Creators of Zaryadye: the park exceeded all expectations
Within the framework of the Moscow Urban Forum, co-founder and editor-in-chief of ArchDaily David Basulto presented Building of the Year award to the chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov for the Zaryadye Park.
Zaryadye Park designed by the American studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro was nominated in the Public Architecture category and became the winner entering the top 15 projects developed in 2017 worldwide.
“The challenges architects face around the world are the same for projects all around the world. Redevelopment, public spaces, cultural centers, etc. It is an honor to observe the evolution of this process. We established the ArchDaily award ten years ago and this is the first time a Moscow project received it,” said Basulto.
Zaryadye is an excellent example showing that competition practice allows achieving incredible heights in architecture, said the chief architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov. A direct proof of this is millions of people visiting the park and the international awards.
“Environment forms consciousness. It is a great joy to participate in the creation of such projects. During the World Cup, Icelandic fans gathered in Zaryadye to support their team. It is phenomenal. Why did it happen? "Zaryadye is the embodiment of the ideas of a huge number of people. It was made possible because people trusted us. We would like to thank mayor Sergey Sobyanin for his support,” said Sergey Kuznetsov.
Among the competitors of Zaryadye in the nomination were the Skygarden park in Seoul, the Israels Plads square and the Park-n-play recreation area in Copenhagen, as well as the Pedra Da Ra observation platform in the Spanish city of La Coruna. Why did Zaryadye win?
Charles Renfro, a partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS + R), said that without a dialogue between the architects and the authorities, the team led by the Americans would hardly have succeeded in Moscow. “The lessons that we learned here are really important, we can apply them to other projects around the world,” says the architect.
The experts agreed on the idea that today people want to live in a world where comfort and personal happiness are the top priorities. These ideas are reflected in the concept of Zaryadye Park.
The critic Grigoriy Revzin said, “The most important thing is that this project was implemented in its original form. It is an incredible thing in the times of aggravated international relations. Can this project become a model? I have no doubt that everyone is terribly happy, they do not even remember the moments when they wanted to redo everything. In this sense, the project can be shown to other people as an example: there was a competition, the chief architect oversaw it, and now it is done.”
