I.Metshin: “We will implement a project on the right bank of the Kazanka River that will decorate the city for many years”

Today, the winners of the International architectural competition for the best concept for the development of the right bank of the Kazanka River were named at the Kazan City Hall. The jury awarded the second and third places to six projects. It was decided not to award the first place. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, noted at a press conference that the competition allowed setting a high bar.

One hundred eighty-eight applications were submitted for participation in the competition. Fifty projects from 19 countries reached the final. Out of these, 27 were designed by architectural bureaus of 11 regions of Russia, 21-by foreign ones, and 2 more projects were developed by mixed Russian-foreign teams.

“There was a very intensive discussion. It is worth a lot to gather such a large number of respected experts together. It was a great pleasure to communicate with them. Now we have to implement a project that will decorate the city for many years. We have heard the opinions of professionals in various fields. It took some time to delve into all the details. It was very important for us that the proposed ideas fit into our concept of the development of Kazanka and future park here”, - said Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, chair of the jury of the competition.

According to I.Metshin, each of the projects has unique details, so it was difficult for the jury to come to a common opinion. He also reminded that under the terms of the competition, participants share their ideas, but the investor have a right to combine several ideas together to develop a final version.

The second place was awarded to the architectural bureau DUERIG AG from Zurich, the design studio Borgos Pieper, which is represented by architects from Spain and England, as well as the Architectural Workshop Old Kazan from the capital of Tatarstan (designers - Pavel Tinyaev, Elena Kornilova, Lilya Zakieva, Milyausha Fattakhova, Rafael Safiullin).

Three third places were awarded to the consortium GPC-PHOSPHORIS from Russia and France, the consortium LAMPA community RU (Kate Kuznetsova, Anastasia Nudina, Alexander Sokolov, Artem Solovev, Anna Demidova), p.m. (personal message) RU / ECU, OBSERVATORY NL, which brought together specialists from the Netherlands, Ecuador and Russia and team of architects from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“It is very pleasant that there are representatives of Kazan among the prize-winners. I am happy that our guys entered the top”, - the Mayor said.

The jury paid attention not only to the functionality of the projects, but also to the appearance. The participants of the competition had to create an architectural ensemble that harmoniously fits into the panorama of the Kazanka water area. The design supposed to reflect the cultural characteristics of the region and not interfere with the visual perception of the ensemble of the Kazan Kremlin. The total amount of the prize fund was 8.1 million rubles.

According to Sergei Skuratov, a member of the Moscow Architectural Council, the participants had to work with one of the most challenging and interesting places in the city. He noted that the decision not to award the first place was made since it was a contest of ideas and many works needed further development.

For reference, the participants of the competition had to create a concept for the development of the territory with a total area of 8.9 hectares, bounded by S.Khakima Street, the territory of the Riviera hotel complex, the Kazanka water area and the future park.