The winning project for the concept of converting the eastern part of Vatny Island, better known as Tuchkov Buyan, into a park was developed by Nikita Yavein's Studio 44 in cooperation with the Dutch WEST 8 Adrian Göse. The former were responsible for architecture, the latter for the landscape. A consortium of long-established authors: Studio 44 is the most famous bureau of St. Petersburg, the authors of significant public knowledge: museums, railway stations, schools and universities, with a wide geography of works. WEST 8 has been working in Russia for many years, in St. Petersburg they have implemented the New Holland park, for Moscow they have developed a program for the improvement of Tverskaya Street between the Kremlin and the Garden Ring.
The task of the competition was, however, not an easy one: a park in the very center of the city, opposite the Winter Palace, on the site where the “Embankment of Europe” has been designed since 2009, then the Judicial Quarter, planning to move all the main courts here from Moscow; the construction of the latter was started, and from it were the substructures of the underground parking for 540 cars, which occupy about 2/3 of the area of the site. In the northern corner of the territory, the building of the Boris Eifman Dance Theater is almost completed.
The initial parameters of the future park, ranging from the total area (16 hectares to 13 hectares) and ending with a complex anamnesis, the presence of the foundation and the significance of the task of the main - significant - new city park, in many respects coincide with the Moscow "Zaryadye", which is no secret. Plus the river bank, the theater in a set, and the government's initiative to cancel the previous construction for the sake of the park - all this reminds of Moscow history, adds responsibility, which is already quite a lot due to the direct visibility from the Palace Embankment and walking distance from the Stock Exchange, Kunstkamera and Petropavlovka. Rivalry is inevitable: they will still be compared. Based on the situation, it is easy to assume that the park would not be the same as in Moscow, preferably better, and, in addition, for everyone: tourists, students, residents of the Petrograd side, visitors to neighboring sports arenas and a theater under construction. Here, one might say, not a task, but a whole node.
In dialogue with the emperor
The authors of the winning project interpret their park as romantic, or even Tuchkov park of full sail romantic - this is the main ideological premise of the project and, in some way, the basis of its paradox. Petersburg is a city of modern times, all its gardens and parks are regular, "baroque and classic" - it would seem that the image of a "romantic" park in the very center of the city contradicts the historical context. However, the city of Petra itself at one time contradicted the local natural context, the architects say, so that the paradox is historically embedded, only deeper: “The city-planning will of the founder of St. Petersburg transformed the area beyond recognition. The hilly relief of the landscape park, waves falling to the river, looks no less a radical innovation in the urban landscape”. In other words, memories of Peter I cannot be avoided - but the authors project not “in memory” or “in spirit”, but in a dialogue with the emperor, which is quite bold. Although it must be admitted, Pyotr Alekseevich himself was a paradoxical person, he could execute for being cross, and he could reward if he considered it sensible.
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zooming 1/14 The hilly artificial relief of the park is associated by the authors with ship sails. Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 2/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Sculptural topography © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 3/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Relief © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 4/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Planning solutions and their interpenetration © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 5/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Ecology © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 6/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Diverse park program © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 7/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Biodiversity, park system, context © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 8/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Ecology © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 9/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Landscape © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 10/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Engineering support of the park © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 11/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Biodiversity, park system, context © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 12/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Structural and engineering solutions © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 13/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Sustainable Development © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 14/14 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Ecology © Studio 44, West 8
The authors are sure that it is the "romantic park" that is necessary for the modern resident of St. Petersburg: it allows you to be alone in yourself, avoids officialdom, abounds in surprises, opens up in motion and strives for openness. All this compensates for the peculiarities of the city of the New Age, regular, predictable in its construction and noisy public.
Emotions
The first readable layer of a romantic park idea is to appeal to the emotions, personal feelings of park visitors and work on customization, nourishment and variety.
Nikita Yavein, Studio 44
“The existing parks of St. Petersburg, and even of the suburbs, are parks of official behavior. Even where the layout is irregular, in the same Mikhailovsky Garden, you somehow do not really sit down on the lawn.
We, in contrast to this, made a park of different states and non-standard behavior: there can be melancholy, delight, contemplation, love, solitude and communication - intimate or, conversely, in a crowd.
