Art collector and philanthropist Dasha Zhukova is launching an ambitious campaign to connect Moscow to the international art world, and she’s tapped architect Rem Koolhaas to execute her vision

Dasha Zhukova and Rem Koolhaas photographed by David Bailey. Zhukova wears Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane wool gabardine jacket, $3,790, pants, $990, and silk georgette shirt, $1,290, all 212-980-2970 Photography by David Bailey For Wsj Magazine

It's a radiant day in Moscow, and two of the city’s most creative collaborators, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and Russian-born art impresario Dasha Zhukova, have donned white construction helmets as they stride excitedly through Gorky Park, the 300-acre riverside expanse that was, until recently, a symbol of Russia’s urban blight. Created in the 1920s as a Soviet recreational paradise, the once-verdant park fell into decay after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, its barren fields scattered with broken carnival rides and roamed by drug dealers. The $2 billion renovation, which began in 2011, has transformed Gorky Park overnight into an Oz-like retreat, amid Moscow’s economic tumult, that would not seem out of place in Seattle or Barcelona. We pass manicured lawns adorned with flower gardens; chic cafes serving gyoza and wood-fired pizza; and yoga and capoeira classes by the Moscow River. There are jogging trails and a state-of-the-art bicycle-sharing program. Wi-Fi is available in every leafy nook......Continue Reading

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