An informal meeting of the Moscow Architectural Council was held on the evening of November 26 in a remote format; This is the second experience of informal discussion of the project by the composition of the experts of the Architectural Council, the first was the conversation about the Herzog & de Meuron project for the territory of the Badayevsky plant in the fall of 2019.
The discussion, initiated by Pyotr Kudryavtsev, recently a member of the Moscow Architectural Council, was devoted to the preliminary concept of the master plan for ZIL Yug, on which the well-known Dutch company KCAP has been operating since December 2019. Citymakers, founded by Pyotr Kudryavtsev, is a co-author of the concept, so he led the discussion both as an expert of the Arch Council and as a co-rapporteur of the project. On behalf of KCAP, the project was represented by the senior designer of the company Yana Samakaeva and associate partner of the company Mikhail Trinkner. The master plan is created on the basis of the layout project developed by the Institute of the General Plan of Moscow and approved in 2016. In addition, in July 2020, the architectural council approved the concept for the development of the first stage of the ZIL-South complex, developed by Burmoscow Olga Aleksakova and Yulia Burdova. Both Vitaly Lutz, the head of work on the PPT 2016, and the leaders of Burmoscow participated in the discussion.
Let us remind that ZIL, whose territory in total occupies about 400 hectares, and in the part of ZIL-Yug more than 120 hectares, is a large and complex topic. The history of designing urban areas on the territory of the largest Moscow plant has been going on for about 10 years. Recall that for the territory, two PPTs were developed and approved sequentially, one based on the results of the competition and developments of the Research and Development Institute and the PI General Plan in 2013 by order of the city, the other in 2016 by order of investors. In them, new urban development ideas were consolidated, such as quarter buildings, private courtyards, public spaces and ground floors, multifunctionality, and so on. In the north-western part of the former factory area, LSR is now actively building a residential complex ZILART. Recently, the embankment was completed there according to the project of Yuri Grigoryan. On the territory of ZIL-Yug, located to the east of ZILART, it was originally planned to keep the production of cars - this idea was abandoned sometime in 2014. Now the Etalon Group is designing a large and, of course, a multifunctional residential area of the most modern typology, designed for 25,000 inhabitants. For this area, the concept of the master plan reviewed at the council was created.
According to Petr Kudryavtsev, the designers adhere to an integrated approach, considering the territory in many directions, from the PPT given to them, which became the basis for the master plan, to the residents' engagement program (for the development of which the authors of the concept launched a media platform this summer
Generation Zil, on the basis of which the discussion took place), take into account the socio-cultural and functional program, landscaping, architecture and transport.
According to Yana Samakaeva, the Dutch authors were inspired by the 1960s, the prosperity of the ZIL plant; they would like to bring "the belief in optimism and freedom" to the territory of the new district. The authors of the KCAP master plan named the strengths of the PPT of the General Planning Institute: a clear grid of sites, spacious public spaces, developed social infrastructure within the area, average density and a logical distribution of altitude with increasing to the river and metro stations. The problematic aspects of the KCAP PPT were weak connections with the environment, mainly through tunnels and overhead passages, the isolation of public spaces from the development of infrastructure, the traffic-saturated UDS, the lack of connections between the main centers of attraction - the "magnets" of the territory, the lack of high-quality public space within the territory, low diversity in the proposed typologies of development, the absence of large cultural and functional magnets.
Central Park in place of quarters
In response, the authors of the master plan propose, first of all, to add to the green spaces already laid down in the PPT, a transverse Central Park linking Tyufeleva Grove with the bridge to Nagatino i-Land. The transverse park appears on the site of a group of quarters, and partly residential buildings remain in the park as a string of towers along its northern border. The park, according to the plan, should replace the courtyards for the inhabitants of these towers. The entrance to the underground parking lots of the towers, as well as of all houses in general, is on the sides of the carriageways. Since formally the territory allotted by the KCAP architects for the new park lags behind that of private houses, the authors of the master plan count on the support of the Moscow government in not installing fences - first of all, so as not to block the park with them. Maxim Berlovich, a representative of the developer, the head of the Moscow territorial division of Etalon Group, emphasized that all the quarters in the project were designed to be cross-cutting - for the sake of “pedestrian connections throughout the territory”.
