Last Sunday I spent with my friends in New Holland.
New Holland is the name of 8-hectare island in the centre of St. Petersburg. It is bordered by two canals and a river. The island was conceived by Peter the Great in 1719, and became Russia’s first military port in 1721. It belonged to the military since its foundation and had thus been closed to the general public for 300 years.
The initial island function was a storage of ship timber. Later it was also used as prison. In Soviet times it was also a place for testing some vessels and submarines.
For us, citizens of St. Petersburg, New Holland was always kind of a mysterious place, because you passed it by million of times, but you could never get inside.
Here are some pictures from www.newhollandsp.com
And now, the city decided to revive the territory of New Holland and to transform the site into a "dynamic, mixed and integrated quarter that will be open to all to enjoy". The company that is entrusted to make it happen belongs to Roman Abramovich.
There was a design competition among leading international architecture practices. The design contest was won by the US WorkAC (by the way I was also voting for them).
Here are some images of their project (more about their concept: http://work.ac/new-holland-island-st-petersburg/)
Before the works started, New Holland was open for public this summer. For the 1st time in 300 years!
So, that's what we saw last Sunday with my friends:
Nice summer cafe in the courtyard of (former prison - ?)
Playgrounds:
and vegetarian garden "rented" by some trendy city companies:
organic Fred Perry))))
some contemporary art installations:
Very cosy little island to be in)))
New Holland is the name of 8-hectare island in the centre of St. Petersburg. It is bordered by two canals and a river. The island was conceived by Peter the Great in 1719, and became Russia’s first military port in 1721. It belonged to the military since its foundation and had thus been closed to the general public for 300 years.
The initial island function was a storage of ship timber. Later it was also used as prison. In Soviet times it was also a place for testing some vessels and submarines.
For us, citizens of St. Petersburg, New Holland was always kind of a mysterious place, because you passed it by million of times, but you could never get inside.
Here are some pictures from www.newhollandsp.com
And now, the city decided to revive the territory of New Holland and to transform the site into a "dynamic, mixed and integrated quarter that will be open to all to enjoy". The company that is entrusted to make it happen belongs to Roman Abramovich.
There was a design competition among leading international architecture practices. The design contest was won by the US WorkAC (by the way I was also voting for them).
Here are some images of their project (more about their concept: http://work.ac/new-holland-island-st-petersburg/)
Before the works started, New Holland was open for public this summer. For the 1st time in 300 years!
So, that's what we saw last Sunday with my friends:
Nice summer cafe in the courtyard of (former prison - ?)
Playgrounds:
and vegetarian garden "rented" by some trendy city companies:
Despite its brutal historical background, the place has very positive and light energy.
Very cosy little island to be in)))
No comments:
Post a Comment