Archinect - News

Jacques Herzog previews the Royal Academy exhibition with Christopher Hawthorne

2023-07-11T13:42:00-04:00

Actually, the reason we curate the shows ourselves is not because we want to control how people think, but quite the opposite. I don’t want to be too defensive. I’m not a moralist. If I would to try to control everything, I would have chosen the wrong job.

Back in May, Hawthorne met with Jacques Herzog at the opening of the Venice Biennale to discuss the upcoming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London as well as several prevailing industry trends that have impacted his firm’s size and projects in the United States and abroad. He says that, among other project types, “neglected” hospital design offers architects the most potential. The 73-year-old Herzog then offers some insights into the firm’s reluctance to work in Russia after last year, the limits of adaptive reuse, curation, and the perception of his counterpart's role as a firm leader vis-à-vis his own.

Previously on Archinect: Herzog & de Meuron’s first London exhibition in 20 years to be hosted by the Royal Academy of Arts

“Pierre has always organized the business, going back to when we were starting out. But it’s not fair to say that Pierre is the business guy and I’m the artist,” he tells the former LA Times critic. “Ideally, we look into projects together and we di...

Biden administration imposes 200% tariff on Russian aluminum imports

2023-03-01T11:55:00-05:00

The Biden administration issued another round of tariffs Friday on key industrial goods from Russia — including a 200% tariff on aluminum — as the country’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-year mark. Aluminum tariffs were announced in addition to $2.7 billion in new duties on many metals and raw materials from the country. The tariff rates on most metals and metal products will double from 35% to 70% beginning April, and target “a crucial revenue generating sector of the Russian economy”

Russia is behind China and India the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum and ranks fifth overall in terms of imports of the metal into the United States.

Architects and builders have only recently come out from under 25% steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on certain countries by the Trump administration for reasons of “national security” (e.g. economic protectionism).

The tariffs will go into effect on March 10th. White House officials also cited an increase in Russian aluminum imports through much of last year.

Cooper Union postpones Vkhutemas exhibition in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine

2023-01-26T17:11:00-05:00

An exhibition at The Cooper Union examining Vkhutemas has been postponed by the institution amidst criticisms relating to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Vkhutemas was a Soviet art and technical school that existed from 1920 to 1930. It was a pioneer in the field of art and design education in the Soviet Union, playing a significant role in shaping the aesthetic of early Soviet art and architecture.

In an op-ed published on Archinect last week, Peder Anker, a Professor in History at NYU, outlined his opposition to the show, which was to be staged in the Houghton Gallery, just steps away from the Ukrainian Village and several important cultural sites associated with the large Ukrainian diaspora group that resides in New York City.

Previously on Archinect: The Cooper Union Promotes Russian Architecture. Why?

The op-ed originally suggested that Anna Bokov, the show's curator, is engaging in Russian propaganda, with direct ties to Vladimir Putin through her father, Andrey Bokov, the Nationa...

'Putin's Palace' architect won't return to Italy to face trial for variety of financial crimes

2023-01-13T12:10:00-05:00

Lanfranco Cirillo, an Italian art collector who designed a mysterious 18,000 sq. m Black Sea mansion supposedly built for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be tried in absentia by an Italian court on financial charges next month. In an interview published by the ANSA news agency on Friday, the architect said that he currently resides in Moscow and claimed that an Interpol Red Notice effectively prevents him from returning to Italy to defend his name.

As reported by The Art Newspaper, Cirillo is being investigated for an array of crimes, including fraudulent tax returns, money laundering, the illegal transfer of funds, and for violating the code of protection of cultural heritage.

Last year, Italian officials raided Cirillo’s villa near Brescia for failing to pay a €50m tax bill, which resulted in the seizure of assets worth $144 million, including jewels, cash, and approximately 150 artworks by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Wassily Kandinsky.

Cirillo claims that he was advised not to travel to Italy because of an Interpol Red Notice request that calls for his arrest pending extradition. His trial is set to open on February 23rd.

Estimated cost of damage to Ukraine's infrastructure reaches $63 billion

2022-04-05T20:23:00-04:00

The cost of direct damage to Ukraine's infrastructure in the month since Russia invaded the country has reached $63 billion, according to an analysis from the Kyiv School of Economics.