Another innovation proposed by KCAP is a longitudinal pedestrian boulevard from the northeast, from the ZIL metro station, to the southwest, to the Marc Chagall embankment. The diagonal axis laid down in the PPT is preserved in the master plan - moreover, KCAP proposes to reserve it only for public transport, and closer to the river near the school to reduce traffic even more for the safety of children (the school is designed for 2,500 people). The third boulevard is transverse, in the business northern part of the district, and leads to the second bridge over the backwater (a similar boulevard led to the bridge and to the PPT).
The master plan makes the embankment of the backwater of the oxbow of the Moskva River completely pedestrian (in the PPT there was an intra-district passage along its greened bank). But the route along the Moskva River remains, and there are only two transitions across it to the bend of the Moskva River and the coastal part of Marc Chagall Park: in the middle, in the place where the longitudinal zigzag boulevard comes, and at the intersection of the river with the backwater.
-
Image 
zooming 1/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 2/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 3/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-Yug territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 4/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 5/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-Yug territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 6/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-Yug territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 7/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 8/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 9/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 10/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 11/11 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
Sergey Kuznetsov recalled that even at the stage of development of the PPT, the route along the embankment was reduced (from 6 lanes to 4), part of the traffic was directed from the embankment into the interior of the peninsula. The chief architect of the city described the remaining route as necessary and normal: similar examples are found in many European cities, it is necessary to work on the profile, turn the route into a boulevard with a calm traffic, this is not a highway, - said the chief architect of Moscow.
The authors of the master plan concept emphasized the need to preserve and develop all the connections of the peninsula with the outer city, laid down in the PPT.
The hierarchy of public and green spaces in the project includes 6 points, where the “lower” level is the neighboring terraces and balconies. City squares appear at the intersections of streets and boulevards. The main city square is formed at the intersection of Central Park, the diagonal boulevard from the PPT and the new pedestrian zigzag boulevard from the master plan.
-
Image 
zooming 1/4 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 2/4 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-Yug territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 3/4 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
-
zooming 4/4 Concept of the master plan of the ZIL-South territory, 2020 © KCAP commissioned by Etalon Group
Variety and zoning
The authors worked out three types of routes, for residents, tourists and workers, and the functional zoning of the territory, they planned in detail the mix of public functions of the first floors, since the parameters of the PPT made it possible to saturate all the first floors with public functions, nevertheless placing housing in the first floors in some places, again for a change structures.
KCAP school buildings and kindergartens are proposed to be used as multifunctional cultural centers, open to residents of the district as sports and recreation centers, libraries and lecture halls in the evenings and on weekends.
For different zones, different types of buildings have been developed: in the river districts to the river, the altitude decreases, but the silhouette specified in the PPT with a significantly increased contour remains. In the center of the district, higher houses form frames around smaller-scale volumes, designed to create a chamber environment inside the courtyards.
Nature
In all public spaces, the authors propose to use a system of bio-drainage, delay and purification of storm water: drying ponds, flooded areas, mini-drainage in the road profile and many trees.
Where city streets intersect with parks, they become greener: more trees appear and more priority is planned to be given to pedestrians walking in the park.
The park along the MCC is treated by the KCAP team as hills and "forest" with the largest number of large trees to protect from the railroad. The authors divide the central (transverse) park into two parts: the southern one, in the shade of the houses, is interpreted as natural, and the northern, better illuminated one, as “sunny-urban” and combines it with the territory of residential towers located in the park.
The first stage, already developed by Buromoscow and approved by the Architectural Council, Yana Samakaeva described as meeting all the principles laid down in the master plan and revealing the potential of the territory. By the way, during the discussion, it was announced that sales in houses of the first stage are planned to begin in the first quarter of 2021.
The master plan also indicates the places for the "iconic architectural dominants": at the corners, near the metro and along the northern contour of Central Park.
The solution of volumes as part of the future development is offered in a contrasting way: instead of 12-14-storey "walls" - 5-6-storey contours with accents up to 17-25 and, in dominant zones, up to 40 storeys. The height of the front of the main streets is not less than 4 floors in order to preserve their urban appearance. For each type of development, the authors plan to develop in-depth regulations, and for each site - a passport with the principles of development, which is planned to be issued to the authors of architectural projects as TK. According to Maksim Berlovich, the master plan also offers construction from CLT panels.