On the one hand, we accentuated the St. Petersburg traditions, one of them is to see off the sun, our park is focused on watching the sunset. On the other hand, we tried to supplement what was missing, to give the city what it lacks, in particular, interaction in the water: not everyone will reach the beach near the Peter and Paul Fortress, and in other places you will not really go down to the water. Therefore, our embankment always seeks to interact with the Neva, at different levels, from the contemplative to the tactile, up to so that a citizen can wet his hands in the water or see an ice floe crawling onto the amphitheater - the hydrologists said that this should work out.
It is also important that the park, although it is fenced off from the city due to its location, in our project, as much as possible, is involved in the city, included in it and connected with it - both by many viewpoints and by new pedestrian paths. And finally, he rethinks and multiplies the characteristic features of the city - reveals new perspectives, adds new bridges, it is known that the more bridges in St. Petersburg, the better. And we end up with two embankments instead of one, a kind of “embankment in a square”.
Hence follows the first difference from the Moscow "Zaryadye": from the very beginning it was positioned as a park-collection of vivid impressions, contrasting and exotic, characteristic not so much of the place as the country as a whole: cold, heat, swamp, tundra; bridge-observation deck, which does not lead anywhere.
In the romantic version of Tuchkov Buyan's park, the emphasis is shifted from the wow-effect of "attraction" to the modeling and activation of real sensations.
Water
It is about sensations, in particular, from a real river: sunset, panorama, approach to water and touching it - “the kiss of the Neva,” as the architects call it. The granite embankment, which does not have the status of an OKN, is being transformed in several places, bringing it closer to the water, so that it will probably be flooded - like in Venice, but slightly. Recalling the terrible floods that no longer exist, allowing you to touch the elements in its modern, pacified form (in the summer, a floating stage on a pontoon is planned in front of the amphitheater).
It is important that the effect is natural and comes from the disclosure of the natural potential of the place. The same role of natural demonstration is assigned to ice floes, which, perhaps, in the spring will climb the threshold of the amphitheater: not an ice drift in Veliky Ustyug, of course, but its light version, and yet a quite live demonstration of the river's strength. As if the elements, drawn into all the uniforms of imperial Russia, took off their tie, unbuttoned the button on the starched collar and were allowed to be without ranks.
Note that the steps of the amphitheater in the project are stylized as ice floes, generally, but noticeably. You might think that they are adjusting in advance to shelter the ice drift plates.
In Zaryadye, due to circumstances, we look at the river not only from a height of a meter and a half, but also from behind a glass fence. Here - the idea of giving access to water, which is relevant for modern urbanism and is much discussed, but so far rarely implemented in Russian capitals. It is expressed carefully enough that it allows you to think of it as realistic; at the same time, the authors consider the idea of “kissing the river” to be one of the key subjects of the park.
Note here that there is no artificial water in the Studio 44 project, except for the fountain in the square in front of the greenhouse; while among other bids there was even an artificial channel.
Romanticism as a solution
The next layer of the romantic park is no longer sentimental, but metaphorical: an intellectual dialogue aimed at comprehending the forces of nature, a pantheistically understood God and one's attitude towards them, this is at least. It is characteristic of palace parks, it is present in them starting from the antique gardens in the villas of the High Renaissance, but in a sentimental-romantic version it is experiencing a final peak of development. At almost the same time, it is exhausting itself: for socio-economic reasons, urban gardens and boulevards are becoming more relevant. I will allow myself to note that both under Peter I and in the middle of the 19th century, the latter are not distinguished by complex semantic constructions, they are just a pause won back by society from urban development; their main meaning is communication, at least a monument or a fountain. But you can't count on anything more, on a choreographed change of emotions. City parks are home to flower beds, sports, food and simple entertainment, attractions.
On the other hand, the park “boom” of the last twenty years has led to the fact that programs are again required more and more complex and different from others. But even against the background of a kind of race for new solutions in the field of landscaping, turning to the idea of a sentimental-romantic park looks like a bold decision, since it is based not only on the concentration of “activities” (which we are already used to), but also emotions that require comprehension.
“St. Petersburg is well acquainted with West 8, for many years we have been participating in the reconstruction of New Holland Island. The city has a special character, its own color palette, its own rules. Petersburgers are romantic people. They come with children to picnics in parks, bring sledges and skates, enjoy the snow and ice, meet to enjoy a concert or dinner together. The park should provide all this for its visitors. It should become a magnet for everyone, a place that will allow you not only to have a good time, but also to feel proud of your city.
