Today is the Question!

Ilia Mukosey about the new building of the Museum of Contemporary Art "Garage" - designed by Rem Koolhaas

Written by:
Ilya Mukosei
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

12 June 2015

View

“Conservation was invented at the same time with modernism”
Rem Koolhaas

On Wednesday, June 10, there was held the presentation of the new building of the museum of contemporary art "Garage" that is now open to visitors.

On the outside, the building indeed looks absolutely new - this is an ascetic parallelepiped clad into panels of cellular polycarbonate with an only "slit" window that actually stretches from the long side of the facade onto the short one. The semitransparent material delicately reflects the sky and the surrounding park, at the same time, without making any attempts at mimicry. This is something like the box of the Little Prince from the book by Saint-Exupéry that allows for placing any kind of exposition inside - and what solution can fit the needs of a museum of contemporary art better? The polycarbonate panel elevated over the main entrance gives the building's silhouette a little more variety, and enhances the image of the technological shell that provides for the inside microclimate perfect in every respect.

From under the panel, there shows up a huge, more than nine-meter tall, picture by Eric Bulatov named "Everybody Welcome to Our Garage!" (according to Snezhana Krsteva, the exhibition curator, this is the largest canvas ever painted in Russia since "The Appearance of the Messiah to the People" by A.Ivanov), a cheerful-looking and life-affirming billboard in the spirit of the twenties "Growth Windows" that lifts before the side observer the veil over the contents of the mystery box. Probably, this is the impression that "Garage" is meant to produce on the visitor unfamiliar with the history of this project.

zooming — Facade of the museum. Photograph © Ilia Mukosey

There is no fooling us, though. We, of course, know that the center of the contemporary culture "Garage" that started its way seven years ago under the roof of the monument of architecture - the Bakhmetyevsky Garage designed by Konstantin Melnikov - now conceals inside of it the fine specimen of soviet modernism architecture adjusted to fit the needs of today.

On the 1st of May of this year, the center of modern culture was transformed into the museum of contemporary art, and the framework of the cafe "Seasons of the Year", now carefully restored, will no doubt become one of the most important exhibits of the new museum. Of course, the old walls, the mosaic "Autumn", and the prefabricated concrete are all valuable not only as such but also as parts of the dialogue with the new shell and the functional interventions that the designers made into the existing structure of the building.

Adjusting the space of the soviet cafeteria to become a museum of contemporary art was, according to Koolhaas, not that difficult, after all. "The building initially included various spaces that we were able to adjust to be fit to exhibit the specimens of contemporary art without making any radical changes to them" - he shares. Indeed, all the existing walls, floors, and columns, and almost all the staircases were kept intact. Generally, one can say that the result is surprisingly little different from the project that was presented to public three years ago (at Archi.ru, this presentation was covered by Alexandra Gordeeva in the article "Reconstruction by Koolhaas"). If we are to speak of the critical project solutions, only the movable mezzanine balcony in the central foyer had to go. But then again, this was done not because of financial constraints but because the functional contents of "Garage" was slightly reconsidered after the new curator, Kate Fowle, was appointed a little over a year ago.

It was also right about that time that the construction started. Koolhaas did not make any secret of the fact that "the main problem of the project was registering our ownership so that we could get started". So, turning the modernist ruins into a contemporary building took less than a year and a half. Such a speedy pace of construction is truly amazing, particularly considering how many new techniques and technical novelties were implemented. The leader of BUROMOSCOW Olga Aleksakova who took part in developing the working documents and in the author supervision, shared that the decayed floor slab panels had to be reinforced with prefabricated reinforced concrete. The floor slabs also conceal the climatic system - the water pipes that must hear the building in winter and cool it in summer. At the same time, the entire MEP layout, just as was promised, is hidden between the two layers of polycarbonate casing of the building. The facade of flammable polycarbonate became a problem in itself - the architects had to obtain special technical specifications and conditions. "This building is a precedent" - Olga stresses. Even the plywood floors of the cafe and in the new mezzanine seemed inadmissible to a lot of people. The plywood and the concrete floors, the polycarbonate, the steel grille used for flooring - this is a short list of the materials used in "Garage", the materials that are traditionally considered to be only fit for technical and makeshift structures, and definitely out of place in such a high-profile building as a museum. For OMA, however (just as for the Dutch architecture in general) using the cheap materials for decoration is one of its trademark techniques.

