The new building of the theater named after G.Kamal will have “a shape inspired by the Tatar soul”

The results of the international competition for the development of the architectural concept of the Tatar State Academic Theater named after G. Kamal were summed up in Kazan. Today, the Mayor of the city Ilsur Metshin, chair of the jury, announced the name of the winner at a press conference at the Kazan Kremlin. The jury also included Tatarstan Minister of Culture Irada Ayupova, Aide to Tatarstan President Natalia Fishman-Bekmambetova, chief architect of Kazan Ilsiyar Tukhvatullina, chief director of the theater Farid Bikchantayev, founder of Archdaily.com David Basulto, chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov and others.

The project of the consortium of the Wowhaus company (Moscow), which included the Kengo Kuma & Associates from Japan, the German company Werner Sobek AG and the Kazan “PTM of architect Bakulin Herman Alekseevich”, won by a majority of votes.

“The strongest teams came to Kazan to translate their projects into reality”, - Ilsur Metshin said.

The authors of the project said that the geometry of the new theater echoes a rare natural phenomenon - ice flowers. “In winter, the building will merge with the environment and become part of the appearance of the lake. In summer, unity with the nature of the location will be ensured due to the multifaceted reflection of transparent fronts in the water surface”, - said Kengo Kuma, a designer from Japan.

He noted that the new building was designed taking into account the topography of the location, as a park with walking routes and recreational areas integrated into the embankment of Lake Nizhny Kaban. “A shape inspired by the Tatar soul: sharp/closed on the outside and soft/welcoming on the inside. The lighting concept is to light up the warm interior of the foyer and gradually dissolve the light with triangular front panels. The bright ornamental decoration of the panels in the interior refers to traditional Tatar goods and creates a cozy atmosphere”, - he emphasized.

The new theater building will be located on the embankment of Lake Nizhny Kaban, at the intersection of Khadi Taktash and Nazarbayev streets.

The present building will also be involved in the theatrical life of the city. Irada Ayupova, Tatarstan Minister of Culture, noted that during the construction period, the theater would continue its work in the same place.

The prizewinners of the international competition were also named at the press conference. The project of the Bespoke Company from Kazan - the consortium members are companies Asif Khan (UK), Charcoalblue, AKTII and Atelier Ten- took the second place. The third place was awarded to the concept developed by Metropolis LLC, the consortium included the Austrian company Coop Himmelblau Wolf D. Prix & Partners and Myriad group.

For reference, the competition started on July 23, 2021. On October 12, the jury members reviewed applications from 26 consortia and 13 individual contestants from 14 countries and selected eight teams. On the eve, finalists from Kazan, Glasgow, Barcelona, London, Moscow, Paris, Shanghai and Stuttgart presented their projects to the jury.