In Moscow, a circus is reconstructed on Vernadsky Avenue. It will be turned into a "multifunctional platform of the LifeSTyle format"

Moskomarchitecture announced a competition for the development of the architectural concept of the new Moscow Circus building on Vernadsky Avenue, Interfax reports with reference to the press service of the department.

The chief architect of Moscow Sergei Kuznetsov said that the main idea of ​​the competition is “to turn the circus into a multifunctional platform of the Lifestyle format, where people can spend all day, and not just a couple of hours.”

According to him, it will be a "cultural center with various educational and entertainment programs."

According to the technical assignment, the area of ​​the updated complex will be about 80 thousand square meters: 60 thousand - ground, 20 thousand - underground. He will accommodate five thousand spectators. It is also assumed to create a public zone for 22.5 thousand square meters, a catering zone for 1.3 thousand square meters, animal zones for five thousand square meters, as well as the zones of maintenance of a show for 30 thousand square meters, including the stage, rooms for artists and workshops.

Kuznetsov believes that the need for the reconstruction of the circus “rushed for a long time”, since “its technical and functional component is outdated”. He emphasized that at present the conditions for the detention of animals, the premises of artists and the process of preparing the show themselves “do not meet modern standards to the proper extent, and completely different ideas about the comfort of the audience”.

The art critic Ksenia Korobeinikova in her telegram channel suggested that the old circus building would be demolished. She recalled that the current building - “a masterpiece of Soviet modernism, Yakov Belopolsky and Efim Vulykh,” and “their architectural focus - a folded umbrella soaring over glass walls - became one of the architectural symbols of the capital.”

“Moskomarchitecture announced a competition for a new project. How do they want to shove something 30 times the current circus on that piece of land and what to place in it? Not only arena and aviaries with predators, probably still premises for business? ” She noted.

• The Big Moscow circus on Vernadsky Avenue was opened at the intersection of Vernadsky Avenue with Lomonosovsky Prospekt in 1971. The area of ​​the building is three thousand square meters and accommodates 3.4 thousand spectators. In 2017, the circus was transferred from federal ownership in Moscow. Interfax recalls that shortly before that, the director of the circus, Edgard Zapashny, after a series of work at the facility, stated that about 10 billion rubles were needed to complete the reconstruction of the circus.