Recently, the composition of the St. Petersburg City Council has undergone rotation. Among the new experts: Professor of the Department of Art History, St. A. L. Stieglitz Margarita Stieglitz, member of the Presidium and Council of the St. Petersburg city branch of VOOPIiK Mikhail Milchik, rector of the Academy of Arts Semyon Mikhailovsky, architect Sergey Padalko, President of the St. Petersburg Union of Architects Oleg Romanov, former chief architect of the city Oleg Kharchenko.
The first meeting in the renewed composition turned out to be not only more emotional than usual, but also multidimensional - art history and historical-cultural commentaries were rather rare before.
Trade and office complex near the metro station "Pionerskaya"
St. Petersburg, Prospect Ispytateley, building 2, building 6
Designer: JSC "LENNIIPROEKT", Workshop No. 6
Customer: LLC "MEGALIT-OKHTA GROUP"
Discussed: architectural and town-planning appearance
The high-rise building, mostly occupied by parking lots, will be located at the intersection of Bogatyrsky Avenue and Ispytatel Avenue, not far from the Pionerskaya metro station. The City Council considered the project for the second time, in the new version the three-level parking cells, which the motorist had to reach by elevator, were replaced with traditional ramps up to the 7th floor, mechanized cells for office employees' cars remained on the 8th and 9th floor.
The main task of the building is to close the issue with normative parking lots for the Primorsky Quarter residential complex, which is being built across the road - there will be more than a thousand parking spaces, that is, 1/5 of the required number. To prevent the project from becoming unprofitable, the customer adds functions - offices, retail, gym. The rest of the project has changed little: the facade mesh has been simplified, the accent corner has been sharpened even more - “you can already shave with it,” commented the author Mikhail Sarri.
Nikita Yavein described the architecture of Mikhail Sarri: “It is not mainstream, it may annoy someone, but it is strong, expressive, memorable and sharply individual - this is not enough in new buildings. The new house is the quintessence of such architecture. It is well above the average city level."
Evgeny Gerasimov was not convinced by the facades on the contrary, since it is impossible to determine the function of the building from them. Regarding parking lots, the architect quoted Vladimir Lenin: “everything is correct in form, but in essence it is a mockery,” since it is hard to believe that the residents of the neighboring building would like to park on the seventh floor and then return home with their bags. That is, in the opinion of Evgeny Gerasimov, there is "the expectation that people will not use it, which means that the project does not solve the urban planning problem, the customer does not fulfill social obligations." Oleg Kharchenko compared the building with a “pumped-up soldier”, meaning the excess of form and function, and also suggested that because of the inconvenience, the parking lot would not be used, leaving cars on the lawns and driveways.
Oleg Romanov reacted emotionally to the criticism, calling it "an openly negative attack", noted the skill and individuality of Mikhail Sarri and considered that the building would become a decoration of the quarter. Margarita Stieglitz noted "a sharpness, an avant-garde, albeit a little fractional solution, which looks like a compositional dominant on the scan."
Vladimir Grigoriev explained why he again brought the project up for discussion: “It seemed to me that we have a chance - after all, this is a large public building at an important junction, there are only a few of them being built. With such a sophisticated volume, one technique was enough for the facade: then there would be integrity and spatial interest."
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Hotel at the Yacht Bridge
St. Petersburg, Primorsky prospect, section 83
Designer: A. Len Architectural Bureau
Customer: LLC "PLG"
Discussed: architectural and town-planning appearance
The hotel was considered for the third time, its main problems were dimensions, similarity to a residential complex in the absence of infrastructure and facade solutions. Another conflict is social. The hotel will occupy a green section of the embankment, located in front of the windows of the high-rise complex "Golden Harbor", which, of course, is unhappy with its residents.
"A. Len", by agreement with the customer, reduces the height to 40 meters with the permitted 56, completely removes the terraces, but retains the general parameters: in the end, it turned out that the project is only half a hotel, and the other half is given over to public functions and walking areas open to citizens … The facades became completely white, with this height the architects decided not to differentiate them with color. Sergey Oreshkin said that half of the hotel rooms have already been reserved for employees of the neighboring complex of the IT company JetBrains.
The reviewer Nikita Yavein welcomed the drop in height, thanks to which the tiered buildings appeared. Oleg Kharchenko congratulated everyone on the result of the work of the City Council: such a project will not cause feelings of annoyance, because it was approved. Semyon Mikhailovsky called the hotel “a very pleasant thing” and awarded it with a scattering of epithets: normal, restrained, European, elegant, functional, clean, devoid of stupidity. Mikhail Mamoshin noted that the work includes a “method of reaching the water” and urged to popularize it in every possible way.
