On September 22, applications for participation in the Open International Competition for development of an architectural concept for the Galiasgar Kamal Tatar State Academy Theatre ended. 537 architects took part in the competition. Among others, bureaus whose projects are world famous are competing to develop the concept of a new theatre building. 

The contestants provided a portfolio of their projects and an essay. An important condition is consideration of the unique image, national significance, continuity of traditions and the potential of the location on the shore of Lake Kaban.

The geography of the competitors is vast, including 14 different countries. Architecture firms from the following cities participated: Alma-Ata, Barcelona, Bolzano, Brussels, Vienna, The Hague, Evesham, London, Mumbai, Nantes, New York, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Florence, Chicago, Shanghai, Stuttgart, as well as Russian companies from Kazan, St Petersburg, Moscow, Naberezhnye Chelny, Ekaterinburg, Nizhnekamsk, Makhachkala, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, and Ufa.

The teams that submitted applications were divided into 26 consortia (according to the competition rules, foreign architecture bureaus unite with Russian companies) and 13 individual contestants (legal entities and entrepreneurs) who work in the territory of the Russian Federation.

In October, the jury, chaired by Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, will select seven finalists who will create and submit designs for a new theatre building. The winner will be announced on February 3, 2022.

The initiators of the competition are President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the Galiasgar Kamal Tatar State Academic Theatre. The Competition is supported by the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Executive Committee of Kazan city and the Institute for Urban Development of the Republic of Tatarstan Fund. The operator of the competition is the International Urban Laboratory CENTER Lab.