As landscape architects, we have extensive experience in creating world-class urban park designs. The hyperromance and drama of the park relief emphasize the warmth and soulfulness of our approach to the project of the Tuchkov Buyan park.
This amazing project is the result of international cooperation.
I think the park will become famous for its colorful tree cover and the best panoramic views of St. Petersburg and its "sky line". A modern city park also needs an interesting calendar of events for all user groups. The three urban public spaces of the park (Theater Square, Orangery Square and Big Lawn) are ideal for organizing events at different times of the year. The park's design also shapes new iconic images - let's call them “Instagram moments” - such as grottoes and greenhouse gardens, observation decks and bridges.
The park we have created can undoubtedly be realized - it is not just a dream on paper. We believe that this romantic park will meet its visitors very soon”.
Hills, bridges and grottoes
It should be noted here that hills, bridges and grottoes may only at first glance seem to belong to Zaryadye Park: in fact, all of these are much more ancient elements of landscape art, techniques that complicate the space, add the intrigue of changing sensations and circumstances.
Meanwhile, looking at the shape of the grottoes in the project, one recalls the thunder-stone brought from Karelia for the pedestal for the Bronze Horseman Falcone.
Bellevues are also part of the circle of old park scenes - beautiful views. In this case, the park is surrounded by postcard monuments, so additional milovid gazebos are not required, they are played by new perspectives of classical landscapes. A lot of them. Note that here again we are dealing only with the intensification of the perception of the given, as in the case of the river.
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zooming 1/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 2/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 3/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 4/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 5/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 6/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 7/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 8/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Cultural heritage © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 9/9 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan" © Studio 44, West 8
The bridges are thrown not along the main roads, but across, accentuating the double-layered - complexity - of space, and forming an alternative path that crosses the main one, winds even stronger and ultimately obeys the general circling around the oval of the "main glade" (the oval is the favorite figure of Adrian Gueuze, but the architects of Studio 44 also found a contextual justification for it: approximately the same figure can be read in the plan of the Alesandrovsky Park, laid out in the middle of the 19th century on the opposite side of the Peter and Paul Fortress, on the site of its defensive embankment).
The authors understand the oval meadow as a "green amphitheater", it is inclined towards the river, from here the views are also revealed.
The grottoes are illuminated by zenith windows and also emphasize the complexity of the whole: in a good mountain, as you know, there must be a cave, and the grotto is not only a place to cool off in hot weather or arrange an exhibition, although these functions are provided - the grotto reminds us of the seamy side of the earth, that there is something under our feet and that getting there, down, can radically change our view of things, which is felt when leaving any cave, real or symbolic. Hills and bridges have the same roles: some rise, others hover and connect. This is a kind of park alphabet.
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zooming 1/4 Tuchkov Buyan Romantic Park © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 2/4 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Structural and engineering solutions © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 3/4 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Landscape © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 4/4 Tuchkov Buyan Romantic Park © Studio 44, West 8
A necessary part of the romantic park is a ruin, in the project of Tuchkov Buyana it was connected with a bridge: one bridge, the most solid, stone, is covered with a “fur coat” of rustic stone. It is he who leads from the large water amphitheater to the Eifman Theater, it is he who can be seen from the main square in front of the Orangery.
Video presentation of the project "Romantic Park" Tuchkov Buyan ":
Greenhouse
The romantic park as such is not alien to Orientalism, and for all the naturalness of the vivid impressions of water, hills, trees and city views, there should be a greenhouse next to the grotto. Here it is large, combined with a restaurant, promises fig, lemon and orange trees and is distributed in the space in a kind of glass-wooden architecton (not like in the project of JV Vogt and Herzog & de Meuron, in the form of an expansive tower, similar to the Palace of the Soviets).
In front of the greenhouse there is the main square, on it a mosaic of green blotches, an ice rink and a Christmas market are planned in winter. Nearby is a large playground, a necessary part of a modern park, with a "hypostyle" - a forest of polished trunks. Here they are in silhouette, perhaps, and resemble a swamp, which is not in the Studio 44 and WEST 8 projects, and this, here, is another difference from Zaryadye, where the swamp has caused a lot of controversy.
