(KZN.RU,
May 2, Alsu Safina). Projects for the improvement of urban facilities and the
concept of street development were presented to Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of
Kazan, in the Executive Committee. The accomplishment of the territory of the
GIDUV in Butlerov Street, Vishnevsky square and the one on Tatarstan Street,
projects “Window to Kazan” and “Electronic Islands” are among the presented
projects.
Tatiana
Prokofieva, the chief architect of the city, heads of districts’
administrations, head of the urban design department of the Architecture and
Urban Planning Department, Zhanna Belitskaya, the main artist of Kazan, and
others took part in the meeting.
Yulia
Yunusova and Maria Melentieva, architects of the creative group at the Kazan
City Hall, gave a presentation of draft designs. Presenting new specialists,
Tatiana Prokofieva noted that the girls are graduates of the KSUAE in the
specialty “Urban Planning”.
The
accomplishment of the territory of the GIDUV in Butlerov Street is among
large-scale projects, which the architects presented. The territory is divided
into 4 zones: the entrance group of the Kazan State Medical Academy, a quiet
recreation area at the Republican Clinical Ophthalmologic Hospital, a patio,
and an utility zone. Architects suggest installing a bust or bas-relief in
honor of Academician Alexander Luria in the entrance area. The project has
already been presented to Adel’ Vafin, the Minister of Health of the RT, who
estimated it positively.
A small
square named after Vishnevsky, located on the same street, is proposed to be
made more visible and open to the residents of the city. According to the idea
of the architects, it is needed to arrange places for recreation in the park,
plant flower beds with medicinal plants, and restore the monument to the famous
doctor.
It should
be noted that both these projects were developed on behalf of Rustam
Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan.
Another
square, which needs improvement, is located at the intersection of Tatarstan
and Tukay streets. As the architects noted, now the park is isolated due to
shopping facilities. “It would be great to restore order in this territory
since it is an entrance to the historical zone”, added the chief architect. The
Mayor of Kazan also noted that this territory is on the way to the river port, the
city's water gate, and near the Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda. “Such points are very
important for the architecture and perception of the city. It will be a
completely different street and different intersection if this territory
becomes greener”, said the Mayor.
Yulia
Yunusova and Maria Melentieva also offered to restore the sculptures of artist
Grigory Ivanchenko within the framework of the project “The Charms of Kazan”,
which were created from the end of the 80s and are located in different parts
of the city. Architects said that 12 out of 26 sculptures are preserved, and
the most unusual of them is the stele in the square of Molodozeny.
The project
to adapt the fire tower to the information development center of the
Admiralteyskaya Sloboda is designed among others.
After the
presentation of the outline sketches of the green zones improvement, Yulia
Yunusova and Maria Melentieva presented a draft model solution for the
improvement of the city's intersections. They proposed to improve the transport
node on the streets Fucik and Zorge, equip bicycle paths and bicycle parks
there, parking spaces at the exit from the metro, and develop a scheme for
organizing trade pavilions.
Architects
paid special attention to the concept of integrated development of city
streets. One of the ideas is to develop a street passport to identify problems
and develop measures to address them. Assessing the state of the streets, the
architects drew attention to the streets Zavoisky, Gabishev and Dubravnaya,
requiring the development of public yard spaces. Also, the meeting participants
discussed the reorganization of the public space of the KFU’s university
campus.
According
to the architects, the project “Window to Kazan” is being developed now
together with the prefecture “Stary Gorod”. It aims to popularize the history
of wooden architecture. The walls, on which carved platbands could be placed (the
streets K. Nasyri and Kunche), have already been determined and the collection
of platbands is underway. Architects also proposed to place the photo frames in
the Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda.
Timur
Kadyrov, the deputy chief architect of Kazan, spoke about plans to launch the
project “Electronic Islands”. It is proposed to reorganize spaces at busy
intersections where there are large flows of pedestrians. And the quality of
the urban environment requires improvement. The project involves the
improvement and installation of security systems (video surveillance cameras,
emergency call buttons). Following the example of European counterparts,
defibrillators, drinking fountains, areas for bookcrossing, etc. can be located
in such areas of the city.
The Mayor of
Kazan positively reacted to the idea of launching the project “Electronic
Islands”, noting that it would be possible to equip the first such “island” in
the summer at the intersection of Pushkin and Nuzhin streets. According to
Timur Kadyrov, the system assumes the availability of electronic screens with
information on navigation for tourists and on the history of the city.
According to the idea of the architects, each such “island” will be individual,
that is, reflect the history of a particular place. For example, the
abbreviation of the Kazan University can decorate the “triangle” at the
intersection of Pushkin and Nuzhin. A creative contest can be held to develop
an art-object design.
At the end
of the meeting, Zhanna Belitskaya, the main artist of Kazan, voiced proposals
on graffiti and placement of decorative and monumental art objects.