GES-2 Power Station / GES-2 House of Culture: Architectural Tour

The two faces of the building and its transformation from a power station into a House of Culture from the perspective of architectural history and theory, engineering, and game design.

If this is your first visit to GES-2 and you would like to learn more about the structure of the institution and its current programmes, we invite you to join the tour Meet GES-2 House of Culture.

English-language mediated tours of GES-2 House of Culture typically take place on weekdays.

To learn more about group tours or to request one, please email us at mediationcalls@v-a-c.org.

The building of the former GES-2 power station has stood for more than a century. The original design by architect Vasily Bashkirov, electrical engineer Mikhail Polivanov, and engineer Nikolai Sushkin had a series of distinctive features: the central nave with its metal framework, the traceried clock-tower, the decorative details of the facade in the neo-Russian style, and others. Until it became a listed monument in 2009, the building was continually redesigned: it lost the top of its tower during the course of modernisation, and sprouted a series of additions, forming a vast complex that nevertheless remained largely invisible to the people outside.

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It was this problem that Renzo Piano—the author of the GES-2 reconstruction project, pioneer of high-tech style in architecture, laureate of the Pritzker Prize, and senator of the Italian Republic—sought to solve. Following the principle of genius loci (Latin for “the spirit of the place”), the architect restored the building to a form as close as possible to its original state, while also expanding on the ideas of his predecessors by introducing advanced technological solutions, structures, materials, and landscaping. Thanks to Renzo Piano, we can now explore architecture in its continuous connection to the building’s history—from the GES-2 power station, which once produced energy, to GES-2 House of Culture, the purpose of which is to produce culture.

Official partner of the GES-2 House of Culture mediation programmе.

We invite you to discuss with our mediators the architectural features of the power station (1904–2009), the reconstruction project (2017–2021), the preserved and restored elements of the building, its modern engineering systems, and newly designed spaces. During the tour, we will address the specific approach of RPBW (Renzo Piano Building Workshop) to this project: the key functional solutions, technologies, materials, sustainability mechanisms, and renewable energy systems certified to LEED Gold standard, as well as Renzo Piano’s unique methods of working with light, spatial versatility, and toponymy. Alongside the actual architectural elements, we will examine original plans, sketches, renderings, project documentation, and photographs from various years.

To broaden the potential scope of this tour, we have consulted members of the original design contractor team, architectural historians and researchers, a specialist in theatrical architecture, and a game designer.

We welcome professionals, researchers, and practitioners, as well as everyone interested in architecture, design, urbanism, and contemporary approaches to the design of cultural institutions. Together, we will seek answers to the following questions: which elements of the building have survived from the pre-revolutionary period, and which were added later? What are the key features of the new engineering structures and systems of GES-2? What are the principles behind the design of the building’s interior spaces—the Playhouse, Prospekt, Classrooms, and offices? What parallels can be drawn between the GES-2 building and early Christian basilicas, the Centre Pompidou, and Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace? What visitor routes through the building were conceived by the architect, and what are the possible ways of enhancing the “gameplay” of GES-2?

Consultants

Ekaterina Androshchuk
Alexei Vorobiev
Ekaterina Valkova
Alexander Gevak
Alexander Kozhevnikov
Dasha Nasonova
Marat Nevlyutov