GES 2

LOCATION: Moscow, Russia

PROGRAM: Centre for Contemporary Art

FLOOR AREA: 38 000 sqm

TYPE OF PROCUREMENT: commission

YEAR: 2015 - 2021

CLIENT: The V-A-C Foundation


© RENZO PIANO BUILDING WORKSHOP
The GES-2 project converts a former classified electric power station into a venue for contemporary art. The design team’s quest was to “create a new social and cultural experience that will celebrate visual and performing arts, music, but also science and sustainability”. Exhibition spaces, laboratories, venues, and landscape create a unique architectural promenade in and out of this magnificent monument and among its lacelike industrial era steel structure.

The project’s defining components are:

“the chimneys”
The four brick chimneys, visible throughout the city skyline, are reinvented to become the building’s signature feature. Having for years exhaled polluted air, they are now transformed into sustainable devices that intake clean air 70m above the city skyline, while activating natural ventilation and reducing energy consumption (filtering processes are simplified).

“the birch forest”
A patch of typical Russian nature is brought into the city center. About 650 birch trees are planted on the roof of the underground landscaped extension.

“the solar roof”
A translucent roof almost entirely covered with photovoltaic panels (ca. 7’000 sqm) is designed to produce up to 10% of the building’s total electrical consumption.