Kyiv, Ukraine

Mystetskyj Arsenal

The basic principle behind the Mystetskyj Arsenal masterplan is provided by the site’s extraordinary urban setting. Two factors especially characterise the location, which until recently was in military use and directly borders the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery. On the one hand there is a former ordnance factory, the Old Arsenal, that determines the scale of the area with its huge dimensions. On the other, there are the mounds of the Kyiv Pechersk fortress, a historic rampart that runs through the compound and divides it in two. The integration of the historically reconstructed ramparts, turning a formerly divisive element into a connecting and attracting one, is a principal objective. By embedding the fortifications in a park-like setting, they become a sculptural element within the gardens. The character of the gardens, in turn, is to a large extent shaped by the position and dimension of the planned buildings. Seven functions to be integrated can broadly be divided into two separate categories: a state-financed, cultural part, and a more commercially-oriented one. The first group includes a museum of contemporary art, which is to complement the planned gallery spaces in the converted Old Arsenal, and a concert hall that complies with the highest international standards. The museum is distinguished by its striking façade construction and functional clarity. While the glass base and the two top glass floors contain the foyer, administration and workshops, the exhibition spaces are withdrawn and lie behind closed concrete walls. The setback of stories allows for daylight to enter through peripheral skylights. The more commercial part of the site includes a cinema complex as the venue for an annual film festival, a hotel, a centre for creative industries and an administrative building. During the design process, simple structures were consciously sought to strengthen the general outline of the park, but also as a suitable response to the smaller and more delicate buildings and squares in the adjacent monastery complex. On the side of the ramparts already defined by the Arsenal, the museum and concert hall are positioned as free-standing buildings, marking the entrance to the area and creating a clear border to the street. On the other side of the ramparts, opened at targeted points by incisions, the free-standing festival cinema completes the ensemble. The rest of the buildings stand along a new connecting road, closing off the site to the west and completing the city block in a larger urban context. The masterplan for Kiev’s new cultural centre is distinguished by simple elegance; its new buildings are deliberately tempered beside the Old Arsenal and the monastery, thereby further underlining the historical significance and uniqueness of the setting.

Architect: David Chipperfield Architects
Principal: David Chipperfield
Director: Mark Randel
Project Architect: Cyril Kriwan
Project Team: Andrea Garcia Crespo, Ivan Dimitrov, Ulrike Eberhardt, Sebastian Epkes, Annette Flohrschütz, Pavel Frank, Gesche Gerber, Dirk Gschwind, Michael Haverland, Soeren Johansen, Mikhail Kornev, Thomas Kupke, Dalia Liksaite, Fernando Martinez, Marcus Mathias, Lijun Shen, Ute Zscharnt
Landscape Planning: Wirtz International N.V., Schoten, Belgium
Structural Engineer: Ingenieurgruppe Bauen, Berlin
Renderings: Jens Gehrken, Berlin (stage one)
Imaging Atelier, Helsinki (stage two)
Model: Fernando Gonzales