Vladimir Filonov

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Moscow’s second Architecture Biennale ran at the end of May on Krymsky Val Ulitsa in the Central House of Artists. Although the venue itself had once been under threat of demolition to make way for Inteko’s proposed Apelsin housing complex, the predominant theme for this year’s event was the rebuilding of the existing.

A number of cities were showcased using models and projections, including a Dutch architect’s new design for the city of Perm, which is being celebrated as a potential growing cultural hub, thanks to its new contemporary art museum. The biennale also gave coverage to the future of the concept of the megalopolis, turning attention to Paris’ architectural fate through the medium of documentary film.

Another category, “modernization of modernism,” tackled the ubiquitous — in Russia at least — theme of industrial space. Within Moscow, participants were shown how one group of architecture graduates could radicalize the microdistrict of Noviye Cheryomushki, an attempt by a new generation to recycle its inherited Soviet urban landscape.