Current

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

28 March 2014

March marked one year since the first meeting of the Architectural Council in its new form, with new missions and mandates. It’s time to take stock.


A brief history

Recall that the Architectural Council of the City of Moscow is a standing collegial and consultative body to the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow, formed in accordance with the order of the Moscow Mayor dated 23.01.2013 № 34-RM.

The council met before as well, but the fundamental difference of this current body, first is that its composition is formed not only of authorities, but also of prominent figures and experts in the field of architecture and urban planning.

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

Secondly, thanks to the initiative of the new team of the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning and chief architect Sergey Kuznetsov a resolution number 284- PP dated 30.04.2013 was adopted “On the optimization of approval procedure of architectural and urban planning decisions of capital construction projects in Moscow.” After that, the procedure for obtaining the Architecture and Urban Planning Resolution became mandatory for all developers.

As a result of the coming together of professionals, and primarily professionals in architecture, there has been the ability to influence the architectural style of the city and to a certain extent be responsible for its formation.

According to Sergey Kuznetsov, “all decisions made ​​by the council were measured and adequate. The council consists of very competent people and their opinions carry weight. The result of the council’s activities are the buildings which will appear in Moscow.”

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

In the fight for quality

At the monthly meetings of the Moscow Architectural Council the city’s most significant architectural projects and decisions are reviewed, ones that affect historic buildings, squares and highways of city wide significance.

The council’s mission in brief can be formulated as follows:

— Improving the quality of architectural and planning decisions;

— Stimulating processes in the professional environment;

— Open dialogue between the city, architects and investors;

— Integration of Moscow into an international quality assessment process of architectural projects (thanks to the attraction of international architectural community members to the council such as Hans Shtimman, formerly the chief architect of Berlin, and the initiation of international architectural competitions).

— Transparent decision-making mechanism.

All considerations as much as possible are reported — at the meetings the presence of the press is welcome, and members of the Architectural Council and representatives of the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow take an active part in various exhibitions, debates and discussions.

Especially for investors and architects the practice of weekly Working Review of projects by the chief architect was introduced, which is advisory in nature, making it possible to identify at an early stage the inconsistencies in the project and simplify the passage of required for approval procedures.

Moscow’s chief architect evaluates the work of the Archcouncil in this way: “Everything that is constructed after the approval of the council, as I see it, is of the required quality. Of course, this is not for me to judge, but Muscovites and their descendants.”

Archcouncil in figures

As explained by the chief architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov, “in less than a year, the number of projects considered by the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning increased about 7 times.” During the 14 meetings that the Architectural Council of Moscow held over the past year, 30 projects were considered.

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

Of those projects, 19 of them were “generally supported” with recommendations on making certain improvements, 8 were rejected, and under Archcouncil’s initiative for 3 of the projects the client organized competitions, of international (integrated development of the “Hammer and Sickle” factory) and of national scale (“Polezhaevskaya” shopping center and the new look of the Tretyakov Gallery facade).

At the last meeting of the Architectural Council on March 5, Chairman Sergei Kuznetsov stressed the prevalence of advisory functions of the council: “Usually journalists expect from us straightforward decisions, „approved“ / „rejected.„ But to approve or reject a project is not always our main goal. The Architectural Council primarily makes recommendations.“

Criteria for evaluation

„Moscow with all its diversity and many faces has always been and remains one of the most architecturally vibrant cities in the world. And this is largely due to the fact that here architecture is always very carefully considered,“ explains Kuznetsov.

How is architecture reviewed at the meetings of the Architectural Council currently? A year of active work more or less allows the basic criteria and points of emphasis to be articulated.

  1. Compliance with the given Development and Construction Plan
  2. Landscape and visual analysis
  3. Traffic analysis
  4. Social infrastructure
  5. Historical context
  6. Facade and space-planning decisions
  7. Organization of public spaces (active ground floors and landscaped areas)
  8. Framework for placing advertising and information structures

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

What’s next?

No one doubts that Moscow should become an up-to-date modern city, reflecting the latest architectural trends. For now there are still things to work on. However, the activities of the Architectural Council and the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow are already producing good results.

First, as a result of working closely with investors and architects the quality of the design is truly improving.

„The focus is not placed on the production of housing, but on the creation of a certain quality of life,“ says Sergey Kuznetsov. „Architecture defines lifestyle, creates the model for citizens’ behavior and a system of values​.

In connection with this, new types of mass housing and social facilities are being developed in parallel. Outdated guidelines are being revised, new standards of quality are being introduced. The design code of streets is changing, as well as the number and shape of pedestrian areas, and public spaces for work and leisure.

And thirdly, competitions serve as an important tool for architectural moderation.

Archcouncil: one year of serving the city

„Moscow has not yet become a center of international architecture implementation, but it has already become the center of international architectural competence. Zaryadye Park, the National Center for Contemporary Arts building, and the ZIL territory — all of these are sites that already exist in the new paradigm,“ says the capital’s chief architect.

In order to show everyone what is the meaning of this paradigm and to cover the activities of the Architectural Council and the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning in all their details — for this purpose the Archcouncil of Moscow portal was created, another positive success of the past year.

So if you want to know what will happen next — stay tuned for our updates!


Images: archsovet.msk.ru


 

E-mail:
Name:
Подписаться на рассылки: