Revitalizing History: Ges 2 Multimedia Art Center

Mariia Lipina Transforms a Power Station into a Modern Cultural Hub

The design inspiration for Ges 2 was rooted in the understanding of the building's historical significance. Built in 1904, the structure had lost its original appearance due to numerous additions and alterations. Lipina's design aimed to restore the building's former sense of space by removing new partitions and outdated industrial equipment, while preserving historical elements to retain the memory of the place.

The unique properties of the design lie in its delicate fusion of the old and the new. The building's transformation involved maintaining the existing structure as a shell and introducing new volumes within its space. The design features several rectangular containers divided into three levels, housing temporary mobile installations that can display text, graphic, and video information, and even offer interactive experiences.

The realization of this design involved the use of materials that complement the existing structural elements of the building. LED tubes of various sizes, concrete, and thin sheets of black metal were chosen. The new concrete floor was designed to maintain a respectful distance from the historical elements of the building. On two facades of the central container, the metal sheet is bent like a petal, creating a sense of relief on the surface of the box and allowing visitors to appreciate the majestic industrial building from all angles.

The design's technical specifications highlight the building's history as a power station for tram-line energy supply. The exterior and interior walls of the building are made from ceramic brick, with pilasters provided in the walls to support the beams and roof structures. The design's interaction with visitors is carefully considered, with a sequence of "black" (dark) and "white" (well-lit) spaces housing the majority of the works in rooms set within the existing interior.

The project, which started in February 2017 and concluded in June 2017 in Moscow, was presented at the British Higher School of Art and Design. The design process involved extensive research, including measurements and technical inspections of the building's structures, geodesic surveys of the facades, and tests on load-bearing structures. One of the main challenges was to balance the heavy, historical architecture with the new, independent architectural volume without overloading the space.

The Ges 2 project was awarded the Golden A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2018, a testament to its outstanding and trendsetting design. This award recognizes creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.