In the 20th century, it was going to be the site of the world's tallest skyscraper, but it became the world's largest hotel. In 2006, the hotel was replaced with a fence, the largest advertising space in all of Europe, enclosing acres of undeveloped, highly valuable land. In 2014, it will become Moscow's first - and most important - park in over 50 years.
Zaryadye Park, located on 13 acres of land just a minute's walk from the Kremlin and the Red Square, will become a gateway to Moscow, one that will "project a new image of Moscow and Russia to the world." Because of the Park's significance, the city of Moscow (with aid from the Strelka Institute for Media Architecture and Design) has decided to host an international competition for its re-design.
The 6 finalists shortlisted for this significant project, after the break...
According to the competition brief, Zaryadye Park will "Due to its exceptional location, [...] become an open-air museum of sorts, where the permanent exhibition on show is the city itself. The buildings immediately surrounding the park area reflect the full spectrum of Russian architecture from the 16th to 20th centuries: a life-size exhibition against a green backdrop. The park will operate as an introduction to Moscow — a place to discover what the city is really about; the place where the city infects you with its energy."
The Shorlisted Finalists are:
- Diller Scofidio + Renfro (USA)
- Gustafson Porter (UK)
- MVRDV (the Netherlands)
- TPO RESERVE, MAXWAN, Buro Happold en Latz + Partner (Russia)
- Turenscape (China)
- West 8 + BERNASKONI (the Netherlands & Russia)
The jury panel consists of leading experts from all over the world, including:
- Alexander Kibovsky, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow.
- Antoni Vives i Tomas, deputy mayor of Urban Habitat for the city of Barcelona.
- Anton Kulbachevsky, Head of the Department for Environmental Management and Protection of Moscow.
- Gaëtan Royer, Canadian author, architect and urban planner.
- Heather Deal, Councillor with the City of Vancouver, Biologist, and environmental educator.
- Keith Kerr, Chairman and CEO of Swire Properties in Hong Kong.
- Ken Smith, Professor and Founder of Ken Smith Landscape Architects.
- Martha Schwartz, Head of Martha Schwartz Partners (UK), Professor In Practice at The Harvard. Graduate School of Design, Landscape architect and artist.
- Martha Thorne, Associate Dean for External Relations at IE School of Architecture & Design and Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize since 2005.
- Mikhail Posokhin, Head of State Unitary Enterprise “Mosproject-2”.
- Natalya Sergunina, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Property and Land Relations.
- Peter Walker, Landscape architect, Principal of The SWA Group, director of Urban Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
- Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, Co-Chair of Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University (The Netherlands / USA), author.
- Sergei Kapkov, Head of the Department of Culture of Moscow.
- Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow and First Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Urban Development.
- Yury Grigoryan, Professor of Architecture, Head of “Project Meganom” Architectural Bureau.
Competition schedule:
1 July – 27 September: Shortlisted candidates developing their projects.
1 November – 12 November: Winner to be selected.
More information available at Zaryadye Park's website
