Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, has announced the details of a long-anticipated architectural project: the restoration of Gorky Park’s Hexagon pavilion by Japanese architecture firm SANAA.
The pavilion currently sits disused next to Garage’s home in the park. Once restored, the venue will add 9,500 square meters to Garage’s footprint with three exhibition galleries, a library, a bookstore, and a café, along with its centerpiece, an open public courtyard, all located steps away from its main OMA-redesigned building along the eastern corner of Gorky Park. The Hexagon is currently planned to open to the public in 3 to 5 years.
First built in 1923 for the “First All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Industries Exhibition,” the Hexagon fell into disuse after a series of fires and was declared a protected monument by municipal authorities in 1999.
“The Hexagon, originally designed by legendary Russian architect Ivan Zholtovsky, will be revived by SANAA’s thoughtful and sensitive design, allowing Garage to ground itself in Russian history while expanding into the current global conversation,” said museum co-founder Dasha Zhukova.
“The scale, geometry, and proportions of the original building are very impressive and beautiful,” said SANAA founders Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. The Hexagon “appears like a classical building but also feels very modern. We wanted to find a way to respect this original design while finding a new way for the people to use this new public building.”
