Contemporary architecture in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.

This post has not the ambition to present an exhaustive panorama of the contemporary architecture in these 2 major Russian cities, but just focuses on a few buildings I can visit or see during a recent travel whose goals were not exclusively the contemporary architecture (there are a lot of other things to see for a first trip in Russia !).

1) Moscow
The 2 main projects seem to be the "Garage" and the "Zaradye Park"

- The "Garage", a contemporary art museum located in the Gorki Park and due to Rem Koolhaas associated with the Russian architect Melnikov.
The project was completed in 2015. The site is an abandonned garage let wide during 20 years. The will of the architect is to let the footprints of the ancient activity perfectly readable. This concept recalls the one already employed (but in more radicalist way) by the French architects "Lacaton-Vassal" for the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
He choose for the enveloppe a relatively cheap material often used in industrial factory :
To complete the reference to the garage, he designed a big entrance door that recalls that of a garage.
Inside, the spaces are well designed for exhibitions ; this is the quality of this type of volumes : the "générosité".

Notice that the restaurant-cafeteria is pretty good, excellent !
A weakness : the treatment of the technical facilities on the roof : it is a pitty (to be in coherence with the spirit of a garage ?) !









- The "Zaradye Park", from the NY based architecture office Diller Scofidio which is wellknown for the design of The High-Line and more recently for the "Shed" in NYC. The project was completed and openend in 2017. The concept mixes urban references and natural environment. The two spectacular pieces are the "dôme" in glass

 and the cantilever bridge over the Neva River. The park seems to be very popular and many Russians really appreciate it. During our visit here was a succession of vocal concerts on the scene in front of the steps of the dôme, and many people everywhere in the "mountains" or on the "paths" of the "toundra". It is quite increedable to find this type of projet in the center of Moscow, near the historical monuments of the "Place rouge" and the series of small and colorful churches on the Ulista Varvarka street.

Pour plus d'infos, cliquer ici



2) Saint-Pétersbourg
Obviously, the main project is the Gazprom's headquarter near the city on the District of Primosky in a business zone named Lakhta center.
The first trip at our arrival in St Petersbourg on the Neva's bank, by a rainy evening, we have been surprised to see in the night and very far away lights in the sky : this was the tower of 462 m height (to confirm because I also saw 426m, 463m; 396m, ...).
The shape of the tower wants to remind a flame (of gas, of course ...).
The project should be completed before the end of the year. Architects are the Edimbourg based office RMJM.
The 5 other competitors were : Libeskind, OMA, Fuksas, Herzog et de Meuron et jean Nouvel.
to see more

I don't think that the winner had the worst project, but I am a little desappointed by the responses.


The second one is the Olympic Stadium built for the 2018 Football World Cup. It looks like a flying soucer (a gimmick with soccer ?).
Its architect is Japoneese : Kisho KURUKAWA (73 years old and one of the leader of the "Metabolism movement").




The third one is the Marinski 2, the great theatre of St Petersbourg. The competition has been priviously won by Dominique Perrault but after 3 years of studies, the project has been judged not realized and too expensive.
More on Dominique Perrault'sproject

An another team, Diamond Schmitt - Canadian architects - designed a new building not so ambitious as Perrault's ...
It is now completed.










The Fourth is completed for a first part and under construction for the other one. It is located in the ancient arsenale, named "New Holland" (nothing in relationship with the previous French president ...), but because there are many canals in this district ; canals built to provide materials and equipments and for the circulation of military boats.
There have been an international competition too between  8 teams :
- David Chipperfield Architects (GB),
- MVRDV (NL),
- WorkAC (USA)
- Studio44 (Russia)
- Yuri Avvakumov et George Solopov (Russia),
- Dixon Jones (GB)
- Lacaton & Vassal (France),
- OMA (NL),

Only the four first had been selected, and the winner was WorkAC.
The first part of the project contents areas to play for families, food shops and other attractions.
In the second part of the project it should have a contemporary museum, an annexe of the Garage (Moscow).
I didn't visit it. It is a pitty !
C'est ici pour en savoir plus