PROJECT RUSSIA №48 - ex nihilo

It was not so long ago that Russian architectural critics salivated over photographs of private houses and apartments. That age is now past, and there are few people today whom you could surprise with an urban building on its own. The demand for novelty and diversity in this field has also, it seems, been satisfied. Interest has switched to large projects – master plans for towns and the creation of new settlements from scratch. As Alexander Zmeul atAfisha the age of architectural blockbusters is upon us. The projects for towns and new districts presented in this issue ofPR are, of course, blockbusters. The sites to be developed are measured in thousands of hectares and the floor areas of buildings to be erected run into millions of square metres. The reasons for these initiatives, of which there are already several dozen, are various. Some are merely ‘precious pieces of paper’: their main purpose is to bump up the price of the land owned by the clients. Others, on the contrary, are intended to be realized. Some projects are entirely realistic, while others are just daydreams calculated to impress a governor, investor, or the general public. Nevertheless, taken together, all these projects are a sign of a new stage, which may, not without pomposity, be heralded as the beginning of the renaissance of urban development in this country. The term ‘blockbuster’ suggests an analogy with the cinema – an analogy which is all the more tempting since there has been much talk recently of the renaissance of Russian film-making. Here there are two points that are worth emphasizing. Both derive from Russian film criticism. he first is suggested by the film reviewer Yevgeniya Leonova, who names the following as key characteristics of the Russian blockbuster: 1) ‘lack of stamina’, i.e. a fierce beginning followed by an extremely average ending; 2) lack of fussiness, omnivorousness; 3) naivety; 4) poor choice of actors. Similar criticisms may be made of many new Russian urban development projects. And here the problem is not so much the incompetence of the authors of these projects as the fact that, apart from the formal models suggested by the history of urban development, there is nothing for them to kick off from. With a few rare exceptions, we find neither researchers nor civic officials reflecting on the Russian town and Soviet experience in land development. As a result, urban-planning police and practice proceed by cavalry charge in the absence of a clearly pictured target. The other essential feature of the blockbuster has been described by authoritative Russian film critic Andrey Plakhov, who finds that this word reminds him of blocks and clichés. As is perfectly logical for a large form, the blockbuster consists of modules of a special kind. In the case of an urban settlement, the modules are street blocks. But our architects and builders unfortunately have no experience at all in this field – with the exception, of course, of designing micro-districts of prefabricated buildings. Here too we need an intellectual leap forwards. Otherwise the quality of life in Russian towns and cities, notwithstanding all the blockbusters, is not likely to improve. Alexei Muratov. editor-in-chief. CONTENTS NEWS Dmitry Shvidkovsky. The changeable identity of Philadelfia Alexander Zmeul. In brief Yury Grigoryan. About the huts Anna Bronovitskaya. Architecture Biennale in Moscow Bart Goldhoorn. How to build Sergey Sitar. On the threshold and within the sacred realm Elena Petukhova. Van Egeraat wins a suit against Capital Group Natalia Zaychenko. A thaw in Nikola-Lenivets Tatiana Pashintseva. How prospective is the ‘Perspective’? Anna Bronovitskaya. XYZ at the Museum of Architecture Alexander Zmeul. Multipolar architecture Alexandra Rudyk. ‘Horizons’ of Evgeny Asse Tatiana Pashintseva. ArtPlay goes east Anna Kostina. Milan: Triumph of eco design AML Shop on Stromynka Street in Moscow SL*Project Settlement in the Crimea Virtual Architecture Laboratory Complex on Butyrskaya Street in Moscow EX NIHILO Alexei Muratov. Editorial Alexei Shchukin. Why are new towns necessary and who needs them? New cities: pro et contra. A questionnaire by PR Richard Burdett. We should intensify cities rather than build new ones Alexei Komov. ‘Stability’, a superior urban-planning set Maxwan Architects and Urbanists et al. A101 Project in Moscow Region Urban Design Associates The eastern sector of the A101 project DTZ, NBBJ Kazanka Riverfront Master Plan in Kazan TPO ‘Rezerv’ Lermontovo settlement. Tuapse District. Krasnodar Krai Jauzaproject Yuzhny residential district in Mineralnye Vody Ostozhenka East Kruglikovsky residential district in Krasnodar Ostozhenka Info-City district in Zelenograd Valode & Pistre Architectes et al. Аcademia District in Ekaterinburg Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners, nps tchoban voss Kudrovo District near St Petersburg MONITOR Mikhail Barkhin Stage design for the opera ‘Faust’ Bureau DIA Bathhouse near Moscow za_bor Yandex office in St Petersburg Project Meganom Mansion on Molochny pereulok TEXTS Vladimir Sedov. The myth of new cities: a Soviet version Aleksandra Selivanova. Bobriki–Stalinogorsk: from a Socialist City to a Stalinist ensemble Alexander Lozhkin. Academical town: the Fate of Utopia Birgit Schlieps. Aktau and Shevchenko: dreams in the desert Clementine Cecil. Milton Keynes: Britain’s newest new town at a crossroads TECHNOLOGY PROJECT RUSSIA CATALOGUE