Tyufeleva Roshcha Park

Tyufeleva Roshcha Park is a 10-hectare public park in the heart of one of the largest private development endeavors in Europe called “ZilArt,” a 90-hectare mixed-use neighborhood designed to restitch an urban fabric that, for decades, was interrupted by the Zil automotive factory.  Opened in the Summer of 2018 (after years of significant land remediation), the park is positioned to be flanked by many new cultural institutions, such as a major theater and the new Moscow Hermitage Museum, as well as a commercial boulevard, office buildings, and multiple residential blocks.  The park will have its own Metro transportation hub that is integrated with Moscow’s larger public transport network.  The role of Tyufeleva Roshcha Park (named after its heritage as an orchard, prior to the site becoming an industrial plant) is to establish a vibrant open space amenity for the ZilArt development.  

In the first stages of the design process, !melk was able to cultivate enthusiasm and conviction (both with the Owner and the City of Moscow) to prioritize the realization of the park over any other component of the masterplan so that the park would function as a catalyst, both sparking community interest as well as contributing to the overall memorability of ZilArt as a new, exciting neighborhood in Moscow.  Since its opening, Tyufeleva Roshcha Park is now one of the most popular day-trip destinations for Muscovites!

The design of the park, replete with program areas, is based on a diagonal-grid connecting the transportation hub (and the new Metro station) with the prominent cultural corridor.  This grid became the main organizing framework for the park, consisting of a progression from intricate urban hardscape areas (on the east side) to larger recreational zones (on the west side of the park).  !melk’s planting strategy emphasizes the east-to-west gradient by featuring a native palette of shrubs and trees, carefully selected to highlight Moscow’s seasonality.

Superimposed, and offering a completely separate layer of park experience, !melk designed a spectacular prototypical park structure that was intended to combine and consolidate typical park program, such as kiosks, pavilions, pergolas, elevated walkways, furnishings, lighting, AV equipment, and even water features into one single element, 1,6-km in length!  Nicknamed the “Assembly Line”, this element - in combination with the base park - offers a new type of park experience, as visitors are able to alternate between a traditional park circulation network and a journey full of surprises and unexpected moments, which is created by the Assembly Line.  Depending on how one interacts with the Assembly Line - whether by following it as a “park loop” at ground level, or climbing up to one of its many overlooks and elevated walkways, or enjoying the spectacle of yet another integrated element, the retention pond - it is clear that this is a carefully free-formed counterpoint to the mathematical composition of the overall park ground-plane.  Lastly, the Assembly Line attraction echos the revered industrial history of the Zil Automotive brand, which for decades stood as a heroic symbol of the Soviet era. 

Besides the iconic Assembly Line structure, the park features highly popular playgrounds, sports fields, and a multiplicity of spaces and places.  All park elements and experiences have been tailored to be appealing for year-round use, and to accommodate a variety of activities that may occur, which includes park access during day and night.  Tyufeleva Roshcha Park is conceived as a fully democratic park, making it appropriate for all people, of all ages and abilities, and for the neighborhood, it has already been successful in helping to create a sense of community and source of civic pride!