Summer Cinema at Fili Park
Address: Bolshaya Filyovskaya, 22, Moscow, RussiaWorkshop leaders: Dmitry Likin, Oleg Shapiro
Architect: Olga Rokal
Photos: Ilya Ivanov
The success of Pioneer, the summer cinema at Gorky Park, is triggering a wave of interest from Moscow’s other major parks, as memories of this once hugely popular form of outdoor entertainment revive.
A summer cinema opened in Fili Park (one of the city’s biggest public parks, stretching over 200 hectares along the Moscow River) in spring 2014. Uniquely, its design is fit for use in other places: the cinema has a ‘kit’ design that can be adapted to the needs of any particular park.
— design a summer cinema for Fili Park
— create a summer cinema ‘kit’ for parks: a set of ready-to-use solutions for both separate elements and the entire cinema complex to be selected depending on the needs of the park.
Like in Gorky Park, the most basic solution was chosen for Fili Park, a solution that lets the open-air element add even more joy to the movie-watching experience at this venue. The white lightweight roof gives the cinema a recognisable shape and shields visitors from bad weather. A cafe and a recreational area were added to the cinema complex in Fili Park.
The solution used in Gorky Park served as the basis for this project. It is the most elementary interpretation of cinema: an amphitheatre and a screen. However, an analysis of the specific requirements of Fili and other parks allowed for an even more tailored solution in this case. On top of that, the requirements of different parks were put in a scheme that lets architects pick and choose elements for a new summer cinema.
At Fili Park, the task was not just to design a cinema, but to create an ultimately multi-functional space. Movies only play at night, and many other activities can take place at daytime.
The roof became the cinema’s most eye-catching feature: a lightweight construction consisting of a white tent on a timber support that fits with the park’s atmosphere. For those taking a stroll in the park, the energetic silhouette will be a new reference point, making the cinema a local landmark.
The roof is light and tall. In good weather visitors will still feel as if they are in a summer cinema, in a park, in nature. And when rain does come, there is no need to interrupt any lecture, movie showing, or children’s party.
For other happenings such as master classes or celebrations the area in front of the screen has been enlarged, turning the amphitheater with its broad steps (that are also equipped with sockets) into a large space suitable for any kind of activity.
The low platform in front of the screen can be used as a stage for theatre performances or lectures.
Anticipating other types of activity taking place at the cinema, its premises have also been equipped with facilities such as a make-up room for theatre performances and ample space to store materials - for instance for a children’s party.
For Fili Park yet another element was added: the complex is built on a wooden platform, on the other side of which a cafe and a recreational area can be found.
The bevel of the roof matches the tilt of the support structure of the tent.
Furthermore, a new type of fencing was created for Fili Park’s open-air cinema. Like in Gorky Park, the fence doesn’t impede relaxing in the surrounding nature, but otherwise the designs are different. On the one hand, it serves to emphasise the cinema’s oblique lines; on the other, it protects the cinema even better from unauthorised movie showings or trespassing.