Evgeny Gerasimov remained skeptical, noting that, regardless of the professionalism of the architects, this is still a veiled multi-section building, since “several floors are rented, but the economy remains the same - this does not happen, the return on investment of the hotel is very long,” and also read the letter to the initiative group, the authors of which are asking not to allow any construction, since everything is already unfavorable with the social infrastructure in the district.
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zooming 1/5 Architectural and town-planning appearance of the hotel. Option 11-7 floors © A. Len Architectural Bureau
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zooming 2/5 Architectural and town-planning appearance of the hotel. Option 11-7 floors © A. Len Architectural Bureau
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zooming 3/5 Architectural and town-planning appearance of the hotel. Option 11-7 floors © A. Len Architectural Bureau
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zooming 4/5 Architectural and town-planning appearance of the hotel. Option 11-7 floors © A. Len Architectural Bureau
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zooming 5/5 Architectural and town-planning appearance of the hotel. Option 11-7 floors © A. Len Architectural Bureau
Vladimir Grigoriev ended unexpectedly: “Architecture is a step forward, an elegant solution, what to say there. But the feeling remains that we are making a mistake. It would be nice to put a couple of towers here, since there are 75-storey buildings nearby, so that there is a free permeable space washed by the winds. And he invited the head of the KGIOP, Sergey Makarov, to discuss the possibility of increasing the altitude regulation in this place to 85 meters, and the city council to think - what height is needed for the place to get a town-planning sound?
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House on Zastavskaya
St. Petersburg, Zastavskaya street, building 30, letter A, Designer: Yusupov Architectural Workshop
Customer: LLC "EUROSTROY"
Discussed: architectural and town-planning appearance
The house, influencing the prospects of Moskovsky Prospekt, was also re-viewed. Its height dropped to 31 meters with the permitted 40, that is, to 8 floors instead of 9-10, the last two floors were made in glass, and the main facing material was brick and ceramic panels. It was not possible to change the configuration of the “pistol player,” as Vladimir Grigoriev called it: according to the authors, this is the only possible solution given the TEPs and norms.
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zooming 1/4 Residential building on Zastavskaya © Yusupov Architectural Workshop
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zooming 2/4 Residential building on Zastavskaya © Yusupov Architectural Workshop
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zooming 3/4 Residential building on Zastavskaya © Yusupov Architectural Workshop
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zooming 4/4 Residential building on Zastavskaya © Yusupov Architectural Workshop
Vladimir Avrutin insisted that the maximum height for the Street Screensaver is still 22 meters. Sergei Oreshkin lacked detail, and he suggested moving the "delicate" glass floor even more. Oleg Kharchenko proposed “to continue the collective struggle to lower the building's height at the expense of glass floors”, and called the facade bad: “chaotic, uninteresting, ugly and incomprehensible”. Evgeny Gerasimov suggested that the indistinctness of the house is preserved from its "half-line, peninsular character." Anatoly Stolyarchuk saw the main problem in the all-glass volume, the transparency of which is more suitable for an office building. Semyon Mikhailovsky called the "glass chest" "rare cynicism" and generally did not skimp on criticism: "an artless project", "simple-minded things", "does not give development to the future" and, finally, "ignoring architecture as a profession."
Vladimir Grigoriev agreed with the majority: “It's too early to finish this work, I am confused by the straightforwardness of the cliches. All this was everywhere, in different ways and in different combinations. But it definitely didn't work out here. The glass solution is unacceptable for the prospects of Moskovsky Prospekt and it would be controversial to accept this project as a design code for the subsequent development of the area."
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Peter I rescuing drowning people near Lakhta
Team of authors: architect Mikhail Mamoshin, sculptor Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, project ideologist Alexei Kravchenko, architect Diana Lisitsa
Initiator: Gazprom Social Initiatives Support Fund
Discussed: preliminary design
The sculpture has traditionally caused more heated debate.
Mikhail Mamoshin spoke about the complex background of the project. In a small area at the entrance to the territory of the "Lakhta Center" it is planned to break up a public garden and erect a monument: a copy of the sculpture by Leopold Bernshtam, which depicted Peter I saving fishermen. After this event, the emperor, according to legend, fell ill and died, but the monument was destroyed in 1918 as an anti-artistic one. The old monument stood on the Admiralteyskaya embankment, but it was decided to restore it "at the scene of the events."
