An international jury has selected Capital Cities Planning Group (CCPG), an Anglo-American team including Gillespies, John Thompson & Partners and Buro Happold, as winners for the design and planning of the new Federal District in Moscow.
Earlier this year, the Russian Federal Government announced that it was doubling the territory of Moscow to enable it to grow into a competitive 21st century world capital. In response, Genplan, Moscow’s city planner, earmarked an area of 155km2 to the south-west of the city for a new Federal Government Centre, aiming to relieve inner-city congestion through the relocation of the capital’s major employer. Ten international teams were invited to develop strategies and designs for the region during a six month, three stage competition. Continue reading to learn more.
CCPG’s winning proposal calls for a new ‘City in the Forest’ for 1.7 million people, providing 800,000 new jobs with a focus around the ‘Triple Helix of Government, Education and Business’. The new layout reconfigures the 155 km2 territory for the district and looks to create an integrated, properly-planned urban hierarchy served by a transit-orientated movement system.
The design features a new mixed-use capital district configured around a series of lakes designed by the UK Landscape Design Practice Gillespies. Brian Evans, partner in charge of Gillespies Glasgow Office, who led the British side of the team said: “We are all knocked out by this recognition for our work on the world stage. It seems that our design to use the natural topography of the site to create a series of lakes as the setting for the new Federal District was one of the key factors in the jury’s mind when they appraised the different proposals”.
John Thompson, Chair of John Thompson & Partners & Honorary President of the Academy of Urbanism, said: “We are delighted that our team has won the competition for the design of the new Federal District, bringing together international best practice to create a model for the further expansion of Moscow through the creation of a properly serviced, zero-carbon, transit orientated urban hierarchy set within a forest and lakeside landscape.” Additionally, the jury has awarded Antoine Grumbach & Jean-Michel Wilmotte of Paris for the overall planning of Moscow.
The jury was headed by Deputy Mayor of Moscow Marat Khusnullin. The panel also includes the president of the Union of Architects of Russia Andrey Bokov, Dean of the Graduate School of Urban University “Higher School of Economics” Alexander Vysokovsky, Spanish urbanist Alfonso Vegard, curator of the “Greater Paris” Maurice Leroy, Advisor to the Minister of Transportation and Vuk Vuchik member of the Berlin Chamber of Architects Hildebrand Mahlyaydt.
The Capital Cities Planning Group are:
- Urban Design Associates, Pittsburgh (USA)
- Beasley & Associates, Vancouver (Canada)
- Gillespies, Glasgow, (UK)
- John Thompson & Partners, London (UK)
- Nelson Nygaard, San Francisco, (USA)
- Buro Happold, Glasgow (UK)
- Group Ark, Moscow (Russia)
- Solving Efeso, Abu Dhabi (UAE)
- Prof Stuart Gulliver, University of Glasgow (UK)
The 10 teams competing were:
- Ostozhenka (Russia)
- Architectural design workshop Prof. AA Chernikhov (Russia)
- Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy) (Russia)
- TSNIIP urban (Russia)
- MARCHI (Russia)
- Antoine Grumbach et Associes/Jean-Michel Wilmotte et Associes (France), LAUC (France)
- OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture (Netherlands)
- Ricardo Bofill (Spain)
- Studio ASS SECCHI – VIGANO (Italy)
- Capital Cities Planning Group – Urban Design Associates (US/UK)
