PROJECT RUSSIA ¹52 - blocks

Anyone who has studied at MARCHI will remember  the ‘red dog’. This creature is said to owe its existence to Nikolai Nikolaevich Ullas, the institute’s most senior teacher. The point of the exercise is for students to draw something strange, of no great size but very noticeable, on their project sheet in the hope of distracting the judging committee from discussing the true merits of one’s design. Stealing the judges’ attention, the ‘red dog’ allows serious mistakes, absurdities, and inconsistencies to escape unnoticed. This red-herring-like technique is revealing in its own way. It works by creating a distortion of perception whereby a one-off effect obstructs a view of the ‘whole picture’. In Russia this kind of distortion is, alas, typical of both professional architects and the mass media. It is expressed in the unconditional priority that is given to unique one-off buildings over the crowd scene that we in Russia are accustomed to call the ‘urban fabric’. Most buildings and designs that attracted the attention of architects, critics, and the general public in the pre-crisis period were precisely ‘red dogs’. Their bright, tempting forms gave a charge of positive emotion in spite of the fact that the overall situation in the ‘space-production industry was rather gloomy: the influx of oil money gave rise to a monstrous littering of the environment with standard-type micro-districts, gigantic shopping malls, and ugly estates in the suburbs. Now that the economic situation has changed, ‘red dogs’ are dying out. As initiatives by private developers stutter, centre stage is being taken by the municipal and national authorities. The experience of the last few decades teaches us that these authorities are capable only of erecting dummy copies of old buildings or Brezhnevian boxes (mainly prefabricated multi-storey structures). Will the creators of the ‘red dogs’ not be out of work? To avoid this fate, they will almost certainly have to raise their game and play a part in resolving problems that are more far-reaching than the architecture of particular – even if hyper-interesting – buildings. This, of course, is no simple task. Here it is not enough to possess a stereoscopic and enlightened point of view; you must also have a certain ‘social capital’ that gives you the right to speak not just at roundtables organized by your colleagues, but also during exchange of ideas with the non-architectural public, including with the authorities. Our best architects, though, are, it seems, capable of sketching some kind of model of the future. Whatever we might say about the lack of ‘professional discourse’, the concepts by Sergey Skuratov, Sergei Tchoban and Evgeny Gerasimov, ABD, and Art-Blya published on the following pages paint pictures of life that are considerably more humane than those which are executed by state companies or companies sheltering under the wing of the state. In order to turn this tendency round and save not only the future of the architectural profession but also ‘one sixth of the world’s land surface’ from a global landscape catastrophe, architects’ voices must finally be heard both in society and on the very top rungs of power. But this will require extraordinary personalities. The history of architecture – including of contemporary architecture – is, first and foremost, the history not of abstract ideas, but of master architects. As a result of the fact that architecture aims at practical results and due to the diversity of interests related to it, it is not sufficient for architects merely to produce an idea, however revolutionary or universal. What’s vital is that they should overcome inertia and infect other people with their ideas. And here the role of personality is fundamental. It is possible that the word ‘master’ has been devalued. It is possible that it is now more fitting to peak of ‘public intellectuals’, as does the Dutch theoretician Roemer van Toorn. But are there Russian architects capable of playing such a role and, by standing out against the bright background ‘noise’ of everyday life, drawing universal attention to themselves and consequently to the profession as a whole – capable, in other words, to return to the theme of this article, of becoming a ‘red dog’? I can’t help thinking that there is no reason why Russia too should not have its ‘public intellectuals’. It’s only a question of when our leaders will be mature enough to take on such a role and whether we will be able to wait for this to happen. Alexei Muratov, editor-in-chief CONTENTS NEWS Dmitry Shvidkovsky.  The lust for change in style In brief Yury Grigoryan. At war, or the clandestine methods of design Alexei Shchukin. Crisis chronicles: Spring 2009 Elena Petukhova. Spirit and letter Andrey Ivanov. An echo of the wooden age Natalia Tatunashvili. All quiet Under the House's Roof Alexei Muratov. Pictures at an exhibition Anna Kirikova. Russia and Germany: two visions of prefabricated panel housing Lyudmila Likhachova. Unhurried renovation Anna Bronovitskaya. A book on architect Weegmann Vladimir Sedov. The rare genre for a book on architecture OBJECT OF THE SEASON Project Meganom. Concert hall in the Luxury Village complex at Zhukovka near Moscow BLOCKS Alexei Muratov. Editorial Anna Bokova. Shaping the urban fabric: The future of residential unit Natalia Tatunashvili. Humane density Elena Gonsales. Khodynskoe field Mosproekt-4 Khodynskoe Field development in Moscow Anna Bronovitskaya. Capitalist utopia B E R N A S K O N I Chocolate. Proposal for the development of the territory of Red October factory MV Posokhin Mosproekt-2, Offices No. 8 and No. 20. Masterplan for the development of the territory of Red October factory Jean-Michel Wilmotte (France) Plot A Foster + Partners (UK) Plot B 110 Jean Nouvel (France) Plot C 111 Jan StÖrmer (Germany) Plot F Willen Associates Architekten (Germany) Plot H 113 Project Meganom Plot I MV Posokhin Mosproekt-2, Office No. 8. Plot G and Plot E, pedestrian platform Natalia Zolotova. Garden Blocks at Khamovniki in Moscow Sergey Skuratov Architects Garden Blocks residential complex at Khamovniki in Moscow Sergei Tchoban. In the West a modernist building comes across differently than in Russia Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners, nps tchoban voss. Residential complex 'The House by the Sea' on Krestovsky island in St Petersburg Alexei Levchuk. The third competition Competition designs for the European Embankment in St Petersburg Elena Ovsyannikova, Nikolai Vasilyev. Residential districts in Moscow from the 1920s and 1930s MONITOR Feodor Dubinnikov, Lika Tulupova Renovation of the country house za bor Private house near Moscow Anna Kurbatova Architects Bank in Ostozhenka area NEFA RESEARCH SAATCHI & SAATCHI Moscow office TEXTS Irina Korob'ina. CREDO programme: Top Russian architects on the profession and on themselves ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR Sergey Skuratov: Works from 1999–2009 DESIGN / TECHNOLOGY PROJECT RUSSIA CATALOGUE