The most expensive decoration materials in this interior are, by far, the surviving glass tiles and the glazed bricks of the soviet cafe. They were partially taken off the walls, sent for the restoration in Italy, and then carefully put back in place. But then again, Koolhaas was not after restoring the original look of the building, and the "ruin" image was left almost intact. From the jagged edges of "Autumn" mosaic, the glazed bricks show coming from a different time layer, and, higher up, left completely to be plainly seen, there is uneven brickwork of regular bricks, earlier concealed by the hanging ceiling. In conjunction with the modern industrial materials, in some parts of the building, all this creates a completely "backstage" garage atmosphere.

One can still hardly refrain from comparing the new "Garage" with a brand-new garage of profiled sheeting into which a sentimental car owner dragged what was left of his first car and put its skeleton on four brick stacks instead of the long-gone wheels. Then this car enthusiast dusted his car seats, polished the cracked windows and wiped his tear of tenderness. "Why keep this old miserable wreck?" - many people wonder. One commentator on Facebook went as far as to suppose that this western "satiation evokes the appetite for the incomplete, imperfect, and tragic".

This is not what it is all about, however. Koolhaas many times complained that "the more monotonous and faceless architecture that appeared after World War II, has few admirers and still fewer defenders". Sharing about the project of "Garage", he developed this idea: "The movement for saving the historical legacy was always aimed at saving what is old, valuable, and beautiful. We have always insisted that the usual common things are also worth saving - so as to be able to explain later on to our kids how people lived in the past".

So, for Koolhaas, this building is not just another project - it's a manifesto. With it, he not only conserves a fragment of the typical soviet life but also voices his disagreement with the commonly accepted concept of preserving the antiquities.

One could arguably say that the mistake that the architect is pointing to can be actually traced back to the very origin of this concept. The movement for preserving the historical monuments and the modernism that appeared at about the same time, were initially sworn enemies and remained them for a whole century. This fight went on with varying success, and not in the Soviet Union alone. For example, back in the seventies, in West Berlin, they massively "simplified" the facades of the buildings of the epoch of eclecticism. Now the modernism of the XX Century has dilapidated itself and became a historical style itself - meaning, lost the war - possibly, it is time to reconsider the conservation before the architectural routine of but half a century ago turned into a fleeting memory.

Not everyone agrees that such manifesto is compatible with a fully-fledged museum of contemporary art. Valentin Dyakonov from "Kommersant" thinks that the new "Garage" cannot be considered to be a "contemporary exhibition venue convenient for exhibiting works of art of various meaning and magnitude". "Koolhaas - the critic continues - himself wrote the concept of the future development of "Garage": the former restaurant where our fathers and grandfathers would sit down with a mug of beer, can only serve as a museum of our inglorious soviet past".

At first sight, this standpoint makes a lot of sense. Is it by chance that most of the expositions that the new museum showcases, can be traced back to that particular period of time: they show the history of the soviet art, about the American exhibition of 1959 in Sokolniki Park, about the Russian cosmism, and so on. Even the forty-six-year-old Rikrit Tarivania in his brand-new project "Tomorrow is the Question?" tries to make a connection with the past, turning to the creative work of Czech artist Julius Koller and treating the visitors to the nostalgic pelmeni.

But today and yesterday are also the question! Building, by coincidence or by design (and I still regret not having asked which) the new casing around the old modernist building, Koolhaas stressed the inner conflict and the controversy of the very term of "museum of contemporary art". A museum is by definition an institution that collects, studies, keeps, and exhibits the objects of culture - meaning, something that already WAS there, something that belongs to the past. The present is by definition made of the events that are taking place now, at this very moment. All around the world, the museums of contemporary art exhibit the works of the artists long gone that are by inertia considered "contemporary". True, now and then a really contemporary work comes up but these works are kept in the museum's vaults and also become part of the "history of arts". "Garage" in this sense is no exception. Hitherto, as a center of contemporary culture, it exhibited the works from the other people's collections, thus participating in today's cultural life. This year, becoming a museum and planning to gather a collection of works of modern art of its own, it has embarked on this controversial journey.

With the spreading of museums of contemporary art as an independent cultural institution, the designers more and more - again, by coincidence or by design - tried to react in different ways to this controversy. The hysteria of the museum buildings of unusual shapes with, of course, Bilbao Guggenheim museum at its peak, has gradually abated giving way to the neutral "washing their hands" semitransparent boxes where you can exhibit whatever you want. Koolhaas, on the other hand, the way I see it, made a new step on this journey, sharpening the question yet again. The ruins of a modernist (meaning - "contemporary") building are not enough to be a museum exhibit as such. The museum in its entirety, i.e. the casing and the ruins inside of it, however, do have the right to claim the exhibit status. This object is a manifesto - both for architecture and especially for the modern culture; its power of statement can probably only be paralleled by the "Fountain" (a porcelain urinal, not to mince words) by Marcel Duchamp. Such a double-meaning comparison we got here but it's better than nothing. Because the main task of the modern art is to provoke, to explore, to discover, and, most importantly, to pose questions rather than answering them, is it not?

Valentin Dyakonov is sure right claiming that the curators will have a hard time exhibiting in this museum works of art that are not connected with the soviet cultural context. But, then again, no one said that this would be a walkover either.

At the end of the day, it is amazing that only one critic gave a negative response. Duchamp's ready-made caused a lot more vocal criticism back in 1917.

Oh, by the way, the toilets and the urinals are great in this museum, too.

12 June 2015

Written by:

Ilya Mukosei
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

Headlines now

Object

The Golden Crown

The concept for a dental clinic in Yekaterinburg, developed by CNTR Studio, revolves around the idea of a “mouth full of gold”: pristine white porcelain stoneware walls are complemented by matte brass details. To avoid an overly literal interpretation, the architects focused on the building’s proportions, skillfully navigating between sunlight requirements and fire safety regulations.

News

Flexibility and Integration

Not long ago, we covered the project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential complex, designed by APEX. Now, we’ve been shown different fence concepts they developed to enclose the complex’s private courtyards, incorporating a variety of public functions. We believe that the sheer fact that the complex’s architects were involved in such a detail as fencing speaks volumes.

Object

A Step Forward

The HIDE residential complex represents a major milestone for ADM architects and their leaders Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova in their quest for a fresh high-rise aesthetic – one that is flexible and layered, capable of bringing vibrancy to mass and silhouette while shaping form. Over recent years, this approach has become ADM’s “signature style”, with the golden HIDE tower playing a pivotal role in its evolution. Here, we delve into the project’s story, explore the details of the complex’s design, and uncover its core essence.

Object

Gold in the Sands

A new office for a transcontinental company specializing in resource extraction and processing has opened in Dubai. Designed by T+T Architects, masters of creating spaces that are contemporary, diverse, flexible, and original, this project exemplifies their expertise. On the executive floor, a massive brass-clad partition dominates, while layered textures of compressed earth create a contextually resonant backdrop.

Object

Layers and Levels of Flight

This project goes way back – Reserve Union won this architectural competition at the end of 2011, and the building was completed in 2018, so it’s practically “archival”. However, despite being relatively unknown, the building can hardly be considered “dated” and remains a prime example of architectural expression, particularly in the headquarters genre. And it’s especially fitting for an aviation company office. In some ways, it resembles the Aeroflot headquarters at Sheremetyevo but with its own unique identity, following the signature style of Vladimir Plotkin. In this article, we take an in-depth look at the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) headquarters in the Moscow agglomeration town of Zhukovsky, supplemented by recent photographs from Alexey Naroditsky – a shoot that became only recently possible due to the fact that improvements were finally made in the surrounding area.

Object

Light and Shadow

In this article, we delve into the architectural design of the “Chaika” house by DNK ag architects, which was recently completed in 2023 as part of the collection of signature designs at ZILArt. As is well-known, all the buildings in this complex follow a design code, yet each one is distinct. This particular building stands out not only for its whiteness and minimalism but also for the refined use of a limited number of techniques that, together, create what can confidently be called synergy.

View

Casus Novae

A master plan was developed for a large residential area with a name of “DNS City”, but now that its implementation began, the plan has been arbitrarily reformatted and replaced with something that, while similar on the surface, is actually quite different. This is not the first time such a thing happens, but it’s always frustrating. With permission from the author, we are sharing Maria Elkina’s post.

Report

Treasure Hunting

The GAFA bureau, in collaboration with Tegola and Arkhitail, organized an expedition to the island of Kilpola in Karelia as part of Moskomarkhitektura’s “Open City” festival. There, amidst moss and rocks, the students sought answers to questions like: what is the sacred, where does it dwell, and what sustains it? Assisting the participants in this quest were landscape engineer Evgeny Levin, artist Nicholas Roerich, a moose, and the lack of cellular connection. Here’s how the story unfolded.

Object

Depths of the Earth, Streams of Water

In the Malaya Okhta district, the Akzent building, designed by Stepan Liphart, was constructed. It follows a classic tripartite structure, yet it’s what you might call “hand-drawn”: each façade is unique in its form and details, some of which aren’t immediately noticeable. In this article, we explore the context and, together with the architect, delve into how the form was developed.

