Chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov told the foundation “Change one life” about the family, the midlife crisis, success and charity.
Sergey Kuznetsov, a former co-owner of SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov, was officially appointed Chief Architect of Moscow in 2012. In 2001, he graduated from the MARHI, the architectural bureau “SLK-Project” founded during his studies. Then he became a partner and general director of the workshop “S. P. Project”. In 2006, the workshop became part of the bureau “SPEECH Choban & Kuznetsov”, which Kuznetsov founded together with architect Sergey Choban. The Bureau has completed more than 50 projects, including a residential complex in Granatny Pereulok of the capital, the Yuzhny district in Skolkovo, and an office building on Udaltsova Street. Since 2008, together with Sergey Choban, he has published the architectural magazine Speech.
– What do you think, at what age does a person begin to think about family values, about relatives, about what he will leave behind?
– I began to think about family values very early, evaluating what kind of parents I have and comparing myself with other children. I saw children from single-parent families or orphans and compared myself to them. So at the age of five, I was fully aware of how lucky I was to have parents. And the understanding of what I want to do in life and what I want to leave behind came at the age of 14-15. At that moment, I had already started studying to be an architect and knew why I was doing it, what joy I got from it, and what contribution I wanted to make to the development of society.
– Why can’t everyone solve this problem? After all, there are many people who realize that they have not found themselves in life, and are disappointed.
– The question of finding yourself in life, what you like to do is very important! It is good that this ” like” is creative, and not destructive. It is clear that any person needs action, in the saturation of life. And if he does not find creative saturation, then there is a destructive one – alcohol, drugs, etc.And creative saturation is much more difficult to find. And this is a matter of working on yourself.
Many people are not willing to spend a lot of effort. Although, this is a matter of evaluation from the outside. Maybe people don’t rate themselves that way. Most people live in a way that does not suit either themselves or others. But they do not look for the cause in themselves, but look for it in external circumstances. Successful people, when talking about their success, never talk about luck. They talk about work, about education, maybe even about the right contacts, but not about luck.
– Can a single person be self-sufficient? Do you think there must be a full-fledged family with children or not? What does a family give a person?
– How many people, so many opinions. All people are different and they have different family values. And a single person can probably be self-sufficient. Although my opinion is that the family must be with children. Children are wonderful! For me personally, I do not see the topic “family without children”. I already have three of them.
And my family gives me a sense of home, peace, relaxation, positive emotions. Children are the embodiment of selfless love, motivated by nothing but human affection.
There are more and more people suffering from selfishness in the world, and few people living for society. Even in friendship, we are often motivated by the principles of common goals or mutual benefit. Therefore, there is always a need for such a relationship.
– How to educate children in independence, responsibility for decision-making?
– Only by personal example. I don’t know any other ways. All explanations and arguments are meaningless if there is no personal example.
– What advice do you give to those who think about volunteering, charity or social business at a certain moment?
– I myself participate in some charity programs and I can say that this should not be done for show, but because charity is a very interesting and motivating activity. It gives a lot of positive emotions and allows you to look at many of your problems differently.