In April of this year, the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, proposed canceling the construction of the Court Quarter on Vatny Island in front of the Birzheviy Bridge and replacing it with an art park, in which he was supported by the President of the Russian Federation. Since then, St. Petersburg has been preparing for an architectural competition for the park and sociological polls, however, not without conflict. The site for the construction of the Judicial Quarter, designed by the workshop of Evgeny Gerasimov, was chosen "Garden on the Neva", a square on Smolnaya embankment near Rastrelli's Smolny Cathedral, the place where the construction of the Blockade Museum was previously planned. At the end of October, the territory was officially excluded from the list of green spaces. However, the author of the Judicial Quarter project, architect Yevgeny Gerasimov, considers the decision to postpone to be incorrect and voices a proposal to keep the project of buildings on Vatny Island, where the underground part of the project had begun to be implemented even before the idea of an art park appeared. But to keep it in a stripped down form, so that there is enough space for both the park and the ships, but removing residential buildings. We speak with the architect about his proposal.
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zooming 1/3 Concept art park, spring 2019
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zooming 2/3 Project of the Judicial District, actual for the spring of 2019 © "Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners"
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zooming 3/3 New proposal of Evgeny Gerasimov for Tuchkov Buyan: reduction, but preservation of the Judicial District on Vatny Island © Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners
Evgeny Gerasimov:
The fact that the garden on the Neva was removed from the list of green spaces is not a reason to stop the discussion, it is never too late to start a good business. Moreover, the site has not yet been formalized in any way, there is no town-planning plan, design has not begun.
Appealing to common sense, we propose the following: to leave the judicial department, not to build a residential complex, to erect the building of the Supreme Court in its place - for this you only need to redesign the foundations, since the areas and volumes are almost the same. Thus, a front of three buildings will be formed along Speransky Street: the Court, the Department and the Boris Eifman Dance Palace. 5.5 hectares will remain for the park. Apartments for judges can be bought from developers on the neighboring Petrovsky Island - it is three minutes' drive from Tuchkov Buyan.
As a result, no new site will be needed, years of work and billions of public money can be saved.
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zooming 1/3 Scheme: the park on Vatny Island occupies the entire territory © Evgeny Gerasimov and partners
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zooming 2/3 Scheme: the project of the Judicial District, actual for spring 2019 / AB project Evgeny Gerasimov and partners © Evgeny Gerasimov and partners
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zooming 3/3 Scheme: the possibility of “densifying” the buildings of the Court Quarter and freeing up space for the park © Evgeny Gerasimov and partners
Our proposal is more logical for the park itself: now it is built around the Dance Palace without any intelligible axis, which is, for example, in the park around the Youth Theater or next to the Admiralty. Our buildings are covered by the Palace of Dance, the “rear” forms Speranskogo Street, and the park faces with ceremonial facades.
Nobody said what an art park is. It seems to us that the Zaryadye attraction is not needed here, if only because residential areas are located nearby. We need a park like the Tauride Garden - landscape, with sculptures, ponds, small architectural forms - what is not an art park. The Tavricheskiy Palace, by the way, where the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS member states is currently located, does not create any problems for the Tavricheskiy Garden with its presence.
