Did you know that the Zaryadye Park, which cost more than $480 million to construct, also boasts of the amazing Soaring Bridge and a media center that serves as an educational site to learn more about Russia's history, among other features?

The Zaryadye Park, a landscape urban park located adjacent to Red Square in Moscow, Russia, was opened in 2017 on the site of a former hotel (the Rossiya Hotel that was built in 1967 but was demolished in 2007). The park is the first new park in Moscow for over 50 years, and its construction cost more than $480 million. The area of the Zaryadye Park's facilities is almost 78,000 square meters, of which 25,200 square meters is occupied by a multipurpose concert hall. The park also has an underground parking lot for 430 cars. 

Plans for a new park were first raised in 2012 when the city of Moscow and its chief architect Sergey Kuznetsov organized a design competition to transform the historically privatized, commercial Zaryadye area into a public park. An international design consortium led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) with Hargreaves Associates, Citymakers and BuroHappold Engineering was selected out of 90 submissions from 27 different countries. The selected competition design sought to create a park borne of Russian and Muscovite heritage.

The main feature of the park is its facilities hidden under the landscape, while the park itself is divided into four climatic zones: forest, steppe, tundra, and the floodplains. These zones are organized in terraces that descend from northeast to southwest, with each layering over the next to create a total of 14,000 square meters of enclosed, programmed spaces integrated into the landscape: nature and architecture act as one.

Visitors can enjoy a river overlook cantilevering 70 meters over Moscow River, a media center, nature center, restaurant, market, two amphitheaters and a philharmonic concert hall. Another feature of the new park is a picturesque view of the Kremlin, which visitors can enjoy over the Moskva River from the Soaring bridge, a thin airy V-shaped structure with a large outward extension above the water. The bridge protracts 70 meters without a single support. The bearing structure of the bridge is made of concrete and the decorative elements are made of metal; the deck is wooden. The construction withstands a load of 240 tons corresponding to three to four thousand people. High fences are installed so that no one can climb or jump over the sides of the bridge.

The media center in the park covers an area of 8500 square meters and exhibits Russian natural and architectural sights that covers various topics of the Russian history, such as the Battle of Borodino, the fire of Moscow, and the Council at Fili. AIt is the only digital media hall in Russia with a cylindrical screen and an interactive image virtually transports viewers to the times during the formation of Moscow. In one of the pavilions of the media center, viewers are shown films about cultural monuments, protected areas and historical places of Russia. In the cinema, three rows of chairs are located on a movable platform in front of a concave screen, its shape creating a panoramic image. 

An Ice Cave with a stylized pavilion with an interactive exhibition tells visitors about the history of development of the Far North. In one part of the pavilion, a negative temperature is maintained. For the thickness of the ice, freezing of about 70 tons of water is required. The temperature in the cave does not rise above -2 °C and does not fall below -12 °C. The cover of the cave itself is a natural white colour. An educational site, the "Conservation Embassy", was also started in it. Employees of national reserves and other environmental institutions are able to conduct educational programs here, as well as exchange experiences in the field of biology and ecology.

In the Zaryadye Park, there is a concert hall with an amphitheatre. The building under a glass dome with an organ and a stage-transformer is a multifunctional concert venue. The building is set into the hill and it is possible to walk along its roof. Only the glass facade remains open. The new Philharmonic replaces the concert site of the demolished Rossiya Hotel, on the site of which the park was built. It hosts symphonic music, as well as pop and jazz concerts.

The large amphitheatre adjoins to the Philharmonic and it is covered with a dome, the so-called glass bark, to protect the audience from the rain. The amphitheatre is a stepped landscape design descending from the hill to the stage. The spots are made of wood. The paths between the rows are filled with small pebbles and become part of the drainage system. The amphitheatre organically fits into the natural landscape of the park. The large open amphitheatre in Zaryadye can accommodate 1500 spectators. The small amphitheatre, in which a media screen is installed, is designed for 400 visitors. The screen is used for film screenings, concerts, lectures and other events. The design of the summer amphitheatre was developed by the winner of the 2012 competition for the project of Zaryadye Park.

On a 12-meter parabolic screen, viewers sitting on special dynamic platforms are shown about 30 unique natural locations in Russia, taken from a height. In one session the attraction is able to accommodate 40 people, and its capacity is 400 spectators per hour.

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