Strelka: The Latest Architecture and News

On the 24th of February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis and armed conflict in this century, so far, this war has mobilized people across the world in order to exert pressure on authorities and put a stop to the armed hostilities. Individuals, as well as institutions in the architectural field, have taken part in these acts of solidarity, issuing statements, condemning actions, and even halting their work in Russia. From the UIA to MVRDV to Russian Institutions such as Strelka, the architecture world is denouncing the acts of violence and supporting an immediate cease of fire.

Landscape architects and urban planning team LandLAB was selected as the winner of the international competition for the seafront promenade development in Sirius federal territory. The New Zealand-based team was chosen among 68 practices and 48 countries for offering the most "efficient use of the limited space available and respecting the distinctive features of the area". The winning proposal blends the Olympic heritage with the landscape, and transforms the area into a dynamic interface that provides a stimulating environment for residents and visitors.

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St. Petersburg-based Rhizome has won the competition to reimagine the Dostoevsky drama theater in Veliky Novgorod, Russia. The renovation design aims to enhance the theater's iconic features and make room for a range of new cultural functions and programming. The idea is to transform the theater into a cultural cluster for locals and the tourists alike while highlighting the value of late 20th century modernist architecture.

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The results of the International Competition for the Architectural Landscape Design Concept for the Tuchkov Buyan Park were just revealed. The proposal by Studio 44 in consortium with WEST 8 won the first place, JV Vogt in consortium with Herzog & de Meuron won the second place while AB CHVOYA in consortium with KARAVAN landskapsarkitekter took the third position.

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With a presentation by Dutch architect Winy Maas (MVRDV), the third edition of "Living Environment," organized by Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector, DOM.RF and Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, was inaugurated today in the city of Kaliningrad, Russia. Also participating on the opening day are Martin Sobota (Holland), Elliot Eisenberg (United States), and Brian Mark Evans (United Kingdom).

Moscow welcomed its first new park in 50 years with the opening Zaryadye Park in mid-September. Designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Citymakers and Hargreaves Associates, this new public space has been a big draw for Muscovites, with over a million people visiting in the first weeks since its inauguration.

The park has become one of the most important contemporary spaces in Moscow, exhibiting high-quality infrastructure and landscapes, as well as extraordinary views to the Kremlin and the Red Square.

The New Normal, a three year-long educational programme at Moscow's Strelka Institute of Architecture, Media and Design, is focused on "the opportunities posed by emerging technologies for interdisciplinary design practices." In this short essay, taken from a new book of the same name, course director Benjamin Bratton lays out the thesis behind the project.

Something has shifted, it seems. We are making new worlds faster than we can keep track of them, and the pace is unlikely to slow. If our technologies have advanced beyond our ability to conceptualize their implications, such gaps can be perilous. In response, one impulse is to pull the emergency brake and to try put all the genies back in all the bottles. This is ill-advised (and hopeless).

Better instead to invest in emergence, in contingency: to map the new normal for what it is, and to shape it toward what it should be.

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Three finalists have been selected for the Tel Aviv University Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Center Design Competition.

The competition called for designs to meet scientific needs and establish an identity befitting the local context of the city of Tel Aviv and the University campus. Thus, the three finalists created a balance between technical requirements and soft program elements like office and public space, presenting proposals for a center that acts "as an effective facilitator in the dialogue between modern science, Tel Aviv University, and the general public," according to a press release.