The teams participating in the second stage of the competition for the concept of the Moscow River coastal areas have been announced

The jury summed up the results of the competition for the development of the riverside areas of the Moscow River. Taking part in the second stage will be two Russian and four international consortiums with the participation of Russian companies.

On September 18, concluded the first stage of the international competition for the development of areas adjacent to the Moscow River, organized by the Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow and commissioned by the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow. The international jury selected six consortiums that have successfully qualified and advanced to the second round. Among them are two Russian teams, and companies from Spain, China, the Netherlands and the USA.

Chairman of the jury, the Chief Architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov, at a press conference on September 19 announced the results of the qualifying stage and commented on the jury’s choice.

Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos Asociados (Spain); Russian partner — Citymakers. “In the Spanish company’s portfolio is one of the most important projects on coastal areas that was recently implemented in the world — Madrid Rio. It is noteworthy that the Russian partner — Citymakers — is already a member of the consortium that won the tender for the creation of Zaryadye Park. This confirms that contests involving mixed teams help young Russian companies to actively progress by collaborating with successful Western teams,” said the Chief Architect of Moscow.

Turenscape (China); Russian partner — Archpolis DSK-1. The Chinese company is known for high quality landscape design and project development of recreational areas, and a very serious regard for the environmental component of projects, notably in large-scale urban development projects. The Russian partner, Archpolis, has positively proven itself in a number of projects for the operational reprogramming of territories.

Maxwan Architects + Urbanists (Netherlands); Russian partner — Atrium architectural studio. Sergey Kuznetsov reminded that as a partner of TPO Reserve, the Dutch company advanced to the finals of the competition for the design of the International Financial Center in Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye.

Meganom (Russia) — one of Russia’s leading architectural studios, and an active participant in the project development of the ZIL territory.

Ostozhenka (Russia). In addition to the company’s extensive experience of working in Moscow, the jury noted its special attention to the development of the Moscow River in the competition for the concept of Moscow’s agglomeration.

SWA Group (USA) — an American team, less known in Russia than the other finalists, but the jury took into account its extensive experience in the implementation of integrated projects for the reorganization of territories around the world, including in China and Brazil.

The presence of a Russian partner in foreign consortiums was a prerequisite for participation in the competition. Sergey Kuznetsov believes that collaboration with experienced foreign architects gives impetus to the development of the domestic architecture school. An interdisciplinary composition of the consortiums was also required. Jury members noted the high quality of the submitted works. As a result of public discussion after heated arguments, the jury selected 10 teams and then by secret ballot of the jury members, 6 finalists were chosen out of the 10.

“For us it is crucial that the consortium that wins the competition will participate in the implementation of the concept all the way to the realization of the final product, — noted Sergey Kuznetsov, — so we opted for teams with experience so that they can cope with a task of this magnitude.”

The Deputy Director of the Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow, Marina Lepeshkina, told reporters about the further sequence of competition procedures.

On October 1, the orientation seminar for the 6 members of the 2nd round will be held. Then the teams will begin work. Up until December they will develop an overall concept of the territories in the zone of the river’s influence up to 2035. Particular attention should be given to the detailed design of embankments, in particular the expansion of their use by pedestrians (while maintaining vehicular traffic). The long-term development concept of the river will be implemented in stages, so the second part of the contest task includes a detailed study of the sites that will be implemented in the first place. This includes the nature and recreational area in the Stroginskaya floodplain, the district of the Moscow International Business Center (Moscow-City), including the existing buildings on the Krasnopresnenskaya and Taras Shevchenko embankments, as well as the ZIL factory territory (Technopolis). The winner will be announced in December at the Moscow Urban Forum.