Russia: New parliament designs all rejected

All three of the finalists have had their designs rejected and the competition will be restarted

A competition to design Russia's brand new parliament building will be re-run after none of the initial designs were deemed suitable, it's reported.

Three finalists had presented architectural models of their plans, but the judging committee rejected them all, in part because they have too many windows, the RBK website reports. "All finalists' projects feature a lot of glass," says Yelena Panina, the committee's deputy head. "This will create problems in the upkeep of the building and it will be cold in the winter."

In June, members of Russia's upper house of parliament took part in an informal vote to choose their favourite design. Most preferred a symmetrical building, featuring a large central rotunda flanked by two long wings, which bore more than a passing resemblance to the US Capitol building. But now the competition will start from scratch, with the committee issuing more detailed specifications later in the year. Construction is due to start in 2016.

At the moment Russia's upper and lower houses of parliament - the Federation Council and the State Duma - are based in two different buildings in central Moscow. They will be under the same roof in the new building, but the move is also aimed at ending traffic chaos caused by the police closing off roads to give precedence to MPs, the Moscow Times reported in September. One bonus for parliamentarians will be a much shorter commute. The new site is in northwest Moscow, not far from a plush suburb where many lawmakers already live.

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