Your project presupposes a completely new format of attitude towards the environment and rests on two pillars of "greening" and "intellectualization" What do you mean by the concept of “new format” and how do you plan to link greening and intellectualization within the framework of the project?
Indeed, the basis of our project is the ideas of greening and intellectualization in the context of the development of the competition area. At the same time, “economically beneficial greening”, in addition to the goal of preserving the environment, educates a citizen with a new awareness of his responsibility to the environment and himself, in addition to the already existing mechanisms for financing “green projects”, when greening becomes not only useful, but also beneficial. But it is not enough to declare environmental friendliness, and waiting for the result is a long way. Therefore, in our project, we begin intellectualization with educational activities, ideas of ecology for children, which are integrated into the school educational program and further developed.
What do you think is the biggest lack of territory at the moment and how will your project change it?
Now the territory has no connectivity. It consists of scattered parts, therefore it is not perceived by residents and does not represent recreational value. Our project connects together all the activities of both the competition area itself and unites it with the city, creating a harmonious single whole. The main activity is concentrated at the entry point to the park, which is quite natural, because the AGNI campus is located here, it is an intellectual center that we are developing with our project and continue to develop further, inland. Also in the project, we proposed a new approach to the perception of the oil industry. One of the excursion routes involves visiting oil production zones and getting to know the industry, showing the relationship and interaction of the industry with the natural environment. This is useful for Tatneft's image, interesting and informative.
In the concept, you indicate as one of its elements the development of year-round scenarios and routes across the territory. Tell us how you can spend time near the Almetyevsk reservoir during the year? What will be available in summer and why come in winter?
The Masterplan offers many year-round scenarios and routes across the area for all ages.
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zooming 1/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MCPC GK Gorod
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zooming 2/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MTSC GK Gorod
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zooming 3/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MTSC GK Gorod
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zooming 4/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MTSOS GK Gorod
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zooming 5/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MCPC GK Gorod
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zooming 6/6 Concept for the development of a territory with an area of 1700 hectares near the Almetyevsk reservoir OBERMAYER Consult, Cushman & Wakefield, OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten, MCPC GK Gorod
On the territory there will be a Festival ground, spaces for recreation, hiking, horseback riding and cycling routes. In winter, the reservoir will be used as an ice rink, the slopes will be used for sledding and tubing, and summer hiking trails will become ski trails. The rental shops are changing the summer assortment to the winter one. The Riverside restaurant doesn't shut down in winter. Winter events and activities are integrated into the calendar of city events.
As part of the competition, the organizers held a project seminar with residents, where everyone expressed their ideas and suggestions, and also identified key problems. Have you taken into account the wishes of the residents in your work, and if so, can you name a specific example of what has been developed based on the demands of the population?
Yes, of course, we took into account the wishes of the residents and, in addition to the seminar, conducted on-site opinion polls. These were in-depth interviews with residents of Almetyevsk, representatives of business related to sports. As a result, we got a general picture of the world through the eyes of residents of Almetyevsk and their attitude to the idea of changing the competition area. In general, the position of the townspeople is clear and understandable and coincides with the expectations of 99% of the country's population. These are work and wages, ecology and health, education and recreation. Therefore, at some point from the architectural and urban planning competition, the project moved to the plane of social programming of the territory. From what we have developed, based on the needs of the population, this is the connectivity of the territory with the city, since it is a continuation of the northern part of the city. We took into account the vastness and remoteness of the territory, provided access to it by public transport, and simulated year-round scenarios for sports and recreation. And of course, we provided opportunities for the development of creative business in the area of the art quarter and the box park for young people in Almetyevsk.
Is your project more aimed at improving the quality of life of the local population or increasing the tourist flow?