Maxim Berlovich stressed that one of the goals of the developer, Etalon Group, is to motivate future residents to spend more time in their own area, therefore, detailed planning of the territory and making it a comfortable city for Etalon is a priority. He also emphasized that the project provides for the construction of part of the roads at the expense of the city budget, and urged the city to support the ideas of the master plan in the municipal TOR for road construction.
Less cars
The masterplan rather radically prioritizes pedestrians and public transport - a well-known cutting-edge trend of the past decade - at the expense of cars. Compared to the PPT, the authors reduce the number of traffic streets: the embankment of the backwater is entirely pedestrian, the diagonal boulevard is given to public transport. As it turned out, the strict, if not to say harsh attitude towards private cars and their owners is due not only to current trends, but also to the isolated situation of the territory.
The question of the head of the MARCH school, Nikita Tokarev, was about parking spaces and traffic: it is assumed that 25,000 residents are supposed to be, according to Moscow standards, this population corresponds to 12,000 cars, how and where do the authors of the master plan arrange parking lots and how will two-lane streets cope with so many private cars? Or why will there be fewer cars in ZIL-Yug?
Michael Trinker, partner at KCAP, answered the question. If people are given good alternatives, such as high-quality public transport, they will give up private cars, he said. This is the experience of Zurich, Holland and the cities of Western Europe. Recently, the traffic ratio in the center of Moscow has changed dramatically, and in the new district it is necessary to focus on these progressive standards. Yana Samakaeva was a little less categorical: according to her, each profile has a lane for cars and the only place where there are no private cars is a diagonal boulevard, each profile has places for parking pockets, if necessary, they can be increased; other places are located underground in one or two tiers. Maksim Berlovich spoke about new ideas for changing the model of transport behavior, which the authors are now exploring, taking into account the fact that the area is isolated from the city, for example, the possibility of organizing local car sharing - sharing cars available for residents of a particular quarter. And in general, he expressed his determination to “think about limiting car traffic already today” based on the distant planning horizon and the tendency to abandon private cars in the future.
Pedestrian bridge across the Moskva River
Zilovsky boulevard ZILART and diagonal boulevard ZIL-Yuga in the PPT converged to a pedestrian bridge towards TPU Nagatino on the opposite bank. This pedestrian bridge was not marked on all materials in the master plan.
Sergei Kuznetsov answered a question from the audience about plans to build the bridge: the city does not plan to allocate funds for it, but if the investor takes the initiative and offers the city, for example, to finance the construction, then it is quite possible. It is important to understand what kind of communication the bridge will provide and by whom it will be in demand - until the housing of ZIL-South is built, the need for a bridge is not so obvious, but this issue can be discussed. Maxim Kandybailo, head of the Strategic Projects Department of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Construction, in addition recalled plans to build a cable car instead of a pedestrian bridge over the river in this place.
***
The discussion began with a speech by Vitaly Lutz, currently the head of the Department of Prospective Projects of the Institute of the General Plan of Moscow, previously the head of Project Association No. 15 of the Institute, a workshop that was consistently developing several PPTs for the ZIL territory, including
the last one, approved in 2016, is the same TPP on which the KCAP Master Plan now presented is based. Vitaly Lutz supported the concept of the master plan, noting that it picked up and developed many of the ideas laid down in the 2016 planning project, such as a variety of morphotypes of buildings and elements of the urban environment, a dense planning grid, alternation of transport and pedestrian infrastructure, a strategy of high-rise with dense "Crusting" around the edges and lowering to the center. “All the bridges and connections shown here also come from the PPT, all the connections are supported by the authors of the master plan, and more of them, perhaps, cannot be found here,” said Vitaly Lutz.
Vitaly Lutz highly appreciated the idea of the "Central Park" and proposed to fix it at a formal level, to re-register public areas, transfer them to the city and thus legitimize the find, so that fences around parks and pedestrian public paths could not be installed.
