New Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg
Last June, with the accompaniment of international media attention, the decision was made for a second stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St Petersburg. This opera house, famous worldwide, also due to its director and conductor Valery Gergiev, will receive a contemporary second building, built in close vicinity of the existing Mariinsky Theater, on the other bank of Kryukov canal, with additional 2000 seats. It will fully meet present day performance and technical demands. In order to underline the importance of this project for the Russian Federation, an international invited competition was launched in which the French architect Dominique Perrault, already long a figure amongst the world's architectural elite due to his Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, emerged as the winner. The decision of the jury, in favour of Perrault's design, was, above all, based on five criteria:
— The outer appearance of the building with its "golden skin", both homogenous and amorphous, not only represents a new landmark for the city of St Petersburg, but also creates a theatrical background for the historic building of the existing Mariinsky Theater.
— The design fulfills the wish of the stakeholder of the competition, not only in regard of the theatergoers, but also for all visitors to St Petersburg, in creating a semi-public, lively space, which, in the form of a large and representative foyer open to all, stretches over several levels.
— Stage and auditorium not only meet the technical demands to an extremely high degree, but, moreover, the design underlines the festive and emotional character of the place.
— Within the urban fabric Perrault convinces with a telescopic brigde connection over the canal which separates the old and new buildings. The brigde serves the technical functions of staging procedures of the two performance venues.
— St Petersburg, famous worldwide for its outstanding historical architecture and incomparable city shape, will receive an architectural symbol for the breakthrough of the city into the new century.
The project has reached the preliminary planning stage and will be completed in 2008. The exhibition will display the architectural design as well as the actual state of planning, by means of models and drawings. The presentation will be illustrated by videos of the Mariinsky Theater, interviews and comments with Valery Gergiev and Dominique Perrault, as well as by computer-generated images of the new theatre's design.