I will answer the question like this: "Improving the quality of life of the local population, including through increasing the tourist flow." All project decisions are aimed at improving the quality of life of the local population. And in terms of opportunities for recreation and in terms of improving the quality of life. For example, tourism will create jobs and attract external flows to meet the demand for service functions. It will create an impulse for the city's creative economy, reduce the outflow of the economically active population from the city. In our case, tourism includes a set of scenarios - historical, ecological routes, festival events in the competition area. And of course, the renewed territory itself and the programs of activities on it are an exciting adventure worth coming to the park with the whole family and coming to Almetyevsk for the weekend from another city. Those who have already left and live in other cities will more often come to visit their relatives and, we hope, with time will soon return to the renewed city.
You have a very representative consortium that unites five companies at once. If it's not a secret, tell us how you divided tasks within the team, was there a clear division of responsibility?
The consortium consists of five companies and REFRAME Architects. This is due to the objectives of the competition - economic, social, architectural and urban planning and environmental. The final composition of the consortium included the really strongest specialists in each of the areas. For a deep dive into the project, we focused on local resources, and attracted experts who were commensurate with the project. For example, a professor of the UNESCO Chair, a UN expert was engaged in the issue of ecology. Experts from the City Civil Code provided hypotheses for attracting extra-budgetary funding sources based on the principles of “green financing”.
A team of analysts and experts Kushman and Wakefield became world-renowned commercial real estate consultants, which developed a separate financial model for each of the 35 properties, substantiating the economic efficiency and economics of tourism. The REFRAME Architects team of architects, which acted as an expert consultant, worked with relevant international projects, images, ideas and volumes, which formed the basis of the master plan. We agreed on an enlarged scope of work on the terms of reference and then defragmented by areas and experts. As for the work itself, since all members of the consortium are leaders in their fields, our discussions were in the nature of a free brain storm in which hypotheses were tasted, looked at, groped, rotated at different angles. It was fun and interesting. Especially when in the night an idea appeared in the general chat, which the consortium team gradually joined in the discussion and the discussion ended long after midnight. It was a real synergy of interaction of caring creative specialists. And self-isolation brought the team together humanly.
Let's imagine that we have moved a few years ahead and your project has already been implemented. Describe what the area adjacent to the Almetyevsk reservoir looks like, which object has become the most visited, how do people spend their time?
Let's simulate a situation in which you are a guest of the city and begin your acquaintance with one of the excursion routes. For example, "Almetyevsk - past-present-future". The bus excursion route starts from the west of the city, then passes through a cascade of ponds, through public areas, existing and prospective museums, the headquarters of Tatneft, a community center, then - the university, the campus and familiarization with the industry, the cultural center of the campus, and then - on the territory of the park. After visiting the campus and the cultural center, we left the "Present" territory and entered the "Future" territory. We find ourselves in the Art quarter. The Art Quarter is a point of attraction for creative youth, a creatively active place, a commercial platform for small businesses. On the ground floors of the blocks there are coffee shops, eateries, vinyl shops, custom skate board making, local designer clothes. Second floors and exploited roofs - local industries, clubs and restaurants. There is also a playground, an area for creative markets and events, an open-air theater, an amphitheater for lectures and film screenings, a place for installations with temporary exhibitions. Exhibitions and festivals are held in accordance with the city's calendar of events, for example - Bauhaus week, fashion design week, skate culture week, and so on. This point of the route has a special, creative atmosphere.
The next point of the route will be the media center Museum of the Future … At the same time, the museum is an interactive platform for discussing possible scenarios for the development of our world and ways to solve pressing problems of the environment, ecology, and energy. How do we want to live in the future? Where will we live in a hundred, two hundred years: on Earth, on another planet, or maybe even under water? In the museum of the future, environmental events, videos and slides on how biotechnology work in the revitalization of territories are separately interactively shown - for schoolchildren this is an introduction to a new specialty - ecology in the oil industry, for tourists - an introduction to green technologies and their important role in environmental protection.
