Moscow: The Latest Architecture and News

Despite severe corrosion, with almost 70% of one its six sections “thoroughly corroded” according to the government, Vladimir Shukhov’s 1922 radio tower has never been restored. Earlier this year, a large group of international architects petitioned the government to save the tower, one of only 20 or so of Shukhov’s 200 towers still standing in Russia. Now Moscow’s government has put the fate of the landmark tower to a public vote.

Until July 6 Moscovites can use the “Engaged Citizen” app to support one of four actions: hold an open competition to restore the tower, move the tower to a new location, move it to its historic location on Shabolovka street, or invent a new solution.

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A study conducted by Emporis, the international provider of building data, has revealed that Moscow is set to retain its title as the skyscraper capital of Europe. Already home to 4 of Europe's top 5 - including the Mercury City Tower, Europe's current tallest at 338m - Moscow is also home to 6 of the 10 tallest European Buildings under construction. Three of these buildings will also surpass the height of the Mercury City Tower.

However, despite having the greatest concentration of supertall buildings, Moscow is set to lose its crown for the tallest building in Europe to St Petersburg, with the 463m Lakhta Center due for completion in 2018. Also making the top 10 list with 3 buildings being constructed over 250m is Istanbul. You can see the full top 10 list after the break.

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Chief Architect of Moscow Sergei Kuznetsov yesterday announced MVRDV as the winners in the competition for the refurbishment of the Serp & Molot (Hammer & Sickle) factory in Eastern Moscow. The design by MVRDV is respectful of the history of the 19th-century steel factory, reinterpreting the existing fabric of the site into 1.8 million square meters of mixed-use space, including housing, offices, retail, schools and a local hospital.

Read on after the break for more project description

This year ARCH MOSCOW is held within the 4^th Moscow Biennale Architecture. The Biennale fully reflects the latest architectural trends and promotes technical innovations, stylistic researches and experimentation in the field of design ideas. The best examples of domestic and foreign architectural achievements are displayed and the principles of development of the quality architectural environment are professionally discussed. Traditionally, ARCH MOSCOW is the best platform for establishing business contacts in the field of architecture, development and construction.

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The Strelka Institute, Moscow’s most innovative school for architecture and urbanism, "might be soon forced to leave its current venue in the heart of the Russian capital" due to proposed redevelopment of the area. Faced by the threat of this possibility, the school formed a competition in order to collect ideas for the relocation. The winning proposal, developed by Squadra Komanda, proposes a "visionary program of development for the disputed and immense architectural legacy from the late-Soviet period."

Late Soviet architecture constitutes "almost two third of all buildings in Moscow." As it represents "an unpleasant reminder of the recent past," many Russians dislike this kind of building. As a result, the Strelka Unsettled, with the possibility for collaboration with the outdated cultural institutions hosted inside the building of the All Russian State Library for Foreign Literature (built in 1966), seeks to offer new scenarios for this "neglected kind of architecture."

Three teams have been chosen to advance in the third and final round of a competition to masterplan the new International Financial Center (IFC) in "New Moscow." Once complete, the 460 hectare mixed-use development will add offices, housing and hotels, as well as commercial and social infrastructure to the area of Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye. The finalists are...

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UPDATE: The ArchCouncil of Moscow reports that the Melnikov House has been listed as a cultural heritage site of federal value, an important step in its conservation. The following article first appeared on ArchDaily on April 23rd, 2013.

Peter Eisenman, Steven Holl, and Rem Koolhaas are among the many architects who have signed a letter pleading for the preservation of one of Konstantin Melnikov’s greatest works, the Melnikov House. As we reported in December of 2012, the Melnikov’s house 83-year old foundations have weakened considerably since the onset of neighboring construction. Unfortunately, the situation has only worsened “significantly” over the last few months.

Read more about the state of the Melnikov House, and what architects are doing to try and prevent its deterioration, after the break...

Tadao Ando, Elizabeth Diller, Rem Koolhaas and Thom Mayne are among the many signing a petition to urge Russian president Vladimir V. Putin to reconsider the fate of the neglected Shabolovka Radio Tower (Shukhov Tower), “a structure of dazzling brilliance and great historical importance,” as Norman Foster once described. Designed by Vladimir Shukhov and completed in 1922, the 160-meter hyperboloid structure is a 20th-century engineering feat that has served as a landmark of modernist architecture.

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