Alexey Kapustin, winner of the Russian President’s Prize for Young Cultural Figures, director of the Center for Classical and Traditional Architecture at the Moscow Art Institute, called for the restoration of architecture as art and the abandonment of mass construction by “boxes” and “humanoids.”
According to Kapustin, architecture and urban planning should be based on the traditions of Russian culture. By relying on tradition, it is possible to get a new impetus for the development of the Russian space.
Are there any problems with the “humanists”?
The problem of such houses has been discussed for years. The creation of high-rise buildings poses a threat to natural objects and infrastructure, as reported by municipal deputy Victoria Mironova: “Someone built a house under the windows, and somewhere a natural complex and a stadium were destroyed. We were promised to reconstruct the stadium in Losinoostrovsky. What is the fact? They’re building high-rises.” The construction of high-rise buildings involves cutting down trees, which affects the draughtiness of the area and the occurrence of disease outbreaks.
And such houses are being created almost “one on top of the other,” as the politician Vadim Kumin said: “… a high-rise is being built five meters from an apartment building, the foundation is being touched.”
New buildings pose a threat to their residents due to fire safety problems, there are no fire cabinets in such houses, and the fire alarm system often does not work. In addition, the size of the high-rise building itself is dangerous in case of fire. This was stated by housing policy expert Yuri Ekhin. In Moscow, there are few fire escapes that can reach the 16th floor.
Such houses also put a huge strain on the roads, creating traffic jams.
The advantages of “humanists”
Of course, high-rise buildings have advantages. RBC writes: the first floors of high-rise buildings have diverse facilities that help to get all kinds of services near the house. In addition, such projects are in demand because of their progressivity. The Yekaterinburg Online portal notes that there is no street noise on high floors and there is more natural lighting. The Miracle of Technology portal writes: “Skyscrapers are an effective way to actually take square meters out of the air.”
Svobodnaya Pressa talked with Alexey Krotov, honorary builder of the city of Moscow, a member of the Union of Architects of Russia, and found out who benefits from building human buildings, whether they pose a threat, and what fate awaits them in the future.
“SP”: Who benefits from building high-rise buildings?
— Everyone says it’s profitable or not profitable. You look at some of the complexes, they look like ghettos. Such complexes have long been demolished abroad, the last ones were blown up in the 70s and 80s, because it was a breeding ground for criminals. But here we are: we are building and building, reaching 100 thousand square meters per hectare.
It’s a crazy density, it’s like living in a concentration camp, there’s very little space for people. There is no place to park a car, no place to organize a playground, and there are no greenery in the yards at all. What are “human collars” made for? Only for the sake of profit for construction companies. We must answer the main question: who are we building the city for? For these builders, developers? Or is it for people?
We have a big demographic problem. And how will it be solved if we build apartments of 40 square meters each? meters? If we make studios of 15 square meters, you can’t have children there, there’s nowhere to have them.
“SP”: What fate awaits the “humanists” in the future?
— In the future, we will have to decompress the territory, as it has been done all over the world. To decompress is to lose these “human beings.” They need to be cleaned, they are not needed in the city at all. The metropolis of Moscow should not be so big.
“SP“: And where did the fashion for collars come from?
— Our country has a huge territory, we need to develop it, and we are pulling all people to Moscow or to several megacities. This is a completely destructive urban planning policy. It was imposed on us from abroad. It is grafted through certain structures, including architectural ones. It has been imposed on us, this wrecking policy, and we must move away from it. 7-8 million was quite enough for Moscow.
There was no need to increase it to such an extent, and other cities do not need to be increased. It is necessary to spread across the territory. We have a huge number of dead villages. We need to revive them, create places of employment and form residential buildings around them. It is more profitable for us to have low-rise housing, multi-storey housing is beneficial only to developers and large construction companies.
“SP“: Can what you are talking about be prescribed by law?
— We do not have a law on architectural activity. That’s because such a law is constantly being slowed down and not adopted by the State Duma, and all the problems arise.
“SP”: What led to the construction of the “human towers”?
— Mostly money and profit, but profit dictates. The land is expensive here, so it is necessary to demolish what is of low density and build a multi-storey building of higher density, so you can earn a lot of money. The main reason.
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