The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) also reports that between the start of the invasion on February 24th through March 24th, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 schools, 138 healthcare institutions, 12 airports, and seven thermal power and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, destroyed, or seized. Ukrainian officials have reported that so far in April, Russian forces have destroyed the country’s only fully functioning oil refinery and have hit other critical infrastructure.

To calculate the cost of Ukraine’s damaged infrastructure, KSE researchers analyzed data submitted by civilians, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and local authorities. They also employed indirect methods, such as calculating the estimated area of war-damaged property in the most impacted cities.

The effects of the invasion are not only curtailing Ukraine but also Europe. Growing Euro...

War in Ukraine will bring long-term hurt to European construction

2022-04-01T12:16:00-04:00

Over one month since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the impacts of the war on Europe’s construction sector are beginning to emerge. Since the military offensive began, a steady increase in European sanctions against Russia has curtailed material supplies across the continent, while the uncertainty surrounding the supply of Russian oil and gas to Europe is expected to cause significant cost increases for manufacturing and supplying construction products.

Although the conflict has been ongoing for over a month, industry groups from Europe and the UK predict that the worst is yet to come for the AEC sector. The progressive nature of sanctions, the prior availability of products already in stockpiles or supply chains before the conflict began, and the tendency for manufacturers to agree on energy prices well in advance of supply, have all created a lag between events in Ukraine and their impact on construction sites.

“All projects are likely to be affected by issu...

AECOM pulls its operations from Russia in protest of Ukraine invasion

2022-03-07T15:14:00-05:00

One of the world’s largest engineering consultancies has joined the growing list of architecture firms ceasing activities in Russia in protest of the country's military invasion of Ukraine after AECOM announced it will be halting its operation in Russia effective immediately.

Speaking in a press release, AECOM said its goal was to “ensure the safety, security, and well-being of our teams throughout the region.” The firm indicated that the financial impacts resulting from their actions would be in the $40 to $50 million range limited to the second quarter of the fiscal year only. A $10 million total cash loss is expected as well. The firm currently employs about 350 workers across two separate offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

“We support the people of Ukraine who are facing tremendous suffering as a result of Russia’s unlawful invasion,” AEC...

New media crackdown in Russia forces censorship of open letter signed by country's architects and urban planners

2022-03-04T20:43:00-05:00

The open letter by architecture magazine Project Russia, which included over 6,500 signatures of Russian architects and urban planners opposing military strikes in Ukraine, has been removed and replaced.

The original text from their open letter, which can be found in Archinect's previous coverage, is now replaced with the image of Picasso's "Dove of Peace" and the following statement:

Here was a letter on behalf of the architects and urban planners of Russia, expressing their position on the current policy of our country from February 26, when it was published, until March 4, 2022, more than 6,500 people signed it.

Unfortunately, under the threat of criminal liability under the law that came into force today, we were forced to remove the text of the letter. We are for peace!

The magazine's now erased statement was a bold expression of revolt against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Posts from the magazine's Instagram and Facebook as well as the use of the "Нет войне!" (No war!) graphi...

Over 6,700 Russian architects and urban planners pen open letter decrying their country's war with Ukraine

2022-03-03T13:56:00-05:00

UPDATE, March 4th, 2022: New media crackdown in Russia forces censorship of open letter signed by country's architects and urban planners

A new missive in the architectural community’s fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been launched as this time, a group from inside the Federation has issued its own statement condemning the Kremlin for its purblind and illegal attempt at prosecuting a war.

The group published the letter in a magazine called Project Russia and boasts more than 6,790 signatories who collectively expressed frustration with their government’s “unacceptable” actions.

The letter was originally published on February 24th. The full text of the web-translated statement reads as follows:

An open letter from architects and urban planners of Russia against military operations in Ukraine

We, the architects and urban planners of Russia, consider the offensive of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine unacceptable. Foreign policy issues must be resolved exclusi...

Prominent architecture firms voice intent to suspend work in Russia as statements of solidarity with Ukraine continue

2022-03-02T17:50:00-05:00

As the walls of the international community begin to cave in on Vladimir Putin and his acolytes in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more prominent architecture and design firms have joined the effort to isolate Moscow from the rest of the world economically.

The past 24 hours saw the addition of David Chipperfield and Zaha Hadid Architects to the list of practices that includes BIG, UNStudio, MVRDV, Herzog & de Meuron, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Foster + Partners in either refusing to continue work on ongoing projects or issuing statements of solidarity which have resounded across the professional design world.

“As a practice, we are affected twofold. Our projects in Ukraine have sadly been put on hold by the atrocities,” began the statement published Monday by MVRDV. “Right after the start of the invasion, we began contacting our Ukrainian friends and partners in support, and we try to remain in touch. They are brave, and they are experiencing incredible hardship. We h...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has paused both countries' participation in the Venice Biennale… for now

2022-02-28T20:14:00-05:00

As Russian troops and tank convoys sweep into Ukraine from three sides, the future of its cultural contribution has also been cast in doubt after the announcement that the embattled country has, at least for now, placed a hold on all activities related to its pavilion from the 59th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

In a press statement released to the group’s Twitter account on Thursday, the team representing their country’s Pavilion planned for this April’s Biennale has announced the suspension of all activities related to the installation and exhibition until such time as the crisis within Ukraine’s borders can be resolved.

“At the moment this statement has been published, we are not in immediate danger, but the situation is critical and changes every minute,” part of the group’s statement read. “Presently, we are not able to work [on the] pavilion due to the risk to our lives.”

If you’d like to sign up under this statement, please leave your name in the comme...

Prominent Russian architectural school, Strelka Institute, suspends activities in protest of Ukraine invasion

2022-02-28T14:53:00-05:00

As casualties mount in Vladimir Putin's war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine, the prominent Moscow-based Strelka Institute for Media Architecture and Design has issued a statement condemning the loss of life and announcing that it has suspended all academic activities until further notice.

The 12-year-old institute, which in the past has contributed to the country’s design for the 2014 Venice Biennale, is amongst the most influential architecture schools in eastern Europe and now joins several other academic and cultural institutions inside Russia in expressing their opposition to what the government still insists on calling a “special military operation.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Strelka Institute (@strelka_institute)

Strelka's Director of Education Varvara Melnikova and Program Director of The Terraforming Benjamin Bratton also shared their views via social media, joining a chorus of protests that has extended into academia and other...

A historic McDonald's makeover in the heart of Moscow is Landini's latest innovative menu item

2022-01-12T17:00:00-05:00

One of the more underrated landmarks of 20th-century geopolitics has undergone a complete transformation into a mirrored elevation of the surrounding community thanks to the latest in a global series of innovative redesign projects from Landini Associates for McDonald’s.

To mark its 30th year of operation in the former Soviet capital of Moscow, McDonald’s asked the Australian-based firm to remake the historic Pushkin Square restaurant into a more modern and experimental space that would double as the company’s Russian flagship and the home of a special initiative called Project Ray.

Photography by Anton Voronkov

Named after founder Ray Kroc’s vision to create a respectful and quiet space for people to take a dignified break from the every day, the project’s brief has meant reimagining the restaurant as a service point in heavily trafficked urban environments in order to be more appealing to a millennial consumer base. This has brought new spaces from La...

Renzo Piano's reworked GES-2 House of Culture makes its much-awaited debut in Moscow

2021-12-08T14:50:00-05:00

After over six years of planning and construction, Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s colorful GES-2 House of Culture has officially opened its doors in Moscow.

Situated on the edge of Bolotnaya Square, Piano’s latest museum, once a former power station, is a testament to the old Soviet concept of culture houses that serve as versatile communal gathering spaces to promote arts, performance, learning, and civic engagement.

Image courtesy GES-2/Facebook

Done over in a vivid arctic white and meant as the permanent home to the V-A-C Foundation, the noted cultural designer’s careful effort to restore the disused early 20th-century structure has yielded a light-filled cavernous space that houses a theater, a large nave-like exhibition hall, and performances areas that are all also inundated with clean air taken in by a pair of distinct 70-meter high blue steel chimneys.

Kjartansson's sketch for his "living sculpture" installation. Image courtesy GES-2 via Facebook.

The 20,000-square-meter (215...

Hani Rashid is out as the Hermitage Museum's Moscow expansion architect as the development changes gears abruptly

2021-11-30T16:58:00-05:00

A row is developing in Russia after renowned designer Hani Rashid was rather abrasively let go from a contemporary expansion of the State Hermitage Museum in Moscow.

The Art Newspaper is reporting that the 63-year-old architect was “unceremoniously” dropped from the museum’s satellite project after not hearing from the city or developers LSR Group in over a year.