So we will instill an interest in science, science fiction, help individuals open up in a direction in which there are no restrictions and frameworks in the future. But that is not all. The museum is a symbolic gateway to the Park of a Harmonious Future. We get acquainted with a virtual guide around the territory, see in a live mode the environmental events, how the territory develops and lives, online cameras for birds and animals, the history of the park, its creation. For tourists, residents of Almetyevsk, these are the basics of eco-culture.
Since the spaces are vast, we pass part of the route on foot, part of it by electric cars, scooters. In the program, we will visit oil rigs and art objects, walk along eco-paths and get acquainted with the device of anti-erosion solutions, walk in gabions, get acquainted with the natural diversity of flora and fauna of the Almetyevsk region. Probably worth completing a virtual trip on this section of the route. The territory is huge, there are a lot of options for tourist scenarios and routes, they can and will change depending on the season. Active residents of Almetyevsk will be able to propose their own scenarios and vote for them. Someone may even become the author and curator of the route.
Can your ideas be applicable in other Russian cities? Have similar concepts been developed in other countries or the ideas proposed by you have no analogues in the world?
In 2019, OBERMEYER began developing a project for a museum and park complex "Attraction" in Magnitogorsk. The objectives of the competitive project of Almetevsk and Magnitogorsk are similar - to create an environment and bring the city to a qualitatively different level. This project is a vivid example of public-private partnership; now its inclusion in the federal targeted and investment program is being actively promoted. Well, you can talk about international projects for the development of OBERMEYER territories for a long time. This is the development of new city centers, their expansion. What is called "Integrated Development of Territories". Residential and business areas at TPU, environmental projects, for example, a sturgeon reserve in China, underground cities, industrial parks with a unique living environment, campuses and much more.
Tell us about Almetyevsk, about your first acquaintance with the city. Within the framework of the competition, you, as finalists, participated in the Inception Seminar, where, together with experts, you examined the key objects of the city and spent the whole day in the competition area. What emotions did you have from your first visit to the city? What do you remember the most?
The first acquaintance with the city left an indelible impression. Emotions are extremely positive. Before the trip, we already knew a lot about the city, but the face-to-face acquaintance surpassed all expectations. We really liked the city, on the very first evening we walked around all the local attractions. We were lucky, the services had not yet disassembled the New Year's lighting and we saw the city especially bright and elegant. Very well! Most memorable were the skating rink, the cascade of ponds, the "Karakuz" sculpture, the area near the headquarters of Tatneft, the park.
Tell us about the atmosphere of the final jury meeting. After the announcement of the winner, you admitted that it is still difficult for you to realize your victory until the end. Can you describe how you felt after a few days? What do you feel: joy, pride, satisfaction from the work done?
We feel proud for the work done and glad that Almetyevsk, represented by the management, Tatneft and the invited jury, appreciated our ideas. To be honest, there was some dissatisfaction with the result - as usual, I wanted to finish something, change, improve. But the competition is the "Olympics", you make a breakthrough and then anxiously await the results. It will be possible to change and improve only at the next Olympiad, in the next competition of comparable scale.
Share your plans for the future. Will you continue to work as part of such a team? Do you plan to continue working in Tatarstan?
Yes, we want to further develop the project. We see great prospects for joint work, we hope to be needed and useful in the ambitious projects of the Republic of Tatarstan. We would like our team to participate in full on the continuation of the project, because we have worked out an effective decision-making strategy.
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The competition was initiated by PJSC TATNEFT with the support of the Administration of Almetyevsk and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan. The organizing committee of the competition is the Agency for Strategic Development "CENTER". The final of the competition took place on 23 September. The winner was an international consortium led by OBERMEYER Consult LLC, which included Cushman & Wakefield LLC (Moscow, Russia), OBERMEYER Planen und Beraten (Munich, Germany), MOO MTSOS (Moscow, Russia), Civil Code of the City”(Moscow, Russia). Participants-experts: REFRAME Architects (Moscow, Russia) Alexander Sokolov, Ivan Galitsyn, Evgenia Peschanskaya, Vadim Kosarev.
