Zaryadye Concert Hall

Zaryadye Concert Hall - Portada-

 

Zaryadye Concert Hall (RU)


LOCATION:
Moscow (RU)

ARCHITECT:
Reserve Architects

MODEL:
Perseo Rialto

MORE INFO:
www.reserve.ru (architects)
www.zaryadyehall.ru (customer)
www.nagata.co.jp (acousticians)
www.serapid.com (platforms)

 

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If you’ve been to Moscow’s latest park, Zaryadye, or even seen it from across the river, you probably marveled at the giant tortoise-shell shaped glass structure that dominates the eastern side of the space. You might have even wandered under the half of it that covers the landscaped semi-enclosed greenhouse, whose botanical tenants require protection from the harsher days of Moscow’s winters. The other half forms the roof of Moscow’s newest concert hall opened on September 8 2018 with a concert by Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra.

The building  is not only a part of the ambitious project of Zaryadye Park but also a large and technically sophisticated project in its own. By Moscow standards of the last two or three decades, it is also unique in terms of being fully implemented by its authors – Vladimir Plotkin and TPO Reserve with an active participation of the chief architect of Moscow, Sergey Kuznetsov – instead of being handed over to some other construction company after the approval of the project. As a result, Moscow got yet another grand-scale public building designed by one of the best Russian architectural firms and boasting the natural acoustics designed by the world-famous acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, with a transformable hall and a luxurious giant foyer with plenty of light. Arguably, this is a breakthrough.

Its function was inherited from the Rossiya Hotel (which was taken down in 2006-2010) and was adopted as the mandatory one for all of the project’s competition entries. Zaryadye Concert Hall was designed by TPO Reserve as part of the urban landscape project Zaryadye Park, which occupies the area of the former Moscow district called Zaryadye. This venue located by Moscow’s Kremlin fronts the Moskva-river embankment and borders Kitaigorodsky Proezd and Varvarka Street. The building of Concert Hall adjusts the park on the east and interprets its general idea which suggests the park buildings to be hidden to a great extent in the park structure and to open outside with one façade. The belonging to the park glass space structure covers the microclimatic area and large amphitheater on the roof of the Concert Hall.

Like Zaryadye itself, this shining, modern concert hall was designed to show that Moscow not only has moved into the 21st century, but that it is on par with Western Europe: it’s an international hall, like the Elbphilharmonie, like the Paris Philharmonie. Those two halls, in Hamburg, Germany and the French capital, both opened in the last three years with lots of media coverage from the international press thanks to the well known architects in charge of those projects. The Zaryadye Concert Hall, designed by the Moscow-based “Reserve” design firm, does not have such a commanding presence as its European counterparts with its entrance facing the northeast corner of the park, somewhat hidden behind the giant greenhouse-hill. With the other dazzling attractions in the park, including a triangular “bridge” hovering over the Moscow river and a giant open amphitheater, the hall could easily be passed by unnoticed.

Inside, the hall is sleek and modern, if also somewhat subdued, featuring swooping lines, recessed lighting and cushy seats that recline slightly when you sit down. Taking a cue from the Paris and Hamburg halls, rather than having a stage in front, Zaryadye has its seats surrounding the stage, which allows viewers to be closer to the performers. It feels beguilingly intimate for a venue with a capacity for an audience of 1,560.

The main selling point of the hall, and what sets it apart from Moscow’s other many classical music venues, is the acoustics. The venue hired the Japanese acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota (who also worked on the Elbphilharmonie) to make the hall sound spectacular. Mikhail Pletnev brought the Russian National Orchestra to help with the tests as well. They performed works with musicians arrayed in various arrangements on the stage, parts of which were raised or lowered to affect the sound.

This immersion into the space of lines is echoed by yet another effect – the “ snuff-box”. The main auditorium is transformable in many of its parts. And, although it is unable to open its south wall to show the river panorama, the balcony behind the stage can still be pulled out, which increases its depth. The pit stalls can also be removed, the orchestra amphitheater too, down to the even floor level. The transformations are driven by mechanisms hidden in the underground floor – very deep and spacious by Serapid (France)

The main hall is a natural acoustics space suitable for different kinds of music performance and includes parterre, amphitheater, dress circle and one-level balcony. Subsequently, the acoustic project determined its geometry and choice of materials: walls covered with mahogany panels, balconies finished with micro-relief for better acoustics… and of course the seats! For this amazing venue we manufactured 6 different types of chairs with over 15 combinations of various widths to accommodate them to the curves of the venue. And all of them complying with strict acoustic requirements that conditioned the construction of the chairs. Besides, we had to cope with the “transformer capacity” of the parterre area that demanded not only particular dimensions and weights but also innovative solutions like a bespoke reclining back that provided with additional comfort to spectators seated in that area. Finally, the number of details included in the design of these chairs (cherry wood, recessed aluminum numbering plates in braille, bespoke fabrics…) made this project unique to Ascénder.

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Opening Ceremony & Hall Transformation

Serapid System. Bespoke seating.

Ascender on Spanish Television – TVE