Object

Fir Tree Dynamics

The “Airports of Region” holding is planning to build an airport in Karachay-Cherkessia, aiming to make the Arkhyz and Dombay resorts more accessible to travelers. The project that won in an invitation-only competition, submitted by Sergey Nikeshkin’s KPLN, blends natural imagery inspired by the shape of a conifer seed, open-air waiting spaces, majestic large trees, and a green roof elevated on needle-like columns. The result is both nature-inspired and WOW.

Object

A Brick Shell

In the process of designing a clubhouse situated among pine trees in a prestigious suburban area near Moscow, the architectural firm “A.Len” did the façade design part. The combination of different types of brick and masonry correlates with the volumetric and plastique solutions, further enhanced by the inclusion of wood-painted fragments and metal “glazing”.

Report

Word Forms

ATRIUM architects love ambitious challenges, and for the firm’s thirtieth anniversary, they boldly play a game of words with an exhibition that dives deep into a self-created vocabulary. They immerse their projects – especially art installations – into this glossary, as if plunging into a current of their own. You feel as if you’re flowing through the veins of pure art, immersed in a universe of vertical cities, educational spaces – of which the architects are true masters – and the cultural codes of various locations. But what truly captivates is the bold statement that Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochy make, both through their work and this exhibition: architecture, above all, is art – the art of working with form and space.

Object

Flexibility and Acuteness of Modernity

Luxurious, fluid, large “kokoshniks” and spiral barrel columns, as if made from colorful chewing gum: there seem to be no other mansion like this in Moscow, designed in the “Neo-Russian-Modern” style. And the “Teremok” on Malaya Kaluzhskaya, previously somewhat obscure, has “come alive with new colors” and gained visibility after its restoration for the office of the “architectural ecosystem” as the architects love to call themselves. It’s evident that Julius Borisov and the architects at UNK put their hearts into finding this new office and bringing it up to date. Let’s delve into the paradoxes of this mansion’s history and its plasticity. Spoiler: two versions of modernity meet here, both balancing on the razor’s edge of “what’s current”.

Interview

Yuri Vissarionov: “A modular house does not belong to the land”

It belongs to space, or to the air... It turns out that 3D printing is more effective when combined with a modular approach: the house is built in a workshop and then adapted to the site, including on uneven terrain. Yuri Vissarionov shares his latest experience in designing tourist complexes, both in central Russia and in the south. These include houseboats, homes printed from lightweight concrete using a 3D printer, and, of course, frame houses.

Object

Moscow’s First

“The quality of education largely depends on the quality of the educational environment”. This principle of the last decade has been realized by Sergey Skuratov in the project for the First Moscow Gymnasium on Rostovskaya Embankment in the Khamovniki district. The building seamlessly integrates into the complex urban landscape, responding both to the pedestrian flow of the city and the quiet alleyways. It skillfully takes advantage of the height differences and aligns with modern trends in educational space design. Let’s take a closer look.

Object

Looking at the Water

The site of Villa Sonata stretches from the road to the water’s edge, offering its own shoreline, pier, and a picturesque river panorama. To reveal these sweeping views, Roman Leonidov “cut” the façade diagonally parallel to the river, thus getting two main axes for the house and, consequently, “two heads”. The internal core – two double-height spaces, a living room and a conservatory, with a “bridge” above them – makes the house both “transparent” and filled with light.

Object

The White Wing

Well, it’s not exactly white. It’s more of a beige, white-stone structure that plays with the color of limestone – smoother surfaces are lighter, while rougher ones are darker. This wing unites various elements: it absorbs and interprets the surrounding themes. It responds to everything, yet maintains a cohesive expression – a challenging task! – while also incorporating recognizable features of its own, such as the dynamic cuts at the bottom, top, and middle.

Object

Urban Dunes

The XSA Ramps team designed and built a three-part sports hub for a park in Rostov-on-Don, welcoming people of all ages and fitness levels. The skate plaza, pump track, and playground are all meticulously crafted with details that attract a diverse range of visitors. The technical execution of the shapes and slopes transforms this space into a kind of sculptural composition.

Object

Proportional Growth

The project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential area has been announced. The buildings are situated on an elongated plot – almost a “ray” that shoots out from the center of the area towards the river. Their layout reflects both a response to Moscow’s architectural preferences over the past 15 years, shifting “from blocks to towers”, and an interpretation of the neighboring business park designed by SOM. Additionally, the best apartments here are not located at the very top but closer to the middle, forming a glowing “waistline”.

