Moscow-2050 Exhibition Opens at Shukhov Lab

In December 2019, Shukhov Lab – the HSE Laboratory for Experimental Urban Design – is turning three years old. For its anniversary, it has set up a gallery with collages depicting future images of Moscow. Before the close of this year, the Moscow-2050 project goes to Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture in China.

Wooden skyscrapers, flying transport, water-grown vegetables and fruit – at Shukhov Lab Gallery, you can be transported into 30 years into the future and see Moscow at the middle of the 21^st century. The creators of these collages were participants in a workshop organized by Shukhov Lab along with the Moscow City Committee for Architecture and Urban Development. Over the course of two weeks, over 40 students from Moscow-based universities studied contemporary urban problems and tried to find solutions based on last century’s experience, as well as research findings.

Among other participants, Yana Aliaskarova and Ramziya Hairudtinova, students of the RANEPA Design School, attended the workshop.

‘For me, it is important to study the future in order to understand how the problems that bother me can be solved, and what goals I should set for myself,’ said Yana, adding she is particularly worried about pollution caused by city transport.

This problem can be solved by banning cars from Moscow

She also noted that, by 2050, city residents will use only public transportation, car sharing and scooters: ‘It is already a challenge for those who maintain the city infrastructure: public transport should be as comfortable as possible, and transfers should be without delay’.

Ramziya added that she hadn’t heard about large-scale future studies before participating in the project: ‘I had had no idea there are so many developments and technologies. For example, I didn’t know that tall buildings can be made of wood, and that there are biogas technologies: in Moscow, all the energy received from coal can be replaced by wind, sun and biogas.’

The workshop’s participants were looking at various spheres of urban life, such as food, environmental sustainability, social and cultural integration, smart transportation, eco-materials, bio diversity, and Big Data.

‘With this project, we present a lot of views of Moscow’s future, created by joint effort of students and professionals. We not only discussed the future, but looked in the past,’ said Vicente Guallart, Academic Supervisor of Shukhov Lab, adding: ‘Moscow and Russia of the 1920s and 1930s saw a very high level of creativity at technology: this is what’s called “constructivist architecture”. We are also presenting innovative and radical projects of the 20s together with our ideas at Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture in China. We went there for the first time, and the Moscow-2050 project was specifically developed for this exhibition’.

The Shenzhen Biennale opens on December 21. The collage exhibition at Shukhov Lab is open to the public until December 27, from 11am to 6pm. Preliminary registration is required.