Dialogues on What Matters: Experts Discuss the Transformations Taking Place in Moscow
The discussion “The New Image of Moscow as a Reflection of Our Changes” took place as part of the Gals Dialogues project in a historic late-19th-century building of the Moscow International Bank. The building currently houses the sales office of the Rozhdestvenka 8 complex; however, there are plans to sell it as a single lot, potentially for use as a residence, office, or reception house, said Ekaterina Batynkova, Director of the Sales Department at Gals-Development Group.
The project will comprise an ensemble of seven neoclassical buildings ranging from two to ten storeys in height, located in the very heart of historic Moscow, just steps from the Kuznetsky Most metro station. To implement the project, the 1990s-era development adjacent to the historic bank building will be demolished. At the same time, the city will reveal the white-stone chambers of the 17th-century Tverskoye Podvorye, which are currently almost hidden from view by later construction. In the completed complex, views of this heritage monument will open through a monumental arch of one of the Rozhdestvenka buildings.
Sergei GeorgievskiiCo-founder, Agency for strategic development "CENTER"
The old centre within its traditional boundaries is something aristocratic and elitist. But Moscow today is no longer Moscow in its conventional sense. Some experts even speak of a Moscow–Saint Petersburg agglomeration. The Moscow region is a global city that is emerging literally before our eyes, and it will have many different centres. Moscow has City as a centre and City-2 as its extension; ZIL as a new centre; and the Southern Port as an alternative point of attraction. These are large residential areas, but at the same time they are places of employment, with their own economic development models and cultural functions. There is a vast number of attractors that should ensure balanced development of these territories.
In the context of the capital’s globalisation, it is essential to create a comfortable environment for people, Ekaterina Batynkova emphasised: “We work with the environment even before a concept is developed and before the architectural image is defined. In one of our most recent concepts, paediatricians, psychiatrists, and psychologists were all involved.”
The relevance of this approach was confirmed by Tatyana Ledneva, Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neurosciences of the Higher School of Economics. Airat Bagautdinov, architectural historian, and Sergey Kapkov, Head of the Centre for Urban Studies at the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, spoke about the historical evolution of the city and the lifestyle of contemporary Muscovites.
The discussion was concluded by Elena Veteleva, Director of External Communications at Gals-Development: “The goal of our Gals Dialogues project is to create an open platform for expert discussion on current urban issues. Through live dialogue with specialists from a wide range of fields, a deeper understanding of societal demands and future trends in the development of the urban environment emerges.”
Photo: Gals-Development Group