Object

The “Staircase” Building

In designing the “Details” residential complex in New Moscow, Rais Baishev spiced up the now-popular Moscow theme of a “courtyard” building with an idea drawn from the surrealist drawings by Maurits Escher. He envisioned the stepped silhouettes and descending slopes as a metaphysical mega-staircase, creating a key void within the courtyard that gave the project an internal “spine”. This concept is felt both in the building’s silhouette and on its façades.

Object

Projection of the Quarter

No one doubted that the building that Vladimir Plotkin designed as part of the “Garden Quarters” would be the most modernist of all. And it turned out just that way: while adhering to the common design code, the building successfully combines brick and white stone, rhythmically responding to the neighboring building designed by Ostozhenka, yet tactfully and persistently making a few statements of its own. This includes the projection of the ideal urban development composition “14–9–6”, which can be found right next door, mathematical calculations, including those for various types of terraces (and perhaps the only reminder of the Soviet past of the Kauchuk rubber factory!), and the white “cross-stitch” pattern of the façade grid.

Object

Domus Aurea

In this issue, we examine the “Tessinsky-1” house, designed by Sergey Skuratov and completed in 2023. Located in the middle of the Serebryanicheskaya Embankment district, at the intersection of its main streets, this house assumes a sort of “nodal” role: it not only responds to everything around it and preserves many memories of the former EMA factory within itself, but it weaves all this into a newly directed pattern, reconciling bright “gold” and dark-colored brick, largely with the help of the new, modern-yet-archaic Columba brick, which, come to think about it, is the most precious element here.

send.project

The Chimney of Nikola-Lenivets

In this issue, we are examining the “Obelisk House” designed by KATARSIS and built for the Arkhstoyanie 2023 festival. However, it was only finished later on, and this is why we are examining it now. It seems to us that after the “Obelisk House” appeared in Nikola-Lenivets, a dialogue and a few inner connections appeared between the temporary structures built here. These houses no longer look like “accidental neighbors”, more of which below.

Periscope by the Bay

The jury awarded the second place in the competition for a public and cultural center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the companies GORA (“Mountain”) and M4. In the consortium’s proposal, the building resembles a sperm whale with a calf swimming next to it or a periscope, whose lenses capture the most spectacular views from the surrounding landscape.

Contest Results

From Arcs to Dolmens

While working on the competition project for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, ASADOV Architects prioritized the value of the natural and urban environment, aiming to preserve the balance of the location while minimizing the resemblance of the volume that they designed to a “traditional building”. The task was challenging, and the architects created three versions, one of which having been developed after the competition, where their main proposal took third place. However, the point of interest here is not the competition result but the continuity of creative thinking.

Object

Hide and Seek

The ID Moskovskiy house, designed by Stepan Liphart in St. Petersburg, in the courtyards near Moskovskiy Avenue beyond the Obvodny Canal and recently completed, is notable for several reasons. Firstly, it has been realized with considerable accuracy, which is particularly significant as this is the first building where the architect was responsible not only for the facades but also for the layouts, allowing for better integration between the two. On the other hand, this building is interesting as an example of the “germination” of new architecture in the city: it draws on the best examples from the neighborhood and becomes an improved and developed sum of ideas found by the architect in the surrounding context.

The Big Twelve

Yesterday, the winners of the Moscow Mayor’s Architecture Award were announced and honored. Let’s take a look at what was awarded and, in some cases, even critique this esteemed award. After all, there is always room for improvement, right?

Object

Above the Golden Horn

The residential complex “Philosophy” designed by T+T architects in Vladivostok, is one of the new projects in the “Golubinaya Pad” area, changing its development philosophy (pun intended) from single houses to a comprehensive approach. The buildings are organized along public streets, varying in height and format, with one house even executed in gallery typology, featuring a cantilever leaning on an art object.

Report

Nuanced Alternative

How can you rhyme a square and space? Easily! But to do so, you need to rhyme everything you can possibly think of: weave everything together, like in a tensegrity structure, and find your own optics too. The new exhibition at GES-2 does just that, offering its visitor a new perspective on the history of art spanning 150 years, infused with the hope for endless multiplicity of worlds and art histories. Read on to see how this is achieved and how the exhibition design by Evgeny Ace contributes to it.

Object

Blinds for Ice

An ice arena has been constructed in Domodedovo based on a project by Yuri Vissarionov Architects. To prevent the long façade, a technical requirement for winter sports facilities, from appearing monotonous, the architects proposed the use of suspended structures with multidirectional slats. This design protects the ice from direct sunlight while giving the wall texture and detail.