As you can see, the project combines a set of elements of the park with a complex program of contemplation-movement-stay and a long history with modern functions, location in the center of the city and, with amendments, some "compaction" in space, caused, first of all, by a not too large territory and reasonably a mixed and varied audience. A tourist, a lover, a schoolboy, a visitor to a stadium or a dance theater are quite different people. The audience becomes a key element of the project, which is very correct in our times, the romantic park became extinct in its time from the absence of a good, diverse and interested audience. Maybe now she has appeared.
The audience
The park attendance analysis was carried out in the project with the utmost care, with the study of flows and the drawing up of "thermal" schemes, reminiscent of the passenger traffic models applied by Studio 44 to the project of the station in Sochi.
The maximum concentration of visitors, according to the consortium's calculations, is up to 18 people per square 5x5 m, but no more than 3 people per 1 m2 even during events. Visitor types are superimposed on scenarios, scenarios for seasons and parts of the day - the digital model is complex and voluminous. The data of the estimated attendance are based on it: 30,000 people per day in the summer, 12,000 in the winter, 15,000 in the off-season. There are still quite a few subtleties in the calculations - it cannot be ruled out that to some extent this meticulousness and clarity in working with the analysis of the distribution of visitors has become one of the strong points of the project and the basis for its victory. Ultimately, the correct analysis of the audience for a modern public project is practically the key to success.
The many-sided
According to the plan, it will be possible to get to the park from any side. But each of its three borders is interpreted in its own way. From the side of the river, everything is asymmetrical and sloping. The city border, on the other hand, is marked by a “colonnade-pergola” along Dobrolyubov Street - a kind of wooden stand through which you can go anywhere, but which turns to the “slender” city with a regular, somewhat even classicizing rhythm. The “Colonnade”, which looks more like a pergola, leads along the border of Dobrolyubov Street to the building of the Eifman Theater. almost immediately they are wrapped, being included in the general oval-spiral movement. A city square is formed in front of the theater, to some extent opposite to the "green" greenhouse square in the neighborhood: at the beginning of the rays it is surrounded by amphitheaters.
The third border of the triangular section adjoins the territory of the Yubleiny Sports Complex, its architects regard it as a logical continuation of the park and improve it. The authors propose to make Speranskogo Street, which separates Yubileiny, by half, turning it from the side of the river into a pedestrian boulevard; here the park intercepts to the west of the boulevard with small green spaces of another type - rectangles of a labyrinth and an orchard.
Open to the city
Particular attention is paid to transport accessibility: the park is considered as part of the "green ring" of the center of St. Petersburg, which includes the Alexander Admiralty Garden and the Summer Garden, but above all the nearby green zones: the territory of Yubileiny and Petrovsky Island, which are considered part of Tuchkov Buyan's park. The authors propose to open a new exit from the Sportivnaya metro station, and extend a pontoon bridge across the Zhdanovka River to Petrovsky Island. There are also two underground passages in the project: in the eastern part under the Birzhevy bridge and Likhachev square, to the Mytninskaya embankment, in the western part under Bolshoy prospect of the Petrogradskaya side. An extended sidewalk is planned on the Exchange Bridge.
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zooming 1/5 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Urban context © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 2/5 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Connection with the city © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 3/5 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Urban context © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 4/5 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Transport © Studio 44, West 8
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zooming 5/5 Romantic park "Tuchkov Buyan". Underground pedestrian crossing near the Exchange Bridge © Studio 44, West 8
At the spring anniversary exhibition of Studio 44 in the east wing of the General Staff Building, one of her favorite techniques was the multi-layered content that architects put into projects. In addition to the main plot and the obvious plastics, there must be something else, and here is the same case. The park itself is layered: invisible lower tiers, hills with caverns, bridges between them are from top to bottom; from the city to the meadow and the river - this is from north to south. Multi-layering is also observed in the main idea and form: the old idea of a sentimental-romantic park, tuned in to contemplation, is combined with a modern program of walking as a constant movement with a "clip" change of pictures, various rest and different formats of communication, and with a fresh idea of activating real impressions up to to tactile. The old form of the grotto-cave and the bridge-“ruins” are combined with completely modern wooden structures of the “new”, “temporary” festival look. Even two planning grids are superimposed on each other: a ray city grid and a flexible oval park grid. And finally, the park itself has been superimposed on the city by a new network of transport, primarily pedestrian, connections. All this turns out to be rather complicated, especially in the interconnection - but perhaps due to such an intersection of plots, it will turn out that different visitors will find each of them something different in the park. It's up to the implementation.
