Zaryadye park - Moscow’s first urban wilderness for 50 years opens to great success

It’s been two months since Moscow’s Zaryadye park celebrated a substantial completion with a civic ceremony. Since then, the park has already seen over one million visitors.

As part of the series of new urban developments sprawling up in Moscow, Zaryadye Park is the latest to open to improve the city’s green space. Commissioned by Moscow Chief Architect, Sergey Kuznetsov, an international consortium led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers has designed this new public space that encourages integration and celebrates the amplitude of regions across Russia by artificially emulating each of their climates.

In a series of panoramic photos, architectural photographer Iwan Baan has captured the newly added 13 hectares of green space in central Moscow. Zaryadye park, the first public park to open in Moscow in 50 years, is located in a fascinating surrounding in close proximity to St. Basil’s cathedral, the Kremlin and Red Square. The park’s so-called “floating bridge” has already become a modern symbol of the city. Aerial photographs show the park’s unique location. Photos taken inside the park offer a glimpse into the landscape which Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the park’s master planners, describe as “wild urbanism”. Visitors encounter terraces that recreate and celebrate four diverse, endemic terrains found in Russia. The sectional overlay facilitates active and passive climate-control strategies that ensure visitors can enjoy the park through all seasons. Natural zones provide places of gathering, repose and observation, in concert with performance spaces and enclosed cultural pavilions.

Although open to the public in its entirety, a few of its programmed destinations are still under construction and are expected to open in the coming year. One of those is the much anticipated Philharmonic Hall which will open its doors in April.