Zaryadye Park

Zaryadye is one of the oldest districts of Moscow, a minute’s walk from the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square. For several years at the turn of the first decade of the 21st century, there was an active discussion of options for further development of the site on the site of the demolished Rossiya Hotel, until in 2012 a decision was made to create a unique park here, which could become a center uniting pedestrian and green areas of Moscow and a driver for the regeneration of the historical city center.
In 2013, an international competition was held, which was won by a consortium led by Diller Scofidio + Renfo (USA), in collaboration with Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers (Russia). Subsequently, a number of highly qualified companies and bureaus joined the work on the project of the park and objects on its territory, including the Moscow Architectural and Art Design Institute named after Academician Polyansky, which acts as a designer of the park and underground structures.
Zaryadye Park will be one of the most advanced landscape and architectural facilities of our time in design and equipment. It will harmoniously combine nature, objects installed in the landscape and urban spaces. The main volumes of the park are hidden underground, which allows, on the one hand, to preserve the exposed panoramas, and on the other, to create a rich cultural and educational infrastructure that will allow the park to operate all year round. The principle of natural urbanism proposed by the authors of the project will allow us to organically weave a new public space into the historical fabric of the city, connect traditional and new pedestrian routes, and reveal significant urban panoramas.
The territory of the park has a significant difference in relief, descending from Varvarka to the Moscow River. Thanks to this, visitors will enjoy unique panoramas of the historical monuments of Varvarka, Kitay-Gorod, the Kremlin and Zamoskvorechye. A special observation deck will be created on the territory of the park, on an artificial hill that partially hides the Philharmonic building. Thanks to the unique spatial large-span structure, called the “Glassbark”, park guests will be able to admire the views all year round.
Another complex object of the park from a technical and constructive point of view will be the “Ice Cave” - a space where anyone can feel what the real cold of the Russian north is like, as well as learn about the famous Arctic expeditions.
Several buildings in the park will not be hidden under the relief, but rather will become new architectural landmarks of the city. Namely: the Philharmonic building, a hotel complex on the corner of Varvarka and Kitaygorodsky Proezd and a new embankment with a soaring bridge. From the park it will be easy to get to the embankment to the river bus pier through an underground passage, where the historical foundations of the Kitai-Gorod Wall will be open to visitors. An openwork bridge structure will be thrown over the coastal part of the park, which will be connected to the embankment by a transparent elevator shaft. The floating bridge will become a new observation deck, which will offer a beautiful view of the Kremlin, the central Moscow embankments and the park itself.
Maintenance of the park infrastructure will take place through an underground parking lot, which will avoid crossing the flow of visitors and service personnel.