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“Between architecture” in Venice

12 June 2014

At the opening of the exhibition project “MOSKVA: urban space” at the Venice Architecture Biennale the conference “Between Architecture. Public Space and the Urban Commons” was held.

On the opening day of the Moscow exhibit in the Venetian church of Santa Maria della Pieta, the conference “Between Architecture. Public Space and the Urban Commons” took place as part of the platform “polis 21: urban interventions,” founded by the companies RDI (partner of the exhibition “MOSKVA: urban space”) and Triad Berlin, which carried out the architectural design of the exhibition.

Конференция в Венеции

The conference was attended by international experts in the field of architecture and urbanism: Elizabeth Diller (Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York), Helle Juul (Juul Frost Architects, Copenhagen), Sergey Kuznetsov (Chief Architect of Moscow), Richard Sennett (Professor of Sociology, New York University and the London School of Economics), Dmitry Aksenov (RDI, Moscow). Moderated by Melinda Crane (Berlin).

During the discussion, the speakers touched upon the changing role of urban public spaces in the 21st century and the new requirements that produces modern architecture and contemporary society. If in the past the identity of Moscow as a city was largely defined by the architectural image of individual buildings, then at the end of the 1990s a heated discussion developed around the disappearance of public space, criticizing the commercialization of the social sphere. The consequences of the financial crisis in 2008 on the international real estate market have led to an explosion of interest in the social aspects of public space and civil society development. Today the city is defined by the peculiarity of the so-called “connective tissue,” which makes a significant contribution to improving the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants.

Конференция в Венеции

Starting with the project of Zaryadye Park, the panelists discussed the current strategy of creating public spaces in the international socio-political context. According to Sergey Kuznetsov, these problems “do not represent the city as good or bad, but rather reflect the state of society today, as the bearer of certain growth problems.” The chief architect added that to examine the experience of Moscow in this context was very interesting, as well as to exchange views with foreign counterparts.

As Richard Sennett noted in his speech, today we need to change the very structure of the development of the city, emphasizing the “social plan” rather than the general plan. Dmitry Aksenov stressed that integrated territorial development today is a priority not only for the company he founded, but also within the new tactics of urban policy in Moscow.

The exhibition “MOSKVA: urban space” is open until November 23, 2014. Admission is free.

Address: Church of Santa Maria della Pieta (exhibition space Cavana and Capella), district of Castello, Venice, 3701, 30122

For more information about the exhibition, illustrations of the exhibit, and video of the conference can be found on the project’s website moskvaproject.com.


Images: RDI


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