an almost ready-made TK.
One of the sections of the congress was devoted to the discussion of the criteria
All-Russian competition for projects of a comfortable urban environment in small towns and historical settlements. There are five of them, the document gives an idea of what professionals mean by public spaces. The head of the working group, Artem Gebelev, explained that the criteria can be used as a terms of reference - in fact, they were striving for this universality. But it is worth noting that the project has not yet been approved by the federal commission, changes are possible.
So, the criteria:
- the degree and variety of forms of participation of citizens at all stages of preparation and implementation of the project, socio-cultural programming of the territory;
- the validity of the choice of location and the relevance of the project;
- quality of planning and architectural solutions;
- preservation of the historical, urban planning and natural environment of the historical settlement;
- predicted economic and social effects from the project.
Each criterion is detailed in subclauses. This year, much more attention has been paid to architectural solutions, and three of the five main criteria also have a sub-item related to identity.
The winners and participants of the past years shared their experience. Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Maxim Egorov noted that "the competition changes not only the space of cities, but also the brains of people", and "the criteria shape architects." Representatives of Kazan, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, the most successful participants in the competition, talked about the consequences: “the municipality is pumping and starts to generate movement”, different social groups are increasingly involved in the process, officials are more successful in interacting with architects, but the most difficult thing begins with the receipt of a grant. Life hack: installing cameras at a construction site qualitatively improves the process.
Deputy Head of the Department for the Development of Public Areas of the Ministry of Improvement of the Moscow Region Yuri Sheredega told who the competition "pulls cities out of oblivion." In addition to other bonuses, the municipality receives branding, identity, a socio-cultural program, a zoning system, an experience of communicating with residents, which has not yet happened often. He advised to get away from the fantastic nature of the projects, but not to cut it off completely. The projects that did not receive grants, he said, were executed as if the architects had not traveled to cities, that is, they did not have a notorious identity.
Round tables brought together those who are going to apply, the working group helped with advice and answered questions. It was heard here that no matter how you make up the criteria, everything depends on the economy: the richer the region, the easier it is for it to make a good application and find additional funding. The rest often do not even have an architect who will properly draw the project. It was advised to "fasten" all kinds of municipal and federal programs to this, to attract universities, to look for investors. Kazan, by the way, raises its architects: it pays for training and internships for them, brings foreign specialists. They also argued about the need for local materials, short terms and completely different weather conditions, which do not allow starting construction on time.
Small towns with a population of up to 100 thousand people, as well as historical settlements can participate in the competition. In 2020, 80 winning projects from 46 regions will receive funding from the federal budget from 40 to 85 million rubles.
Identity
Short: dig deeper, talk to people
The brightest session was called "Can you make a place?" And it looked something like this: Nadezhda Nilina spoke in English about the Soviet identity of the Russian audience, for which everything she heard was most likely news.
Senior Lecturer, New York Institute of Technology Nadezhda Nilina using the example of socialist cities, she talked about how identity can be fabricated. The Central Park of Culture and Leisure is a space for sports (“a healthy mind in a healthy body!”), Protecting an industrial city from pollution, adapting the rural population to urban life, and also a place where you can legitimately get to know the opposite sex. In this paradigm, uniqueness is replaced by universality: the parks of all cities from Arzamas to Magnitogorsk were made according to the Moscow standard. Society has changed, parks have not. Cities have to find their identity.
Co-founder of the Orchestra architectural bureau Eduard Moro shared his impressions of working in the outback: “the essence of small towns in Russia is not always clear, outside the cities the landscape is amazing, but inside it is very simple, Lenin Square and Karl Marx Street. It's time to give new names."
Many, including Moreau, have broadcast the idea that identity is well sought out and constructed through working with the local community. At the same time, it is not enough to ask what people want - they often do not know themselves, and not only their desires, but also their capabilities. You need to involve them in the process. For Yelabuga, for example, they came up with the "Garden of a Thousand Stories": personal stories of the townspeople about how they are connected with the city will be printed on steel plates.
Yuri Sheredega called identity the main component of a successful project, but urged "to dig deeper than moms, athletes and the elderly, to look for individual stories about a specific city, and not a city in general." Then there is something else important - pride in the place.
Ken Smith, founder of KEN SMITH WORKSHOP showed how he turned "ugly places" in Toronto, like car parks, into popular squares. The paintings of local artists helped to capture the identity: a rock block and a fountain were moved to the square, which in winter turns into a picturesque wall of icicles. Now the residents say: "Let's meet on the rocks!" The architect proposed to go to the level of abstraction, which allows talking with a large number of people at once.
Art Director of Architettura e Paesaggio Olga Moskvina She talked with hurricane energy about how she saved plants after the Expo in Milan: according to the regulations, everything, from expensive and rare plane trees to lavender bushes, had to be disposed of after the exhibition. And only one pavilion in Switzerland had 60 birches. With the help of volunteers and her own charisma, Olga gradually took out most of the plants and gave them to the public spaces of Lombardy, as a rule, these were "the most lousy non-places." The city of Bollate took 2,000 plants from 7,000 and, together with the workers of the Expo, planned the park. Since the plants were transplanted several times, they needed special care, a lot of attention. We held meetings with volunteers and the elderly, taught, and involved. Gradually, the park turned into a healthy and beautiful urban forest, although the enthusiasm of the volunteers diminished. Olga believes that now the place has an identity, its own genius loci - the spirit of the Expo. The stone is thrown, the circles are going.
Urbanist, founder of Creative Cities and Reuse BV Evert Verhagen summed up: “identity is the connection of people with space. It is important that people have a reason to stay in Siberia, or at least return."
If we take the aforementioned criteria, then in them identity is achieved through work with historical, cultural and geographical features, symbols, traditions and unique habits of townspeople, urban myths, local crafts and production. The involvement of urban community leaders is also important.
Involvement
Short: a necessary and powerful tool to help with identity
Assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Natalia Fishman-Bekmambetova says that during the landscaping of the Uritsky Park, workers cut down an old willow, which many residents remembered from an early age. This shook the city, people "almost with a pitchfork" went out into the street. The story seems quite ordinary, the difference is that here the authorities did not remain silent and went out to talk: they organized public hearings in the Park's Palace of Culture. After several sessions in the style of the movie "Garage", I managed to start talking about the park: what people want to see there, how to fix what happened. The wishes were heard, recorded, and implemented. One tree changed the approach, now each new project is accompanied by the involvement of residents, surveys, questionnaires.
They willingly share their experience: there are manuals on the site of Tatarstan parks:
“Participatory design”, “Organization of public hearings”. Now we are developing a strategy for the improvement of Kazanka, a website has also been created for it, it is impossible to skip the block for proposals, and the interface of the tool is such that it is almost impossible not to make an offer.
Many said that copying - "like in Copenhagen", "like in Moscow", and now "like in Kazan" - needs to be replaced by listening, then it will be easier to create a place with your own identity, and indeed to understand in which direction to move … There are many tools: in addition to the above, in-depth interviews, focus groups, workshops, contests of children's drawings, statistics - data from mobile operators, payment systems, analysis of social networks help.
Gehl Architect Partner and Managing Director Henrietta Wamberg talked about the open system
A protocol that uses both the simplest tools like a clicker and posture analysis from photographs: where people sit, stand, lean, run or stop. You can upload your data to the Protocol and compare, for example, the embankment of Lake Kaban with another promenade by the water to assess its effectiveness.
Viability
Short: no perfectionism and little money
When the process is more or less established, it turns out that large-scale budget programs are not always needed.
Director of Planning and Design, University City District Neuton Homel talked about how the territory near the railway station in Philadelphia, called The Porch, was changing. A relatively small investment was spent on collecting data and changing a small area. The experience proved to be successful, the authorities provided additional funds, and the architects continued to research. The landscaped area expanded and saturated, which might not have happened with an initially large project: no one would have believed that 14 swings could be in demand here.
Orchestra Bureau in Yuzha, only achieved the opening of the territory of the Balins' textile factory, which added a beautiful street to the city and improved communication. And in Khanty-Mansiysk, in one of their depressed courtyards, they first put boxes for seedlings and stands with information, which was a success among children and adolescents for four months.
Director of Lugares Públicos and partner of Placemaking X Guillermo Bernal believes: "in order to create a place out of space, you will need not only materials and plants, it is necessary to develop connections between people, build bridges of friendship."A penny board game, speakers and a dance teacher - that's how the place begins.
Evert Verhagen at a session dedicated to industrial heritage, he shared his thoughts: “Beauty is overrated, even scary buildings can be cozy. You can experiment with buildings without a conservation status, they often become the most attractive for the city. We must value what we have, not throw it away."
A couple of years ago, "before Zaryadye" and the competition of small towns, it was difficult to imagine that such an event as the World Urban Parks congress would take place in Kazan.
WUP appeared four years ago, at the same time the Program for the Development of Public Spaces of Tatarstan was launched, thanks to which the republic has improved or created more than 300 parks.
received the Aga Khan Prize, invited foreign architects and trained her own. In Kazan, "stars" like Kiat V. Tan, the creator of "Gardens by the Bay" in Singapore, as well as architects, officials, municipalities, and public figures shared their experience. The atmosphere was informal, festive, but at the same time surprisingly working and productive.
It is interesting that Russian "cases", as they were called everywhere, reflect a completely different idea of the park than foreign ones: in our country it is rather a comfortable place saturated with all kinds of "activities", while in foreign examples there is more naturalness and naturalness. Perhaps the green frame as a routine, as another urban communication network is the next step, the request for which has not yet been formulated. Probably, from this there is no feeling of that notorious identity: new public places are still about imitation, the desire to be the West, the "Russian spirit", despite the art-dandelions and national ornaments, they are not in them. It was also noticeable that the congress almost did not touch on current problems, reporting only on the successes.
And yet I do not want to reproach anyone at all, because the euphoria from the event is too obvious and long-lasting. Seeing officials in human guise, cool Russian specialists, architects with glowing eyes and just good people - you believe, everyone really believes that gardens will soon bloom in Murmansk, airships will fly across Yakutia, parking lots and neighborhoods will turn green and life will generally become more fun.
