An impression of the Moscow Workshop - click on a photo to view the album

MOSCOW – 22 MAY 2010

PARTICIPANTS 23
Danubians: Sophie Bloemen, Wouter van den Bos, and Thijs van Velzen
Jury: Stas Shupira – artist (Moscow)
Olga Alexeeva – European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam)
Thijs van Velzen – Danube Foundation (Amsterdam)

OPEN

Alexander Feshin, Andrey Baranov, Alexey Valetov, Ilya Norin, Tatjana Pak, Cindy Riggs, Kalinovskiy Evgeniy

Open city has the architectural structure of honeycombs, with every comb being a small centre in which all facilities are present. The honey combs can have exact or multiple purposes. This multicenter approach makes travelling times minimal and thus creates more time for living. The open centres allow fundamentals like air, sunshine and unity to flow up and down through the different levels of the city.

The structure has different layers. A ground level represents history, where we come from and where people can find rest and shelter. It is also the place for nature and animals life. The middle level is for everyday life, where people work and live, were there is technology and basic things. Top level facilitates various transport modes between the different centres. You can change levels easily.

Open city is inhabited by a mixed population with different backgrounds, different passions and different appearances, where segregation is nonexistent. And the city is open, no door can be locked because all keys are broken.

We have technology which allows us to have nature as well, as there is no more need for factories. The city is multicentered and we do not have to travel much, we can have relations close to home, travel less and live more.

BUBBLE POLIS
Ivan Krylov, Elena Krylova, Valeriy Zolotukhin, Yulia Rybakova, Natalia Antropova

Bubble Polis has a vertical structure. It is a small town, the homes are floating in the air. Every house or apartment forms a soft bubble that connects to the ground but floats in the air. On the ground public space are found, where people can meet and work. There are different zones on the ground level for work, here we find farms and factories, and social life, where we can find cafes, theatre’s etc. On this level different transport modes are available, such as trams, bicycles and subways (no cars). . The subway is really lively.

The houses float above a green area, above parks. Our idea was to create small garden-like cities that are pretty isolated one from one another, but importantly from your place you can see the other city. There are working places in the bubbles, not offices, but places that are more personal and relaxed.

People can move between bubbles by pushing buttons, making transport and meeting friends easy. The city is built on history, with some references to previous utopian concepts constructed by thinkers and politicians as Lenin.

When people want to enter a bubble, they just press the button and it will lift up, the house will lift up. Yet, when the bubble is on the ground, you do have streets. Bubbles are a methaphor for a utopian life. The upper level is like fantasy, with perfect people and the ideal private space. From your bubble you can see everything, you have the perfect view.

In bubble city there are no big buildings, there is no mass housing, there are no old messy buildings and there is no garbage.

The people in bubble polis vote through the web, there is an administration, it is super democratic, everybody decides: Internettocracy.

RAINBOW
Natalia Paramonowa, Nadezhda Menko, Polina Fedko, Maria Skalkina, Mike Alexeev, Olga Klukinshkih

Rainbow City is constructed as a reversed pyramid. With a green zone at the top, the roof functions as a park and public space. The levels from top to bottom of the pyramid house a (1) public leisure garden, (2) living and private spaces, (3) culture and art spaces, (4) work, computers, white collar labour space where people work in a relaxed way. The reversed pyramid provides a very small footprint, resulting in a minimal impact on nature. Below ground level trade, transport and industry are placed. Every pyramid houses a small self-sustaining community and people can travel between pyramids. These pyramids are placed in different zones that are named after colours. There are no substantial differences between the various neighbourhoods though. Governance would be organised as some sort of communism, small scale communes however.

LAB CITY/LIQUID CITY (wins)
Sophie Perrelet, Konstantin Lantsov, Ksenia Eltsova, Masha Pertseva, Alexandre Marsheva

The main specialization of Lab City/Liquid City is research for new energy sources. The city is built out of three different clusters and a large connecting common space, the Agora. The inhabitants of Lab City/Liquid City can choose between the ‘carnaval’ , ‘science’ and ‘design’ clusters according to their own mood and interpretation of the meaning of life. The three clusters all contain the necessary facilities for work, living and social activities thus avoiding major traffic problems. There are also no cars in this city, only environmentally friendly forms of transportation. Old buildings and constructions are integrated in the new high tech lab environment in order to save their spirit and energy. The population is multicultural and people can find their own balance between work and relaxation.

The Danube Foundation organized the Utopian City Workshop at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow on the 22^nd of May 2010.