Russian Pavilion - i- city

i- сity AREP; SPEECH Tchoban/Kuznetsov; David Chipperfield Architects; Valode& Pistre; Mohsen Mostafavi; OMA; SANAA; Herzog& de Meuron; Stefano Boeri architetti; Project MEGANOM; MDP/Michel Desvigne paysagiste; BERNASKONI architecture bureau Commissario/Commissioner: Grigory Revzin. Curatore/Curator: Sergei Tchoban. Curatori Aggiunti/Deputy Curators: Sergey Kuznetsov, Valeria Kashirina. Sede/Venue: Padiglione ai Giardini This year at the XIII Architecture Biennale in Venice, Russia will be presenting an exhibition devoted to the Skolkovo Innovation Center project. The theme of this year's biennale – common ground - brings to mind a reliance on tradition, working together, joint effort and ambition, all of which are required elements for moving forward. This is why the Skolkovo Innovation Center project has been chosen for this year's Russian exhibit in Venice as it is fully in keeping with the theme of the exhibition. An unprecedented number of well-known international and Russian architects have joined forc-es to work on the Skolkovo project. Their combined efforts are of enormous importance if architecture, planning and technological innovations are to be put into practice in Russian urban-planning. The unique solution that allows the visitors to experience the rich multimedia content has been developed by TreeLev LLC, Russia’s leading mobile application developer. To best reflect the details of the Skolkovo Innovation Center project, we have come up with an original concept which combines demonstrating the architectural and planning projects with a presentation of the scientific and technical innovations. The exhibit's design has made active use of IT innovations to draw the visitor into an interactive perception of the informational content. The exhibit consists of two parts corresponding to the planning pattern for the pavilion which was built in 1914 designed by Alexey Shchusev. The main part is housed in a suite of three rooms on the first floor and represents the different working stages of the Skolkovo project: from the planning concept to individual sites representing the focus of future development, and from the planning of individual areas to the results of competitions for individual elements of the development. The second part, housed on the lower level, uses photographs and newsreels to bring the history of 37 Soviet science towns, or "Naukograds", to life. In this way, visitors to the pavilion will achieve an understanding of how the historic experience of building and creating classified Soviet science cities has, under the influence of modern world trends, transformed into a concept of open, modern urban planning in which scientific achievements and hi-tech are not just an end in themselves but also a vehicle for improving the quality of people's lives.