Young professionals. Sergey Kuznetsov met with young designers

The idea of holding a special meeting with Sergey Kuznetsov and young architects came about not by chance: the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow regularly receives letters from students and recent graduates to give particular attention to those who are just entering the profession.

Moscow’s Chief Architect readily responded to the request, but right from the start, however, advised those assembled there that he personally and the department entrusted to him does not give out commissions — rather, they may provide young architects with consultation and ideological support. It was exactly so that the 25-30 year old designers (15 people total were invited to the meeting, including both senior undergraduate students from the Moscow Architectural Institute, as well as already working architects, and owners of their own small businesses) get a correct idea of the activities of the committee, Sergey Kuznetsov started the meeting by talking about them. In particular, the Chief Architect elaborated on the mechanism of issuing architectural and urban planning resolutions and the competitive practice actively developing today.

“In order to ‘roll out’ the idea of competitions, we organized several very high profile contests,” said Sergey Kuznetsov. “Such competitions as Zaryadye Park and a new building for the National Centre for Contemporary Arts were much talked about, but of course, there was almost no chance for beginning architects to participate in them. However, now that this very way of receiving commissions has become a matter of habit, more and more competitions are being held in Moscow where young designers in particular are waiting with open arms.”

As an example, Sergey Kuznetsov provided the recent competition for the design of the Solntsevo and Novoperedelkino metro stations which brought together dozens of young teams from around the world.

“And the task that stood before the participants in no way can be called second-rate: the metro is one of the most popular with citizens sites, the design of which reflects all architectural eras. To stand in the forefront of the 80-year history is very honorable in my opinion, and we hope that other projected metro stations will be subject to similar competitions.” Sergey Kuznetsov also reminded of the Russian Character competition that was won by the firm Megabudka, which had one of its partners, the architect Artem Ukropov, in attendance at the meeting.

“Will there be separate competitions for young people?” — This question was asked of Sergey Kuznetsov first of all. “To be honest, in having ‘age’ restrictions I see more harm than good,” Moscow’s Chief Architect admitted in response. — “Why create artificial limitations when truly talented and exciting projects are sure to arise in a full-fledged competitive environment? Another thing is that many of the sites, by definition, are more interesting for young architects than for seasoned architects: for example public spaces, parks, and kiosks. Presently a new market for public spaces is actively forming in the city, and in my opinion, the main role in its development should be performed by young architects in particular.”

“Does an architect need an apprenticeship and if so, how long should it last?” — This question was asked of Moscow’s Chief Architect by his younger colleagues a few times during the meeting. One of the participants, Artur Kariev, a graduate of the Moscow Architectural Institute, even admitted that he was only able to work three days in a seasoned bureau because he do not really want to spend his time and energy on making models. “I think in the professional community there is a stereotype that an architect under 30 does not know how to do anything and soit’s pointless to commission him with something serious,” said the young man. Sergey Kuznetsov disagreed with this, and said in response that he himself had begun his career at age 23: yes, at first he often had to prove that he was indeed worth something, but these efforts paid off very quickly.

“A certain dose of disappointment is absolutely necessary for good professional growth, and there is nothing wrong about starting with models, apartments, and private homes. Another worthwhile opportunity for starting out is collaboration in the form of outsourcing from large companies and design institutes.” The Chief Architect of Moscow reminded that, for example, that’s exactly what the young bureau Progress did, when it participated in the competition for the renovation of the Prostor confectionery factory with Mosproekt-2. He emphasized that it is equally important for beginning architects to promote themselves: to make their way into publications and participate in exhibitions.

Maria Zhetvina, head of the company Beautiful Place, suggested the use of young architects’ cheap labor to meet the social needs of the city. And Artem Ukropov urged his peers to be more active in this field, not to wait for commissions “from the sky”, but rather create your own repository of projects and initiatives in which you can participate. Actually, Megabudka already made the first step in this direction not too long ago with the support of the Union of Moscow Architects and organized a pilot project entitled “Community Department” to unite young architects willing to spare time to carry out social projects for which there is usually no one willing to pay. Supporting this initiative, in conclusion of the meeting Sergey Kuznetsov said that such discussions with young architects will be scheduled on a regular basis with the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow.