Date
Author
Юлия ТАРАБАРИНА; Агентство Архитектурных Новостей Архи Ру
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Aptitude test
On November 8, the laureates of the X Biennale, the most representative and popular architectural exhibition in the world, were named in Venice. This year, contrary to tradition, it was decided to award the laureates not before the opening of the exhibition, but before its completion. The jury’s decision was made in unison with the theme of the exhibition “Cities: Architecture and Society”: the most socially responsible projects and examples of well-planned improvement of life in cities were selected. The main “Golden Lion” was awarded to an exhibition highlighting the struggle of Danish specialists for the environmental purity of Chinese cities. The "Golden Lion - Cities Award" was awarded to representatives of the Colombian capital Bogota. Over the past decades, this city has solved many problems in the field of housing construction and taken an innovative approach to the transport system. Restricting the use of cars in the city resulted in an increase in free space for residents, the streets became more pleasing to the eye, and the reforms carried out were also economically beneficial and socially beneficial for the population. Bogota, according to the jury, is a beacon of hope for other cities in the world, both rich and poor. Social housing from Mexico City and low-income housing from India were awarded. Art serves usefulness and strength, and this is good, although among the pragmatics of good deeds there is almost no place left for the beauty that we usually associate with the concept of art. Except that an additional “Lion” was awarded to the Japan pavilion, in the center of which there was a wicker hut with a small gilded square entrance. You had to crawl into the pavilion on all fours to see the works of Teronobu Fujimori, dedicated to looking at roadside “architecture without an architect” in search of global features that unite all of humanity.
The next day, the results of the ARX awards, established by the new architecture magazine ARX, were announced in Moscow. Successful and mature Moscow architects, the cream of the Russian architectural society, once again appeared as laureates. Totan Kuzembaev received two prizes at once, and for the same building, the wooden “Yacht Office” - for the building in general and for its structural design. In the process of preparing the award, he also won a competition to design the “Titanium ARX” sign awarded to the winner, making it in the form of a construction plumb line. The second most important award for the best project was awarded to Sergei Skuratov for the house in Tessinsky Lane, a subtle and beautiful architectural reflection on the peculiarities of the Moscow architectural environment. Long windows, brick walls with a gradual change in tone, the play of inclined lines of walls and roofs - this is a poetic stylization on the theme of an old factory building, in which lofts are now made, - the poetry expert Evgeniy Ass noted and appreciated the poetry. American expert Vinka Dubbledam named Dmitry Alexandrov's project for Crete as the best experimental project: a village delicately and beautifully integrated into the mountainous landscape of the seaside slope, the buildings of which will be literally screwed into the rock, which will preserve most of the natural environment. A very environmentally friendly project for the development of the southern slope of the Ufa Peninsula also won in the “Urban Planning” category; among the interiors, the metro and the railway terminal of Vnukovo Airport were chosen, and the best structural detail was the ceiling of the Nodar Kancheli skating stadium.