Moscow gets new architecture institute

(Strelka Institute)

The Strelka Institute, a new center for media, architecture, and design, opened May 25 with a lecture by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

The founder of the OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) and one of today's most influential architects directs a postgraduate course at the freshly launched institute and was one of the driving forces behind the project.

Located on the grounds of the former Red October Chocolate Factory, two steps from the Kremlin, Strelka aims to architecturally rethink the Russian capital, which has a reputation for its chaotic urban planning.

"The Institute is aimed at raising a whole new generation of architects, designers and media specialists, whose efforts will shape the world of the 21st century," the institute states on its website.

With four studios, a lecture hall, a media library, a large courtyard amphitheater and meeting hub Bar Strelka - in addition to a neighborhood of galleries, media companies, and design practices - the institute hopes to become a new cultural center in Moscow.

For more information on the curriculum as well as summer events for non-professionals, visit http://www.strelkainstitute.com.