PROJECT RUSSIA №44 - bigness

It would be no exaggeration to say that one of the main problems in contemporary architecture is designing large forms oron a large scale. Overthe centuries architects have dealt with this problem with great success, but in recent decades their solutions have become less convincing. Certain 'Pagininis' have already attained that special virtuosity which discredits all potential accumulated in this field, as is evidenced by the gallery of trash that precedes the present article. And yet everything large-scale is in high demand: development projects are continually growing in size. Why is it that the growing size of projects fails to elicit a convincing response in terms of architecture? Here one might talk of changes in social climate that have led to the prevalence of unchecked economic rationalism, or of changes within the profession which have led to the once unified architectural field breaking up into isolated segments relating to type of building, divisions within a project, or scale of development. As a result, designs of layouts and structures are linked with one another merely mechanically as opposed to by a clear and deliberate purpose. When this happens on the scale of an entire city, the result is chaos. Cities like Shanghai or districts such as Moscow City turn into agglomerations of'lonely giants'. The incoherence of the architectural environment is projected onto individual buildings, and the problem of the significance of the specific architectural gesture or specific monumental form becomes almost insuperable. Rivalry among a dense crowd of buildings gives rise to structures that are increasingly large and increasingly loud. Thoughtful development of form is replaced by either ill-judged application of the traditional architectural 'ingredients' (which are absolutely inappropriate in conditions of acceleration) or uncontrolled hunger for innovation, which is the more artificial the less it is reinforced by real design skills, real quality of construction, and real public needs. The striving to create an illusion of traditionality or progress thus ends up as architectural caricatures of both tradition and progress caricatures that are guaranteed in advance to raise a certain amount of interest, since any large form draws people's attention just because it exists, regardless of its architectural, social, historical, or other context. Here architecture performs before the audience in an absolutely pure form. And in every case an unconvincingly played role has an effect not so much on the status of the individual 'actor' as on that of the profession itself, loss of respect for which is inseparable from the devaluation of scale. Alexei Muratov. editor-in-chief   CONTENTS NEWS In brief Hot Arch Moscow Golden Section: In search of a new format Under the house roof: pro and contra St Petersburg architecture: Fantasies and reality Sergei Tchoban: Ornament not a crime Notable notes Graduation students of all countries, unite Capitalist realism with a human face Nikolay Malinin's Another Moscow Milan: Dialogues with nature Radicals 40 years later Ligne Roset: Now in Omsk Congress in Bilbao Snaidero: One more award Thorouhbred brand from Germany Light under the sail Benz in Moscow! Studio 44 38 Nevsky Prospect conversion to multifunctional centre Mosproekt 4 Ice sports palace on Khodynskoye Pole in Moscow Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners Film printing factory conversion BIGNESS Editorial Large heap AURELI The world as archipelago Berlage Institute The strategic dialectical plan for Moscow Dogma: By relying on a square, you can forget all useless formal fantasies Dogma Grammar for the city 100 Dogma Stop City. For a nonfigurative architecture of the city Architecture of commitment: manifestos and projects for the city TRIO Hormones of imperial growth Bavykin Architects Highrise residential building on Sel'skokhozyaystvennaya street Foster & Partners Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana TPO 'Reserv' 'Aerobus' residential complex on Kochnovsky proezd in Moscow TOP 10 Faster, higher, stronger Foster & Partners 'Russia' tower in Moscow City Mosproekt 2, office No 6 Moscow City's central core Mosproekt 2, office No 19 'Butyrsky Val' alpine skiing slope ABV Group 'Galaktika' multifunctional complex TPO 'Reserv' Residential complex 'Avenue 77' in Moscow ZAO Kurortproekt Administrative and public centre of Moscow Region Xaveer De Geyter Architects 'Baltic Pearl' complex in St Petersburg Evgeny Polyantsev Architects Sangtudinsk hydropower plant-i in Tajikistan OMA/AMO Campus of Kazakh Institute of Oil and Gas near Almaty Foster & Partners Royal Marquee (Khan Shatyry) shopping and entertainment complex in Astana VOSKRESENSKY Architect Vsevolod Voskresensky (1916-1987) Laboratory and clinical building of A.V.Vishnevsky Institute Research centre of calculating equipment Residential building for 1000 flats MONITOR ARCH4 Penthouse in Moscow Bureau AM Apartment on Chaplygina street Yury Konik Club Bi DNKag Private house near Moscow TEXTS Can people in Russia afford comfortable homes? The future of Russian city: the perspective of secondary development Provincial town phenomenon INNOVATIONS Formative technologies What an architect needs to know when working with construction glass Boris Krivitsky: An architect creates a silhou ette and we fill it with intellect TECHNOLOGY PROJECT RUSSIA CATALOGUE