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zooming 1/4 Project of a monument to Peter I, saving drowning people near Lakhta. First option Team of authors: Mikhail Mamoshin, Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, Alexey Kravchenko, Diana Lisitsa
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zooming 2/4 Design of a monument to Peter I, saving drowning people near Lakhta Authors: Mikhail Mamoshin, Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, Alexey Kravchenko, Diana Lisitsa
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zooming 3/4 Project of a monument to Peter I, saving drowning people near Lakhta Authors: Mikhail Mamoshin, Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, Alexey Kravchenko, Diana Lisitsa
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zooming 4/4 Project of a monument to Peter I, saving drowning people near Lakhta Authors: Mikhail Mamoshin, Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, Alexey Kravchenko, Diana Lisitsa
A copy, as it turned out, the word is not entirely appropriate - the sculptor Stepan Mokrousov-Guglielmi, who joined the city council from a walk, said that “the hands and faces sticking out of the waves were replaced with a savory sail”, since the customer wanted “to give Peter a positive look - Peter is saving Russia Peter saves the drowning, there are no drowned there, only the saved. " The size of the monument and the pedestal are also increased for better perception. The monument will face the Primorskoe Highway and St. Petersburg, behind it will be closed by a green "curtain". According to Mikhail Mamoshin, the authors of the project “were looking for new meanings”, so a symbolic horizontal line appeared, marking the water level of the flood of 1824, as well as the “all-seeing eye”, which can be seen in the landscaping drawing when looking at the square from the Lakhta Center windows.
All questions regarding the accessibility of the park, the location of the monument and its illumination faded before the discussion of the meaning of the whole enterprise. Semyon Mikhailovsky expressed his position through questions: “How did you tear off your hands and faces at the Berstamov monument? Why not restore the way it was? What was embarrassing? Did you want to do better? Give a new ideological coloring? All-seeing eye - hinting at Peter's Freemasonry?"
Nikita Yavein suggested that "removing pieces from a sculpture is like putting David in underpants." Vladimir Grigoriev continued: "Over time, Samson will begin to stroke the lion's head." Evgeny Gerasimov had his allusions: too much blood in the painting "Ivan the Terrible Killing His Son", too few peaches in Serov, not enough deep cut of the dress in La Gioconda.
Felix Buyanov suggested that, given the scale of Lakhta Center, it would be more appropriate to install flagpoles, with which Vladimir Linov agreed: it would be difficult for the main spectators - motorists at speed to see the details of the sculpture, a mobile or stable in the spirit of Alexander Calder looked much better. Oleg Kharchenko supported this idea: something modern and corresponding to the spirit of the place should appear in the park.
Vladimir Grigoriev summed up: if you make a copy, then it must be literal, but a new sculpture in this place could become an event for the city.
Memorial sign to Dmitry Ustinov
The team of authors: sculptor Vladimir Kurochkin, architect Viktor Kurochkin, designer Ulyana Voiko
Initiator: Regional branch of the Russian Military Historical Society in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region
Discussed: preliminary design
The monument is planned to be installed in an unnamed public garden near the Rybatskoye metro station. The sculptors portrayed the future Marshal of the USSR as a young man, as he was during his life in Leningrad, the background is a trail of contrails from a rocket, symbolizing future achievements.
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zooming 1/3 Memorable sign to Dmitry Ustinov Authors: sculptor Vladimir Kurochkin, architect Viktor Kurochkin, designer Ulyana Voiko
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zooming 2/3 Memorable sign to Dmitry Ustinov Authors: sculptor Vladimir Kurochkin, architect Viktor Kurochkin, designer Ulyana Voiko
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zooming 3/3 Memorable sign to Dmitry Ustinov Authors: sculptor Vladimir Kurochkin, architect Viktor Kurochkin, designer Ulyana Voiko
Nikita Yavein noted that “in his youth Ustinov became famous for relocating factories, and the missiles were later, when he was 40-50 years old,” such a discrepancy cannot be ignored, since many will perceive it as a historical mistake. Therefore, "the fittings should connect it with another period."
Many experts also noted artistic shortcomings: the elements do not fit into a single composition, the toy attributes of a rocket do not fit in with a realistic figure, a classical sculpture with an avant-garde pedestal.
Vladimir Grigoriev was interested in the direction of the rocket's movement: “The feeling that a young man in an open coat is walking somewhere and suddenly the rockets are banging, his arms are divorced, confusion in the pose. I am for your monument, this is the highest class work. If she's without a rocket. And with a rocket - a complete disaster. Ideological, it's like adding fuel to the fire. Monument to the Soviet Union, which fires rockets without looking at all.
