Power house: Renzo Piano designs a new home for the V-A-C Foundation in Moscow
Moscow's iconic red-brick Red October district has been slowly transforming into a vibrant neighbourhood of art, food and culture ever since its well known chocolate factory moved out, leaving a rich collection of industrial buildings behind, ripe for redevelopment.
The area's latest ambitious project is the revival of the nearby disused GES2 power station (originally built between 1904 and 1907), which is set to be redesigned for the contemporary arts foundation V-A-C - an organisation dedicated to the growth and promotion of Russian contemporary art, across different media and channels. Heading the architectural scheme is Italian architect Renzo Piano and his Building Workshop.
The project is designed to comprise ample public space - an extensive free access area with a sculptural garden and piazza, library, bookshop, café, restaurant and auditorium. The foundation's exhibition halls will form a separate key part of the building, while there will also be a dedicated section in the complex for education programs.
The plant's existing, dramatic chimneys - a landmark for the area - are slated to remain, also becoming, after this revamp, an indispensable part of the site' sustainability strategy, which also includes solar cells and geothermal sources. Completion is planned after the end of 2018.
One of the architect’s section sketches for the new V-A-C foundation space in Moscow
INFORMATION
Images: Courtesy of RPBW, 2015
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Inside Valentino’s glamorous new Sloane Street store, inspired by the art of haute couture
The latest in Valentino’s ‘The New Maison’ store concept opens on London’s Sloane Street this week, offering an enveloping marble and carpet-clad space of ‘intimacy and uniqueness’
By Jack Moss Published
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiences
Aesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternatives
From the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
CERN Science Gateway: behind the scenes at Renzo Piano’s campus in Geneva
CERN Science Gateway by Renzo Piano Building Workshop announces opening date in Switzerland, heralding a new era for groundbreaking innovation
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Renzo Piano’s GES-2 V-A-C House of Culture opens in Moscow
The V-A-C Foundation celebrates its new design by Renzo Piano – the GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow, set in a former power station
By Amah-Rose Abrams Last updated
-
SANAA to resurrect Hexagon pavilion for Moscow’s Garage Museum extension
Japanese firm SANAA will overhaul the Hexagon pavilion, a 1920s Ivan Zholtovsky-designed structure in Gorky Park, for a Garage Museum extension
By Jessica Klingelfuss Last updated
-
Fiat’s iconic modernist factory hosts new urban oasis
Fiat’s former Lingotto factory and test track are transformed into Europe’s largest hanging garden – a new urban oasis for Turin
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
The buildings adding a new dimension to Miami’s skyline
As the Florida city’s architecture boom continues apace, here’s what’s next
By Jessica Klingelfuss Last updated
-
Renzo Piano’s GES-2 is a site of wonder
The GES-2's building site in Moscow is so glorious the half-constructed structure has already got the design world talking
By Tom Seymour Last updated
-
Newly completed 565 Broome by Renzo Piano is SoHo’s tallest residential building
565 Broome, Renzo Piano Building Workshop's latest residential tower in New York may be SoHo's tallest, but it remains refined and understated thanks to the Italian architect's masterful design
By Siska Lyssens Last updated
-
Renzo Piano’s first ever school building revealed in Shenzhen
A brand new outpost for Whittle School & Studios by Renzo Piano Building Workshop lands in Shenzhen's Qianhai district, with an emphasis on creativity and emotional wellbeing, and inspiration from traditional Italian urban planning
By Catherine Shaw Last updated