One of the most impressed me objects visited recently is ARC of BERNASKONI – 13.2 meter high structure built within ArchStoyanie Festival in 2012 in Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluzhskaya area, by Boris Bernaskoni.
This square black pavilion with the triangular arc inside stands on the border between forest and a field, and from one side through the arc we can see the forest, from another one – the field. It can automatically be associated with an entrance. Probably, it was a mythological entrance to the festival.
The pavilion itself includes several absolutely different (and even contrary, like observation deck and a well) functions: it is a portal, it is a triumphal arch, it is a bar, it is a room/space for installations/discussions/thinking, it is an observation deck, it is a well. It is like a hybrid, mix, interlacing of spatial interpretations, however, balanced and beautifully composed.
There is a version that Bernaskoni aimed to make an object which could compete with Rotunda of A.Brodsky (the main object in Nikola-Lenivets at those time, located not far from Arc of Bernaskoni) and simultaneously be oppositely distinct from it: Rotunda is cylinder, Arc is parallelepiped, Rotunda is white, Arc is black, Rotunda has a hearth inside, Arc has a well. I do not think it was a real reason. Anyway, it is no sense to repeat someone else project instead of developing something new.
Abstracting from the original concept and fictional comparisons, the most challenging facts about this object for me personally were the way of the construction and, furthermore, an effect from the colour applied.
The arch was build from 6-meter wooden planks placed horizontally in different distances (in accordance to the project), rotated in different directions (mainly, perpendicularly but also diagonally to perform the spiral staircase) and (if I understood correctly) connected by steel cables (invisible from outside). Gaps between planks created the natural light sources. The cuts of wood were reused for small details. The project was fulfilled during four months: two months for the project development and two months for the construction. The pavilion was built without author’s supervision, only by drawings, which tells about an importance of the clearly prepared project information.
The structure was painted in black. I could not find a real reason why Boris Bernaskoni decided to make it black, but it seems being a right decision as it makes the whole installation (outside and inside) more powerful, impressive, emotional. I am not sure I would cover the same feelings if the ARC was painted in white, for instance. Especially, if we are talking about interior where the black colour together with the limited source of natural light creates a very special, a bit mysterious, but still calm atmosphere. I think it would not be possible to achieve with using of white colour; red would be, probably, too aggressive; any other colours would be superfluous.
Recently reading about Peter Zumthor works, I automatically created a parallel between his extremely atmospheric objects, mostly dark or black, and this ARC of Bernaskoni. When Peter Zumthor was asked why he used such an unexpected in nature colour like black in his Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, which represented a border between the aggressiveness of the city and a calm, beautiful garden located inside the pavilion, he said that black colour is good for being prepared. I think he meant mental purification to further perception of the beauty of nature and thoughts. It (black colour) provokes to think.
Another correlation of using a black colour as a key one in the exterior and interior was mentally created with Utrecht University Library, the Netherlands. Before coming there it was almost unbelievable for me that the black colour can be successfully used in such functional space like a library, which demands a lot of light for comfortable reading. Almost all tables in that library were occupied. It was not empty. It really works. And there were no feeling of darkness and insufficiency of light. All this tells that the black colour can be very strong and powerful in architecture (probably, even much more that the white one), capable to create extremely unique and atmospheric spaces, triggering the emotions and forcing to think, however, only in well-thought conjunction with natural lighting.
Coming back to Bernaskoni, I also found interesting his thoughts about society and architecture. He said that ‘Architecture is the politics. It always expresses what is happening in the society. Form always follows the content. Constructivism, architecture of Stalin’s and Khrushchev’s times are such, because the society was such as it was at those time. This is communication at the level of system of values. From todays Russian architecture it is seen that level of communication is low’ (free translation from Russian).
He talked about architecture in our country from the global view, however, unfortunately, it can also be applied in much smaller scale towards the most of people in our country. The society has what it does. It is good when people do not avoid of problems, take some responsibilities and in spite of bureaucracy try to initiate and develop improvements of some small local questions, such as elementary repair at the common entrance hall or a driveway near the house. However, there are still a lot of people who does not even know how to cooperate with a management company of their house, how to reelect it or to force to improve something; people who even basically avoid to express their opinion regarding others’ initiatives. Inaction and indifference are the worst. That is one side of the coin.
From another side, it is very encouraging to notice that our architectural market is developing during last years: more good architectural bureau; more initiatives, competitions; more challenging realized projects; raised attention to architectural education. It is probably an illusion of the person who was not involved in the architectural market a couple of years ago at all. However, we definitely have some positive trends. Even 5-10 years ago we did not have any noticeable projects, which created a new space oriented for the society – similar to landscape projects which WOWHOUSE does today. We were constructing a lot, however, only for profit. It seems that today our architecture became a bit oriented on the society. People who involved into development of our architectural market – from organisation of once-only competition similar to ‘Architect’s yard’ managed recently by ARCH Moscow, Garden Fest and ARCHiPEOPLE; to regular organization of annual local architectural exhibitions and festivals; to setting up of local prizes like a relatively new but already well-known in Russia Archiwood prize (in spite of being set up in collaboration with Finnish company HONKA), which during the last four years selected and awarded the best projects constructed from wood in Russia; and to development of architectural education - all those professionals involved in these processes and also architects and students who take part in competitions deserve our attention and respect. And, definitely, all these comments also relate to Nikolay Polissky, founder of ‘Nikola-Lenivets’ and ‘ArchStoyanie’ projects – platforms for interaction between professionals and young architects, and within which the ARC of BERNASKONI was realised.
Inna Vostrikova
IAD, Level 5
June 21, 2014
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