“We received all of the necessary approvals for this project, but we stopped hearing news from Moscow about a year ago, just when we were ready to pour the concrete,” Rashid told TAN’s Sophia Kishkovsky.

This marks the second time in four years that the architect has been removed from a cultural project in the Russian Federation. Rashid was previously involved in a Putin-backed scheme for a cultural center in Vladivostok that ultimately led to his resignation owing to an issue surrounding the financial house that was backing the development, which the U.S. government had sanctioned.

A rendering of Rashid's now-scrapped d...

UNStudio design selected as the winning proposal for Sochi Waterfront

2021-07-22T08:59:00-04:00

An inclusive master plan for the Sochi waterfront by UNStudio has been announced as the winner of an international competition that will reshape the resort community with its second major construction boom in the past decade. The studio beat out other submissions with a sprawling litoral intervention meant to transform Sochi into “a place for all.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

The former Olympics host is known throughout Russia as a coveted pearl on a chain of Black Sea resort towns tantamount to the Amalfi Coast or French Riviera. UNStudio’s intervention will aim to integrate existing cultural and leisure industry destinations into the development in the hopes of strengthening the city’s claims as a haven for tourists.

Renders: ZOA, UNStudio

Per the architect: “The goal of the city’s future development is to make Sochi the most progressive and international harbor for culture, technology, health, and innovation and to enrich the life of a local community and visitor...

Renderings are unveiled for what will become the world's northernmost contemporary art museum

2021-07-14T19:19:00-04:00

A former mall in central Russia is being converted into a museum as part of a larger $2 billion development project that will give the isolated Siberian city of Norilsk what could potentially be the northernmost contemporary arts facility in the world.

Images have been unveiled for the new Arctic Museum of Modern Art (AMMA), a new $40 million institution that will give new life to a defunct mall thanks to a city-wide cultural renewal initiative funded by a local nickel-producing magnate.

Russian architect Ilya Mukosey is behind the 8,500 square meter design meant as a new home for the collection of mostly regional art put together by Nornickel. The new museum will feature added exhibitions spaces, open storage, and a new above-ground entrance not common to the closed Arctic city. Mukosey is the creative director of a Russian-language online magazine Artplay Today and has his own practice founded in Moscow in 2019.

AMMA will be joined by another museum called MAMA as well as existi...

Scotland-based firm Kettle Collective unveils plan for world's second tallest tower in Russia

2021-05-27T16:07:00-04:00

Scottish architecture firm Kettle Collective has announced plans to build one of the world’s tallest buildings. The tower will be located in St. Petersburg, Russia and stand at 703 meters, making it the second tallest building in the world.

While shorter than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the 150-story Lakhta Center II will feature the highest occupied floor and viewing gallery of any building in the world at 590 meters. The tower will be located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg and will sit next to the Lakhta Center, Europe’s tallest building and the headquarters of Russian energy company Gazprom.

Design lead and Kettle Collective founder Tony Kettle was previously the design director for Edinburgh architecture practice RMJM and created the competition-winning design for the 462-meter-tall Lakhta Center. The project was later handed over to Russian architect GORPROJECT to complete.

Interview with the man who designed Putin's (allegedly) billion dollar palace

2021-02-28T14:42:00-05:00

Architecturally speaking, it’s not the biggest or best project I made. It’s nice neoclassicism – that’s what was asked for. As an architect, I build what the customer wants...But aesthetically speaking, it is very correct considering historical proportions. It is not kitsch...It's not overdone, but naturally it is rich, as it was supposed to be. And we used fantastic materials. I was proud of my job.

Christian Esch chatted with Lanfranco Cirillo an architect who has spent decades providing Moscow’s super rich with villas and Italian-inspired designs.

Moscow design team transforms former movie house into a technological hub for business and innovation

2020-02-18T03:30:00-05:00

In 1977, the movie house, Novorossiysk, was constructed. During the 80's cinema clubs, lectures, and film festivals used the site to meet and showcase film. Here Muscovites (Moscow residents) had the opportunity to watch the films of Takeshi Kitano, Michael Haneke, Lars von Trier, and other foreign directors for the first time. Eventually, in the 1990s, the area became a platform for business development, business communication, training, and work.

