The City Council of Perm, the planning commission, and members of the public gave their approval for a wHY-designed theater at the center of a major cultural revitalization initiative, led by the city’s mayor. The project will be a collaboration between wHY’s New York office and Buildings Workshop, and wHY’s Landscape Workshop, in order to generate a landmark for the emerging arts district.
Born in 1957 in Moscow, artist Nikolay Polissky creates impressive, handcrafted structures in the middle of Russia's vast landscapes. Mostly carried out in the town of Nikola Lenivets -- located 200 km from the Russian capital -- his works are built entirely by the area's residents, using local materials, such as branches, trunks and wooden tables. Traditional construction techniques are used as a starting point for the projects.
His work is inspiring not only because of its imposing form, but also because he managed to re-activate a semi-abandoned village through art and architecture, involving residents in the creative process and transforming the region into a sort of open cultural center. Since 2003, his work has been part of Archstoyanie, the largest Land-Art festival in Russia.