However, Vitaly Lutz did not agree with the idea of private courtyards open to the water along the Nagatinsky backwater: the authors of the PPT considered the backwater as a rare “natural square” for Moscow and suggested organizing a city street along it with social activity, for which a frontal building with “objects service”, and a driving street along them is quite acceptable; and private courtyards destroy this idea.
-
zooming Concept for the development of the territory of the ZIL plant, 2013 Architectural bureau "Meganom" / provided by IRP Group
-
zooming Concept for the development of the territory of the ZIL plant, 2013 Architectural bureau "Meganom" / provided by IRP Group
Vitaly Lutz also recalled that, according to the authors of the PPT, on the triangle at the exit of the two diagonal boulevards ZILART and ZIL-Yug, some iconic unique urban object was to be located, similar to the Hermitage branch in the northern part of the territory of the former factory. In early concepts this place was called "Planet ZIL".
Vitaly Lutz called the need to build a motorway along the MCC line, which is present in the PPT, at the current stage to be discussed, that is, optional, and speaking of the effective organization of further work and discussion of the project with the city, he mentioned the "headquarters" organized at one time under the Moskomarchitecture to agree on the general plans of individual sections and elements of the road network: "we need to look for organizational tools, look for ways to influence the implementation, including of city programs associated with this area." For this advice, Peter Kudryavtsev thanked separately.
The experts of the Arch Council generally warmly supported the concept of the master plan, the director of MARSH, Nikita Tokarev, who was invited to the discussion, even with his "project about a wonderful future." According to many participants in the discussion, the work with the ZIL territory is in many senses "reference", not only because the projects correspond to modern trends in urbanism in terms of diversity and diversity of the environment, priority of pedestrians, density of the street network - "it is good to have such a model in front of your eyes" according to Andrey Gnezdilov. However, the project was also praised because the elaboration of urban planning issues at ZIL proceeds sequentially, without denying the work of previous colleagues (in parentheses, we note that not all experts liked the diagonal boulevard proposed and fixed in the PPT, there was even a proposal to replace it with a pedestrian route along the MCC to the TPU ZIL, still built; many principles of the PPT, in fact, are preserved and developed in the concept of the master plan).
Andrei Gnezdilov supported Vitaly Lutz that the new findings of the master plan, in particular the boulevard and Central Park, should be consolidated in land-surveying projects as a common area in order to avoid ambiguity: to separate “ours and others”. He also proposed to group the functions of the first floors at the nodal points, where they will be more in demand and pay off, and in other places to place housing in the first floors. Alexander Asadov advised to pay more attention to the engineering section - "no less than the transport", in order to prevent overlaps and intersections of communications associated with different topics "how it happened with the renovation", and carefully monitor the work of Mosenergo and Mosvodokanal. The architect also emphasized the importance of state-owned parking lots, recalled that COVID encourages the use of cars, and proposed to reserve part of the underground parking spaces as guests. Alexander Asadov supported the idea of multi-functional operation of schools, in particular, to replace sports and recreation centers, and stressed the need to negotiate such use, for example, with the Department of Education, as early as possible. Vladimir Plotkin called the proposed development option "a little anemic" and, even though the master plan indicated the dominant places, suggested thinking about revitalizing the urban fabric with unique themes. Timur Bashkaev urged to think in more detail about the future TPU ZIL, to define unique parameters for it as for the future "agglomeration hub" and to finalize the PPT accordingly. Nikita Tokarev supported Alexander Asadov that it is necessary to negotiate unique solutions for the operation of buildings, for example, schools, right now, as well as think about how the authors and developers plan to convince future residents to abandon surplus cars. According to Tokarev, not only architecture is important in this project, and it is very good that there is a platform for public discussion and Citymakers, a company working with sociocultural programming of territories, participates in the project. Yulia Burdova, admitting that in the process of designing the first stage of the master plan was very lacking, admitted that now "the puzzle has taken shape", and also voiced the problem of "fences around the territories of kindergartens" destroying the front of the street, and urged to think about options for solving this Problems.
In other words, the project looks almost perfect, it was supported by the Arch Council in an informal discussion - both the developer and the creators of the Generation Zil media platform promised to hold similar open professional discussions of the project in the future.
