In this issue, we are covering the projects done by the finalists of the international architectural and town-planning contest for the best concept of developing Kaliningrad's city center. The first place was won by the project of "Studio 44" and its leader Nikita Yavein prepared in cooperation with Saint Petersburg's Institute of Territorial Development; this project is covered in this specially dedicated issue. 


Plan of Koenigsberg by Braun, 1581 Source: Town-planning bureau “Heart of the City”, www.tuwangste.ru

The subject of the contest was the King's Mountain (actually, this is how the name of Koenigsberg translates from German) with the remnants of the king's castle founded back in 1255 and its immediate surroundings where during the Middle Ages there were the towns of Alpstadt, Lebenicht, Kneipfhof, and Vorstadt, as well as the Lomse Island lying at the junction of the Old and New Pregola rivers. This oldest district of Koenigsberg was almost completely destroyed by the bombings during the WWII. All that survived was the gothic cathedral on the island (1333–1380) with the grave of Immanuel Kant in it, the building of the Stock Exchange of 1875; the Jewish orphanage of 1904 and a few other buildings. Also, two bridges survived, the Medovy ("Honey") and the Derevyanny ("Wooden") that made the list of the famous seven bridges one had to cross without stepping on a single one of them twice - a problem that was scientifically proved unsolvable in 1736 by Leonhard Euler who concurrently to that developed the theory of graphs and founded the science of topology. 

Today, there is nothing left of Koenigsberg's traditional orthogonal planning grid and its dense array of houses (8,6х9х20 meters, the last figure being the "depth" of the house growing into the land plot); the center of the once-famous city turned into a place bleak and hostile with a giant House of the Soviets standing next to the ruined castle and the high-rises. The contestants had a task of turning this war-mangled territory into something of value, breathe a new live into this land, at the same time connecting it with the past by making its history come alive. 


House of the Soviets. Source: Town-planning bureau “Heart of the City”, www.tuwangste.ru

The second prize was won by the trio of "Devillers et Associes (France) + Off-the-grid + Wall (Russia), and the two other prizes were awarded to Trevor Skempton from Great Britain and HOSPER Sweden from Sweden. In this issue, we are covering all the four projects.