Arts and Cultural Center in Moscow, Renzo Piano

 

"I started my architect career building a museum as if it were a factory, Centre George Pompidou in Paris, and today I am here in Moscow facing an abandoned factory, in order to produce cultural energy". These are the words Renzo Piano used to introduce his new project in the Red October district of the Russian Capital. The V-A-C Foundation by Leonid Mikhelson has commissioned RPBW to turn the GES2 power station - built in the early 1900s - into a new arts and cultural center.

The "Central Nave" of the 150-meter-long industrial structure will be provided of directional light, which will illuminate the 23-meter-high exhibition area; the welcoming area - with a sculptural garden, birch trees and an outdoor/indoor piazza - and the educational area will complete the site. A pier-style walkway will also connect the power plant to the edge of the Moskva River.






The project even contains a sustainable aspect: the building's tall distinctive chimney, solar cells and geothermal sources will be used for natural ventilation and low energy consumption. 

Piano promises the city mayor Sergeij Sobianin to take light to one of the darkest areas of Moscow thanks to a site which used to produce light itself.

The works are supposed to be finished within the beginning of 2019.

A.G.