Greetings from Moscow: Zaryadye Park by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

A 10-hectare new public space – Zaryadye Park – recently saw its inauguration in the heart of Moscow. Featuring five pavilions, an underground museum, two amphitheatres, a concert hall and a spectacular viewing platform that extends a long way out over the river, it offers more than just rest and recreation in a verdant setting. Commenting on the park's design, Charles Renfro says, "Zaryadye Park provides a public space that resists easy categorisation. It is at once park, urban plaza, social space, cultural amenity and recreational armature".

In 2012 the City of Moscow organised an international architectural competition for transformation of the historical area – once the site of river trade and the former Rossiya Hotel – into a public park. The design submitted by the architectural office Diller Scofidio + Renfro in partnership with Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers came in first in a field of over ninety entries.

The varied open space programme offers natural, artificial, urban and landscape elements in close proximity.  Regional Russian landscapes – tundra, steppe and forest – are emulated in various landscape zones, plus historical landmarks such as the Kitai Gorod Wall and Znamensky Monastery are also integrated into Zaryadye Park's "invisible" architecture.