The children’s popular science festival “Constructor” took place at VDNH—from the central pavilion “House of the Peoples of Russia” to the “Stone Flower” fountain. I served as one of the festival’s art directors: I conceived the “Pasta Bridges,” “Giant Puzzle,” “Kinetic Sculptures,” “Rubik’s Cube Mosaic,” “Drone-drome,” “Racing Pit Stop,” “RC Racing,” and “Chemical Constructor” areas (8 out of 20 in total). My level of involvement varied: I supervised some areas from start to finish, while in others I contributed only the initial concept.
Pasta Bridges Area
For this area, we invited an engineering team from Riga Technical University in Latvia, STIKS, represented by Sanda Anderson, Lauris Lubgans, Krišjānis Silikis, Mārtiņš Kikeris, Lauris Lodītis, and Kristaps Zeps—organisers of the Baltic Pasta Bridge Building Championship and World Championship prize winners. Special templates for two types of bridges were produced for the project, and a substantial amount of equipment was purchased: glue guns, Dremel tools, power drills, consumables (bolts and screws of various sizes, two-component adhesive and hot glue, rubber bands, and, most importantly, pasta of various types and sizes for different bridge elements), as well as printed blueprints.
I conceived the project and handled most of the related activities: I met the team at the airport, supervised them in Moscow, organised the delivery of materials, and coordinated communication between the Latvian team and the festival organisers. Over the two days, more than 150,000 people passed through the area. The stand was divided into three zones: an exhibition zone (featuring professional bridges built by the team in a Moscow workshop two days before the festival), a workshop zone (where children and adults built bridges under the guidance of the Latvian team and volunteers), and a show zone, where bridges — both professional and visitor-made — were destroyed under load. The record for a visitor-built bridge was 39 kg. The host of the area was Fyodor Voskresensky.
Racing Pit Stop Area
To organise this area, we invited representatives of the Russian Circuit Racing Series (RCRS). The main coordination from the RCRS side was carried out by Director of Marketing Communications Elena Loseva, while the area itself was organised by the teams B-Tuning led by Andrey Sevastyanov and Goltsova Racing represented by Efim Gantmakher.
I conceived the project, after which we jointly developed a detailed plan of activities. The area consisted of four zones: an art zone (where children painted Efim Gantmakher’s racing car), a pit stop zone (where visitors competed in high-speed wheel changes), a demonstration zone (where professional mechanics demonstrated pit stop techniques), and a play zone (featuring a partially disassembled racing car accessible to all children without restrictions). Over the two days, more than 150,000 people passed through the area. The host of the area was Kirill Kachnov.
Giant Puzzle Area
The area featured a giant puzzle with a total area of 238 m2 (14 by 17 metres), depicting the central pavilion of VDNH, the “House of the Peoples of Russia”, photographed from the main façade. The puzzle was assembled directly at the shooting location, in front of the pavilion, with participation from all visitors under the guidance of professional assembler Anastasia Chukina, a participant in Russian championships. On average, participants completed the puzzle in 1.5–2 hours, after which volunteers disassembled it and the cycle repeated. Spectators could observe the process from a specially constructed stand. The ultra-high-resolution photograph was taken specifically for the festival by Valentin Monastyrsky. I acted as the conceptual initiator (that is, I developed the concept) and also took part in discussing the specific details.
Kinetic Sculptures Area
To organise this area, we invited professional kinetic sculptors Boris Bazhenov and Alexander Bombin, members of the creative alliance ArtMechanicus. They brought their kinetic works to the festival—“Fish-House,” “Battering Ram Fish,” and “Dragon Lamp”—as well as components that visitors could set in motion themselves, adding an interactive element. I acted as the initiator of the kinetic sculptures area and also introduced the festival organisers to the ArtMechanicus team.
Rubik’s Cube Mosaic Area
A result of joint creative effort: I proposed that the “Constructor” festival should feature a large-scale mosaic made of something, and Adrian Khmelnitsky suggested using Rubik’s cubes, effectively solving two tasks at once. To implement the project, I invited a team of Moscow speedcubers led by Alexey Polyashov. The cubes were provided by the entertainment store Cut Corner Cubes. Over two days, the speedcubers assembled what was at the time the largest Rubik’s Cube mosaic in Europe, consisting of 3,080 cubes and depicting the Fountain of Friendship of Peoples, and also conducted speedcubing workshops for visitors.
Drone-drome Area
While giving lectures at the Drone Expo Show exhibition, I met Dmitry Litvinov, head of the combat drone stand Byrobot. Dmitry proved to be an excellent organiser and, at my invitation, created a large drone-themed area at the “Constructor” festival. The area was divided into several zones: in one, children learned to operate quadcopters; in another, advanced aerial manoeuvres were demonstrated; in a third, drone components were printed on 3D printers brought to the festival; and so on. The area consistently attracted a great deal of interest.
RC Racing Area
The radio-controlled car racing area was organised almost at the last moment. It was led and organised by Dmitry Malyshko from RCmotors. The area consisted of two zones and a podium. In the first, professionals and amateurs competed in off-road driving of RC models; in the second, advanced drivers demonstrated their drifting skills.
Professor Nikola’s Chemical Constructor Area
In fact, organising this area was as simple as calling the “Mad Professor Nikola Show” and arranging their participation in the festival—which is exactly what I did.
