Moscow River embankments

The first, one is about a river that should be accessible with connected routes along it. The second – every river bend needs a special visual and contextual accent. The third point articulates the future of industrial zones, they should become public and inhabited. The fourth one is about defining the river’s eco-basin and it’s transition border with the urban fabric, also. Last but not least is the representation of the river as a thread with a mosaic of different city landscapes including those of the tributaries. These well known ideas should be connected with the reality of Moscow-river’s central granite embankments and wild banks on the edge of the city, it’s very varied relief, the special rhythm of buildings from different ages and centuries, it’s outdated transport infrastructure in need of modernization.

One of the important ideas that appeared in the beginning was that it would be good to transform Moskva-river to River-Muscovite, this metaphor being about creating such a river that becomes a citizen of the Russian capital. Because today it is more like a transit passenger that has to run through dirty backyards. The second metaphor is about a capital dandy – the river should be elegant, may be a little bit snobbish, a part of metropolitan culture. At the same time, it is about eco-awareness, availability of public spaces, ready for people with disabilities and other special groups.

The resulting project is a toolkit for typical local problem solutions, giving a variety of tools according to the specialty of every place: floating cafes, comfortable access to the bridges – 12 ideas in total. 4 detailed designs for competition designated sites shows the use of this toolkit.