Zaryadye Park Moscow, International Architecture Competition, Russian Building, Architects

Zaryadye Park : Moscow Design Competition

Urban Architectural Development in Russia

19 Nov 2013

Zaryadye Park Competition Moscow 2013

Russia

Diller Scofidio + Renfro wins Zaryadye Park competition

This is a detailed post-release on the results of the competition:

In Moscow, on the 12th November 2013, the winner was announced for the international competition to develop the landscaping and architectural concept of Zaryadye Park. This was the consortium headed by the architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York). The competition client is OAO “Rossiya”, the organiser is the State Unitary Enterprise “Research and Project Institute for the Moscow City General Plan”, and the consultant – Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design.

On the 11th of November, an international jury made up of leading Russian and international experts gathered to make their final decision, and were locked in heated discussion for an entire day. The resulting competition winner was then revealed as the consortium headed by the architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R, New York), with second place going to the TPO Rezerv consortium (Moscow), and third – to the firm MVRDV (Rotterdam). The approximate implementation costs of the competition proposals ranged from $171 to $ 230 million.

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The winning project proposes the creation of a park based upon the principles of landscape urbanism. This provides for a system of interaction between nature and the city, where people are not restricted to defined routes, and where vegetation can grow freely. This gives the possibility of momentarily leaving the city while simultaneously becoming closer to it. Nature here makes an unexpected contrast with the town and exists in balance with culture.

Four habitats characteristic to Russia will be recreated on the park territory: tundra, steppe, forest and wetland, on terraces descending from the site’s highest point in the northeast, to the lowest in the southwest. They will intersect and overlap each other, framing the main objects in the park. The use of sustainable development technologies will allow for the creation of an artificial micro-climate in various parts of the park, achieved by means of temperature regulation, the channeling of winds, and imitation of natural light.

The project highlights the most striking peculiarities of the adjoining area, enabling the defining elements of its historical architecture and the pedestrian zones of Kitai-Gorod to be united into a whole with the opulent gardens of the Kremlin. In this way, a hybrid landscape will be produced – a union of the city with nature. As a result, the park will ‘grow out of’ its surroundings in an organic fashion, becoming a unique centre of attraction for Muscovites, Russians, and guests from all over the world.

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The idea of creating a new park was first publicly announced by President Vladimir Putin in 2012. Greater attention to parks in Moscow has been a tendency of the last three years, with townsfolk eagerly welcoming their improvement and creation (more than 90% of Muscovites consider proximity to a park to be the main advantage of urban life). Located in the very centre of Moscow and forming a ‘green’ continuation of Red Square, Zaryadye Park is hailed to become the conceptual centre of the wider process of renewal for Moscow parks, an object of nationwide significance and something for the whole world to take note of.

2nd Place TPO Rezerv consortium:
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3rd Place – MVRDV:
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Moscow’s last public park was opened more than half a century ago – the Park of Friendship on Leningradsky Prospekt. Since that time, international gardening and park design has reached whole new levels, something which our citizens have yet to make their acquaintance with. Zaryadye Park will become a symbol of the values of the Twenty-First Century – openness, ecological awareness, new technologies, and tolerance. The six projects that made it to the second stage of the competition for the Park’s concept each expressed in their own way exactly this complex of ideas.

2nd Place TPO Rezerv consortium:

images by architects

images by architects

Second place was taken by the project submitted by Vladimir Plotkin of TPO Rezerv. This was the sole Russian contender to reach the final, being characterised by its realism and comparative ease of realisation. The main idea was that of creating a park to reinforce the quality and significance of the historical surroundings without competing with the nearby monuments, and one which would be capable of adapting to any changes the future might bring. The Park was to have brought together the chief sites in its urban context, increasing their accessibility and attractiveness for Muscovites and guests of the capital.

3rd Place – MVRDV:

images by architects

images by architects

The team headed by MVRDV, taking third place in the contest, proposed as the main theme of their Park the commemoration of Zaryadye’s past. Their concept constituted a paradoxical rethinking of the theme of the archaeological parks characteristic of the centres of European capitals such as Rome and London. Here, it would have taken on a strongly avant-garde tone, producing a Park consisting of 750 gardens that was to have made Zaryadye a unique world attraction.

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On the 11th November, Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin took part in the convening of the international jury to select the project for the reconstruction of the Zaryadye site. “It is vital that the best architectural teams take part in this project, that the best possible solutions be found,” – said Sergei Sobyanin, emphasising that the winning proposal should be supplemented with the most interesting solutions from the runners up.

According to the Mayor, the development of public spaces has come a long way in the last three years; new pedestrian routes have been opened up, along with new parks, squares, and reconstruction of the riverbanks. “In the last three years in Moscow, 200 public spaces have been created from scratch or undergone substantial overhaul,” he added. The Mayor remarked that all attention is now firmly locked on the unique Zaryadye project.

He confirmed the possibility of pedestrianising Varvarka Street in order to better insert its buildings into the context of the future Park, and cited the plans of the Moscow City Government to widen the Moskvoretskaya Embankment and make it a part of the Park. Mr. Sobyanin was also of the opinion that it would be quite feasible to include the Big Moscow-River Bridge in the general ensemble of Zaryadye Park. “These three extra public spaces will give yet more impetus to the development of this site,” he added.

Sergei Kuznetsov, Moscow Chief Architect:

photo from organisers

Sergei Kuznetsov, Moscow Chief Architect, noted that: “The chance to hold this competition and realise a project in such an important place for Moscow as Zaryadye is something that only comes once in a lifetime. I am delighted that, thanks to the principled position of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, international competitions have become the established practice for Moscow and that, through them, we are selecting the very strongest proposals which, if implemented, could each become something of world-class standard. Only in this manner is it possible to propel Moscow into the ranks of the world’s architectural capitals.”

left to right:
1) Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow mayor at park site, surrounded by jury members, officials and experts
2) GAËTAN ROYER (jury member) A published author, architect and urban planner originally from Québec City, who also served as an engineer with Canada’s Federal Government.
3) Sergey Kuznetsov, jury chairman, Chief Architect of Moscow
4) SASKIA SASSEN (jury member)
Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Co-Chair of Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University (The Netherlands / USA).
5) unknown

photos from organisers

“Having put a great deal of work into the preparations for this competition, as well as working out the Park’s functioning models and the technical specifications for its participants, it is with a sense of deep satisfaction that we can state today that our efforts have now been crowned with success, and that Moscow will receive a Park of the very highest rank – a park truly of the Twenty-First Century,” said Denis Leontyev, Director of Competitions at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design.

Images of the Zaryadye Park Moscow Competition site:

photos from organisers

Commenting on the selection of the international jury, Edward Uhlir, Strelka Institute’s competitions consultant and executive director of Chicago’s Millennium Park (one of the most successful parks in the world), stated that Zaryadye Park will become the heart of the city, and a place of power for both citizens and tourists. Furthermore, it will be possible to enjoy the Park not only during summer, but even in severe Moscow winters (which resemble those of Chicago), thanks to the proposed Winter Garden. Mr. Uhlir also lent his support to Mayor Sobyanin’s insistence that the Park’s design complement the prospective pedestrian zones in the vicinity.

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On the Competition

The competition was announced on 19th April 2013 by Moscow Chief Architect Sergei Kuznetsov. The State Unitary Enterprise “Research and Project Institute for the Moscow City General Plan” has acted as its organiser, with support from the Mayor of Moscow S.S. Sobyanin, along with the Moscow Construction Complex, the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of the City of Moscow, the Association of Landscape Architects, and the Union of Moscow Architects.

Metro newspaper conducted a survey and asked its readers about what they want to see in Zaryadye Park:

image from organisers

The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design has acted as project consultant, elaborating the technical specifications and functional model for the Park. The competition consisted of two stages. The first (from 19th April to 17th June 2013) involved the selection of candidates based upon their submitted entries.

In all, submissions were reviewed from 27 countries and 420 companies united into 90 consortia. To qualify for the second round (1st July – 27th September 2013), six teams selected by the jury were assigned a detailed technical specifications brief to offer competing landscape and architectural concepts, as a result of which the international jury selected the winner and finalists.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is the fourth and current President of Russia:

photograph from organisers

From the 13th November, an exhibition entitled “The Open City, A New Urban Planning Policy For Moscow” will open its doors at the A.V. Shusev National Museum of Architecture. A major part of its displays will cover the history of Zaryadye and the works of the finalists of the international competition. Muscovites will thus be able to independently familiarise themselves with the projects of those who have taken part in the contest for the concept for Zaryadye Park.

12 Nov 2013

Zaryadye Park Competition Moscow

Russia

Winner announced for International Competition for Zaryadye Park in Moscow, Russia

Strelka Institute for media, architecture and design is proud to announce the results of the two-stage international competition for Zaryadye park held in Moscow.

The consortium led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been chosen the winner of the contest.

image by architects

Russian-led TPO “Reserve” came second and MVRDV third.

More details + images online in next 10 mins.

26 Apr 2013

Zaryadye Park Moscow

Russia

International Competition for Zaryadye Park in Moscow, Russia, the most ambitious in Russia for the last decade, which has been officially launched

22 May, 2013 submission of application deadline

Zaryadye is a unique historic district in downtown Moscow, on the bank of Moskva river, adjacent to the UNESCO World Heritage sites at Kremlin and the Red Square. After the demolition of Hotel Russia, the site has remained abandoned for over 6 years. In late January, 2012, Prime Minister and President-Elect Vladimir Putin proposed to turn this 130 000 sqm area into a multi-functional public park. This challenging project has the potential to become the most significant public space development in Moscow for the recent decades, likely to set a new benchmark for the quality of public space in Russia.

image from Zaryadye Park Competition

The aim of this architecture competition is to develop an Architecture and Landscaping Design Concept that will form the basis for the creation of a contemporary Park with a high quality infrastructure that will be open for the public all year round.

Architects, landscape architects and urban planners, who can bring together multidisciplinary teams of specialists in the fields of engineering, management of public spaces, entertainment industry, cultural programming, economy, sociology, anthropology, dendrology, ecology and wildlife management, are expected to participate in the Competition.

The competition is held in two phases. In the first phase of the competition, six teams will be selected by the Jury to develop final design proposals to be submitted for the second phase of the Competition.

image from Zaryadye Park Competition

Among the Members of the Jury Panel there are Martha Schwartz, Head of Martha Schwartz Partners (UK); Ken Smith, Principal of WORKSHOP: Ken Smith Landscape Architect (USA); Martha Thorne, Executive Director, Pritzker Architecture Prize (Spain); Peter Walker, Head of PWP Landscape Architecture (USA) and other notable experts, including Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow and many others.

Full rules of the Competition, Application Forms and Procedures, Information about the Jury Panel and updates regarding the stages of the Competition are available on the Official Website of the Competition at http://parkzaryadye.com/.

The deadline for submission of Applications is May 22, 2013.

Zaryadye Park Moscow Competition images / information from Zaryadye Park Competition

Location: Zaryadye Park, Moscow, Russia