Novorossiysk movie house before rennovation. Image courtesy of DBH, Moscow Agency of Innovations

After a significant renovation in 2017, the building turned into the Digital Business Space. The site's facade, interiors, and technical equipment were updated to reflect the area. The space was divided into different zones (foyers, classrooms, offices, digital workshops) where exhibitions, presentations, and lectures could be held. With the entire reconstruction cost close to $15 million the space became a new place for Moscow's business and ...

wHY's new opera and ballet theater in Russia mimics the movement of dance and music

2020-02-07T18:02:00-05:00

wHY received approval from the city of Perm, Russa on the design of the new Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theater last month. Located at the heart of the city, the new building aims to become a focal point for the growing arts district along the Kama River. Accompanied by a new park, the development sits at the center of a cultural revitalization initiative spearheaded by the city's mayor, Dmitry Samoilov.

"Our goal is to create a new cultural landmark and an international destination for Perm and Russia, with a space that reflects the dynamism and creativity of the performances held within," said Andrija Stojic, director of wHY's New York office and Buildings Workshop. "I believe that music acts as a bridge between past and future: our design will embrace the history and local culture of Perm, while providing the world-class building that the Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet deserves to have."

The design challenges the typical theater typology that favors a closed-off, secluded...

The Garage Screen summer movie theater is now open, but for a limited time

2019-06-25T16:13:00-04:00

Russian firm Syndicate Architecture Bureau won an architectural competition organized by the Garage Museum and Strelka KB to design a temporary summer movie theater space in Moscow's Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure.

Aerial view of Garage Screen summer movie theater. Photo by Iwan Baan.

The design is a palpable contrast: while the lightweight material palette of the structure hints at its own temporality, its pyramidal profile makes it appear as though it will be standing well after its intended purpose has been fulfilled. The architects intended for the design to be "a self-sufficient central object" in the plaza, with a glowing, iridescent skin that changes appearance throughout the day.

Top of Garage Screen summer movie theater. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Garage Screen was launched in 2012 to show museum goers the best of Russian and international filmmaking, including documentary, experimental, and feature films. Garage Museum was founded in 11 year ago by Dasha Zhukova and Roma...

Russian production studio creates dramatic photo manipulations of local city centers

2019-06-14T15:56:00-04:00

Architecture is often subject to photo manipulation, especially as it has been made easier through increasingly sophisticated imaging software. The most recent set of examples that we have come across are the creations of Russian production studio Lestnica.

Headed by Artem Prudentov, the photographs are of Russian cities from imagined perspectives with dizzying realism. Most of the photographs in the series have a single, unaltered architectural focus which greatly contrasts the elastic world around it. Each image the product of several hours of labor and made up of several photographs, but the high quality of the final products make the process more than worth the effort.

Lestnica adopted a style of photo manipulation akin to that of previously featured Turkish photographer Aydın Büyüktaş.

Soviet architecture is the star of a new immersive indie video game called It's Winter

2019-03-14T21:15:00-04:00

It’s nighttime and you find yourself in a small, dark flat in a nondescript suburb in Russia. You look out of the window and see the courtyard covered in snow, illuminated by street lamps and the cold neon glare of storefronts. You turn on the light switch and look around your apartment. This is the melancholy start of a new immersive game made by developer Alexander Ignatov and poet Ilia Mazo.

The setting and landscapes of video game worlds add to the overall gaming experience, particularly free roaming games. Called a "sandbox" in the gaming community, the mission-less free to roam game allows the player to wander throughout the virtual world. Without a plot or mission to accomplish, gamers are allowed to do everything and nothing in the game It's Winter. Left with very little to dictate gameplay, the immersive gaming experience created by developer Alexander Ignatov and poet Ilia Mazo immerses players into a mundane suburban Russian tower block.

According to the developer the "post-Soviet and sad 3D game" has nothing awaiting the player. "There is no chance to get out, no room for adventures, nor a breathtaking plot.” All you have to do is experience the precisely detailed, pixelated mundanity of the world around you." The only thing players are left with, however, are the detailed building interiors a...

Lakhta Center, Europe's new tallest skyscraper, now officially commissioned

2018-10-19T20:10:00-04:00

Local officials in Saint Petersburg, Russia have granted the RMJM-designed Lakhta Center Multifunctional Complex the authorization for commissioning of the facility after it passed final inspections this week.

While the grand opening as Gazprom's new HQ is still another year out, the 462-meter/1,516-foot tower is already holding the title of Europe's tallest building, the world's northernmost skyscraper, and sporting the fastest elevators in Russia (wheee!).

