Working in tandem

Over the past five years, developers have held much more architectural competitions. Foreign architects are invited more often. However, none of ambitious projects, where the masters of architecture were invited, has taken place.

In particular, the architects involved Kurokawa, Moss, Perrault, Wilkinson, architectural bureaus WORKac, MVRDV.However, the collaboration has not worked out.
Igor Onokov, General Director of “Leontief cape”, explains: "The difference between Europe and us is that we need not just architects, able to implement a particular project, but the architects who can get through the jungles of our laws and regulations. As sad as it sounds, many experts become guides to these jungles and lose their creative component in the process of long-term approvals.
This leads to the fact that the winner is not a more creative person, but the person who can figure out in a series of changing laws and regulations. Therefore, there are just few modern objects in St. Petersburg with the concept, developed in collaboration with local and international experts. Not all the ideas of foreign architects can be adapted to the realities of Russia."
This happens partly due to the complex negotiation barriers and the current construction regulations. It takes up to 70% of the project implementation process to get all needed approvals. In terms of time, it may take years, which automatically makes the project profitless for a developer.
Evgeny Bogdanov, General Director of Finish project bureau “Rumpu”, says: "In my opinion, partnership of Russian and foreign architects is the most effective configuration. The representative of the Russian market knows our mentality, which is definitely different from the western one, is familiar with the special aspects of the Russian consumer, legal constraints and the availability of construction materials on the Russian market. In this case, the architect is required to have international experience as well. Having domesticated Western technology, and having adapted it to the Russian reality, one can create a new and very high-quality product."
The Russian architects still do not have enough experience in the implementation of modern facilities, they lack knowledge of technologies that are used in the world, experts say.
"For example, it is still difficult to find local experts who know how to make buildings with no columns. Modern architecture expenditures are surely repaid; Western architects can also tell the customer how to save money using a variety of architectural and engineering solutions, how to increase the amount of usable and workable space," says Olga Ponomareva, “Leorsa” Vice-President, investor “Eightedges” Business Centre.
Vera Setskaya, President of “GVA Sawyer”, concludes that in recent years, the good practice of cooperation between foreign and Russian architects has been formed: "Sometimes it is a creative union of two companies; these are often foreign companies that have established representation offices in Russia and have employed Russian specialists. For example, the company “Aedas” (now AHR)”.

Opinion:

Evgeny Bogdanov, General Director of Finish project bureau “Rumpu”
"On the Russian market architects face market constraints with increasing frequency. Private companies tend to exhibit pre-budget guidepost. Thus, the architects will not design expensive objects, trying to do their best to ensure the price of the project is not beyond the planned cost."