Construction stop in Russia: Status quo
Anna Moldenhauer: Which projects have currently been stopped by UNStudio in Russia?
UNStudio: With the understanding of our clients, we have currently suspended the K31 Courtyard in Moscow, the JetBrains office campus in St. Petersburg and the Blagoveshchensk Cable Car Terminal. UNStudio also recently won the competition for the Sochi Waterfront Concept Masterplan.
Do you plan to resume them after the end of the war?
UNStudio: Unfortunately we cannot predict when or why the war will end, nor what the situation will be in Russia when it does. There are possible scenarios which could mean that continuation could be possible, but equally there are scenarios that would make this improbable, if not impossible.
Why do you think it is important to stand up for morality in architecture?
UNStudio: This is an extremely complex topic, not least because the question itself already assumes that we are to consider that there is only one singular and superior morality. It could be said that such thinking has been, and still is, the root cause of much human conflict. But as designers, we are all too aware of the significance of architecture beyond its function, of its capacity to represent the progression of cultural norms, beliefs and morals. History also has plenty of examples of those in power appropriating architecture to maintain their influence. Creating architecture is intrinsically a moral act in one way or another. But in the end, we build, we facilitate, we shelter. Destruction and violence are the antithesis of what we do.
There are critical voices that say that in previous wars there was no such great solidarity on the part of architectural firms with the country under attack. What is your position on this?
UNStudio: We can only speak for ourselves in this situation. UNStudio stands for peace globally and condemns all violent acts, especially those that are carried out on innocent civilians. In the case of the war in Ukraine, we felt strongly that we wanted to make a public statement because UNStudio works on projects in both countries and employs extremely talented designers from both countries. As such, we want to express our support to both our colleagues and the contacts in our professional network who are directly affected by this situation.
Are you planning to get involved in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war is over?
UNStudio: Again, we unfortunately cannot predict when the war in Ukraine will end, or what the situation will be when it does. We are also aware that further escalation is always a possibility. So it’s not possible for us to answer this question just yet.
What are you working on at the moment?
UNStudio: We are working on projects of all different scales in many different countries, including the STH BNK by Beulah development in Melbourne, the Booking.com HQ in Amsterdam, FOUR, a mixed-use project in the heart of Frankfurt, and the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong.
