Most people perceive Gatchina as one of the "palace" suburbs of St. Petersburg. The place, however, is famous not only for its palace and park. At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the first airfields in Russia was built here and an aeronautics school was opened, graduates of which became famous pilots: the first Russian aviatress Lydia Zvereva, test pilot Lyubov Galanchikova, who invented and executed the "loop" Pyotr Nesterov. A suspended electric road also passed nearby, and a railway line was developing. The authors of the project rightly call this place “a park of innovations at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries”. After the war, the airfield gradually fell into decay, the area was built up with typical panel houses. Nothing more reminds of the history of a century ago: only the names of streets and the skeletons of hangars, which do not even have the status of a cultural heritage site.
Now about a third of the entire city lives in the Aerodrom area, in the future it will only grow: new residential complexes, infrastructure are being built, however, at the same time
lags behind. Among other things, local residents do not have a full-fledged public space. Although the Big Gatchina Park is located within walking distance, it cannot function as a “park for every day”: walking dogs and playing sports here, if not prohibited, are not welcome.
The leading architects of the project shared tips for future participants in the competition.
“For victory, I believe, a friendly team and a well-thought-out organization of work are important. The interest and participation of residents in the development of the project will help create the public space the city needs”.
“I think it's important to divide responsibilities as a team so that everyone is happy to do their part of the project. Then the overall project will be of the highest quality - this will increase the chances of winning. Provided that you work with professionals."
The territory of the former airfield - a strip along the line of the Baltic Railway - is the best suited for creating the main recreational zone of the region. A lot of greenery has been preserved here, the site is a buffer between the historical park and the modern residential area, in addition, there is a crossing over the railway, the main transport arteries are adjacent - General Knysh Street and Kievskaya. Now on the site there are scattered objects: a shopping and sports complex, warehouses, a spontaneous market and parking lots.
The authors build the beautification concept around the aviation theme. The main axis of the linear park will be Linden Alley, which will connect the three main zones. The first, from the side of the existing shopping center "Pilot", is conditionally child-parent. Several sites will appear here, including a skate park and a rollerdrome, which can be converted into an ice rink in winter, and the market will be preserved, which will move into neat modular cells. The second part is sports. The already built sports and recreation center and the pool will be complemented by a beach volleyball court, a rope park and a wind tunnel. The last segment is cultural and historical. In the restored hangar, it is proposed to open a private aviation museum, to place military aircraft in the open air. A small cafe and an art school will be located on the shore of the pond.
All the greenery will be preserved and supplemented, the objects will connect hiking and cycling routes. The authors also thought about intercepting parking lots and tourist buses, dog walking areas, spaces for contemplative rest, from where beautiful views of the Gatchina Palace open.
The functions look universal, however, they were selected based on the results of discussions and online surveys of residents. The details will be responsible for the “memory of the place”: benches with the outline of an airplane wing, thematic platforms, art objects, as well as an aircraft hangar restored from historical photographs and drawings, a fragment of the royal road.
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zooming 1/6 Museum of the history of military aviation. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
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zooming 2/6 Wind tunnel. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
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zooming 3/6 Linden Alley. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
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zooming 4/6 Skate Park. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
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zooming 5/6 Skating rink. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
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zooming 6/6 Market. Aeropark © SPbGASU and the team of authors
The project was created by a large team, which included teachers and students of SPbGASU, city administration, VOOPiK, RANEPA, studio "Kremlin" and SPbGU GSOM. Thanks to the victory in the competition, the city will receive 90 million rubles for implementation.
But, head of the project group Alexander Demin said that after winning the competition, the project got to the auction - for the development of working documentation. And he gave a comment on this:
“You can give a lot of 'recipes' for winning the competition. But the main thing for us now, as the authors of the concept, is the implementation of our ideas and ideas. And here comes the most interesting thing - there is NO mechanism for further detailed (working) design carried out by the winners. That is, in the future, at an open auction, this work can be won by any organization, the criterion of which is only the price. It is not difficult to imagine how the project will be transformed and what quality of project documentation a customer can get. The authors of the concept must certainly be able to bring their project to implementation, otherwise poorly executed working documentation can negate the results of a huge amount of work. This problem urgently needs to be addressed at the level of the Ministry of Construction."