Photo: Anton Galakhov

The list of remaining tasks before the Center can officially open to the public is still quite impressive, as the announcement lays out:

"The final preparation of the business and public space by operators and tenants will take at least a year: completion of the finishing, fit-out of the premises, installation of equipment and improvement works.

"In the meantime the following will be prepared for reception of visitors: the highest panoramic restaurant in Europe at the level of 315 meters and a sky deck at...

Russia cancels plans for ambitious NCCA museum in Moscow due to lack of funding

2018-09-26T18:13:00-04:00

Russian officials have abandoned a flagship project to build of a new State Center for Contemporary Arts in Moscow. [...] the head of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (ROSIZO-NCCA), Sergey Perov, revealed to the Art Newspaper Russia earlier this month that the project had been officially scrapped due to a lack of funding. He said the government had been unable to find the 16 billion rubles ($240 million) needed to back the project.

Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects had originally emerged as the final winner of the international competition for Moscow’s new National Center for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) back in 2013.

Image/Visualization by Luxigon

Russia's historic wooden airports are still in use today

2018-09-12T14:47:00-04:00

This is the era of the glass and steel airport. As if made from the same mold, shiny, glittering terminals have become a status symbol for any city with aspirations. But all of this is a world away from the remoteness of Russia's Arctic regions and the Siberian wilderness [...] built in the mid-20th century when the Soviet Union saw in air transport a way to expand the state's reach to every corner of its territory, even if that meant little more than a dirt runway and a radio shack.

A collection of Russia's historic wooden airports are the antithesis of our current experience of most urban airports. Rather than immense glass and steel constructions, these old structures are made of simplistic wooden designs.

While many may look dilapidated, several are still in operation with regular airline service. Take a look at some of these unique transportation hubs below:

Mar-Kyuyel' Airport, located in Russia's Far East. Image: Russian Platinum.

Solovki Airport, located near Russia's Solovetsky Islands. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Seymchan Airport, located in Magadan Oblast, Russia. Image: Sever.Aero.

Mezen Airport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Image: Shutterstock.

Check out the full collection of Russia's wooden airports here.

Putin pushes for strategic art museum complex in annexed Crimea

2018-09-07T18:07:00-04:00

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has ordered officials to speed up the construction of a cultural centre in Sevastopol, the historic naval capital of Crimea, which will include exhibition space for the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In May this year, Putin inaugurated a $7.5bn bridge to link the Crimean city of Kerch with the Russian mainland.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Moscow park sparks wild urbanism on another level

2018-08-24T13:58:00-04:00

As Moscow’s Zaryadye Park approaches its first birthday next month, the city’s chief architect, Sergei Kuznetsov, is defending the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed green space for an unexpected feature: its aphrodisiacal properties. Just a stone’s throw from the Kremlin, the firm’s carefully crafted experiment in “wild urbanism” has lived up to its billing, apparently, becoming something of a hotbed for outdoor lovemaking.

Moscow's one year old $245 million public park by Diller Scofidio + Renfro was meant to bring freedom of exploration and a feeling of comfort within the urban setting. The space provides visitors with an amphitheater, flora-covered terraces, green spaces with views of the city, and a 230 foot walkway over the Moscow river. The public space has also seen a high number of couples caught on park cameras having sex. "Wild urbanism" indeed.

Charles Renfro exclaims, “I love this! What freedom our park has brought to Moscow, and what tolerance it seems to be engendering from the authorities.”

Authorship dispute erupts over Europe's tallest skyscraper in St. Petersburg

2018-08-08T15:57:00-04:00

A row has broken out between former RMJM international group design director Tony Kettle and a Russian architect over who designed Europe’s new tallest building – an 87-storey skyscraper near St Petersburg. Staff at Moscow-based firm Gorproject have accused Scottish practice The Kettle Collective of trying to claim ‘authorship’ over energy giant Gazprom’s mammoth tower, currently nearing completion on the Gulf of Finland.

As Europe's tallest skyscraper nears completion, a dispute has erupted over the authorship of the completed project. The Moscow-based firm Gorproject claims design authorship over the Lakhta Center, while Tony Kettle claims the delivered design is his concept while working at RMJM. Letters on the issue were sent to the RIBA, the RIAS, and the Union of Architects of Russia. A statement from the client, Gazprom, asserts the design was RMJM’s original 2011 concept with Tony Kettle as design director.