Description

The “Garage” aims to be not only a museum for contemporary art, but first and foremost “a place for people, the arts and creative ideas”. Founded in 2008 as a private foundation by Darya Zhukova, the culturally active and internationally well-networked partner of the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, its profile encompasses not just exhibitions and events but also student competitions, courses, workshops, artist scholarships and publications. In addition, it intends to establish collections and archives that will be dedicated to the classical avant-garde, the “underground” of the Soviet era, which is only gradually gaining appreciation in Russia, as well as contemporary art. The primary intention of the “philanthropic institution”, however, is to give the Russian public access to contemporary, top-class world art.

Moscow’s best-known leisure amenity is Gorky Park, which stretches for miles along the south bank of the Moskva. In the mid-sixties, the large “Vremena Goda” (Seasons of the Year) restaurant was built here but closed in the turmoil of the nineties. After searching for a suitable location, the “Garage” settled on this testimony of early Soviet modernism as its final domicile. Rem Koolhaas and OMA were entrusted with its reawakening and reinterpretation.

The conversion strategy took a two-pronged approach: the lost old facade was to be replaced by a completely new, emblematic cladding, while the interiors of the existing structure were to be retained as far as possible, the new functions carefully fit into it. That the old parts of the building have been not merely reused but also left demonstratively in their existing state is by no means as common in Russian renovation practice as it is in Germany, for example. In addition, the building is a legacy of the days of the Cold War, a period whose historical evaluation is still fiercely contested (as it is in Germany). Consequently, its sensitive conversion under the aegis of a leading international architecture office bears all the hallmarks of a landmark project with far-reaching significance.

Just as the entire Gorky Park was once conceived as a diverse cultural and recreational universe, the Garage in OMA’s new building aims to be more than just an art gallery. Although the vast majority of the 5400 m² of floor space consists of flexibly arrangeable exhibition areas, their seamless transition into other areas on all sides (which requires a lot of personnel to supervise) creates the impression of an abundance of space that is also used for other purposes – as a media centre, children’s studio, book and reading staircase, as well as food and service areas. Behind a large mosaic wall in the foyer is a completely separable conference level, and the internal offices, workshops and depots in the northern gable area have likewise been skilfully concealed beneath a new mezzanine level. The facade made of twin-walled polycarbonate panels lends the building a heightened sense of significance through its maximum degree of abstraction. At the same time, the slightly set back and predominantly glazed ground floor makes discreet reference to its predecessor which likewise simulated the appearance of floating over the park. When the massive portal segments on both sides of the building are pushed upwards, the surrounding park can flow as it were directly through the foyer into the interior. The choice of a translucent outer skin represents a conscious negation of the inward-facing, daylight-excluding principle of “white cube” exhibition spaces. Should such requirements ever arise, room dividers can be inserted into the Garage’s otherwise exposed core structure.

Originally published in Bauwelt 08.2016, pp. 26-33, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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