The “Russian Character” International Architecture Competition

The Morton Group announces the "Russian Character" International Architecture Competition to develop the concept for a Culture & Education Center.
The Center will become the main cultural venue in the Butovo Park residential district, a place for recreation and communication for local residents.
The competition is aimed at finding new elements, forms and images that embody contemporary Russian architecture. Applications will be accepted through March 15, 2014.

The project will help create an environment for social interaction in the new residential district. Butovo Park, like most new developments, is relatively far from cultural and social amenities. The Culture & Education Center will be the only place in the vicinity for lectures, film screenings, concerts and master classes. It will also offer a place for physical activity and holding outdoor events in a pleasant landscaped setting. The Center will include a museum with exhibitions on the history of the area.

The work of the Center, established upon the initiative of the Morton Group, will place special emphasis on popularizing Russian culture and traditions. Competition participants face the task of reflecting the functional and conceptual content of the building — as well as its "Russian character" — through its design.
The building for the Center must be contemporary and innovative as opposed to a “reminiscence” of historical styles of Russian architecture. Participants may be guided by images of Russian nature, landscape and culture in the widest sense of the word, as well as other associative links.

Project imagery should address the following questions:

• How can Russian culture find expression in architecture?
• What forms would you like to see Russian architecture take?
• Which of today’s architectural techniques can be seen as characteristic of Russian architecture?

Architect Ilya Mukosey has been invited to serve as curator for the competition.

The Competition is organized by the Rules of Communication agency

Information on the Competition

The competition will proceed in two rounds:

First round: open acceptance of applications for participation.

Second round: closed based on rankings of applicants from the first round by the Council of Experts.

The competition will run from February 15 to June 15, 2014.

Acceptance of applications for participation will proceed until March 15, 2014.

There will be an opportunity to view project submissions at the "Russian Character" exposition, which will run from May 22-25 at the Central House of Artists during the "ARCH Moscow 2014" exhibition. On one of these days there will be a public discussion of the projects. There will also be a roundtable discussion on Russian architecture in connection with the competition.

Results of the competition will be announced no later than June 30, 2014. The winner will be selected by a Jury formed by the Organizing Committee and approved by the Council of Experts.

Council of Experts:

• Anna Bronovitskaya, expert on architecture and urban planning from the Soviet period, secretary of DOCOMOMO Russia, candidate of sciences in art history, docent at the Moscow Architectural Institute
• Nikolay Vasilyev, architectural historian, expert on constructivism
• Sergei Merzhanov, expert on the Russian Style in architecture, architectural historian
• Elena Gonzalez, architecture critic and curator
• Evgenia Murinets, Head of the Architectural Council of the City of Moscow Architecture and Planning Committee
• Nikita Assadov, architect, co-curator of the "Russian Identity" exhibition
• Sergei Nikitin, expert on Moscow history and cultural studies, professor of urbanism at the Higher School of Economics, specialist in the organization of mass cultural events (Velonotte, etc.)
• Nikolai Prianishnikov, Director of Research at the ZIL Cultural Center
• Margarita Chizhmak, Fellow of the Tretyakov Gallery, art historian
• Elena Lebedeva, art historian, journalist, curator of the “Laboratories of Museum Design” project, invited expert at the Center of Cultural Initiatives for New Moscow
• Elena Sarkisova, Head of the Cultural Directorate for Moscow's Southwest Administrative District
• Dmitry Zotov, CEO at  the MORTON Development Center
• Alexander Bogdanov, head at the MORTON Architecture bureau
• Ilya Mukosey, architect, curator of the competition «Russian character»
• Julia Zinkevich, CEO at the Rules of Communication agency, project coordinator
• Ekaterina Artemyeva, managing partner at the Rules of Communication agency, project coordinator.

Project website: www.ruschar.ru