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The White Wing

Well, it’s not exactly white. It’s more of a beige, white-stone structure that plays with the color of limestone – smoother surfaces are lighter, while rougher ones are darker. This wing unites various elements: it absorbs and interprets the surrounding themes. It responds to everything, yet maintains a cohesive expression – a challenging task! – while also incorporating recognizable features of its own, such as the dynamic cuts at the bottom, top, and middle.

26 August 2024
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The northwest building of the second quarter of the “Garden Quarters” is the work of Ostozhenka Architects and it forms a somewhat asymmetrical pair with the southeast wing designed by Reserve Union.

At first glance, it might seem simple: contrast and similarity. One building is black, the other is white; both are quite large, stretched towards 3rd Frunzenskaya Street, with stepped facades that echo each other – almost like they are exchanging glances – with matching steps and protrusions. Both adhere to the design code of the “Garden Quarters”, proposed by Sergey Skuratov, yet at the same time, both are expressions of their respective authors, just as was intended back in 2007. So, it’s not just about contrast and similarity: there are subtler differences and nuances within each theme. These are interpreted with a certain strictness and restraint, reflecting the authors’ beliefs, avoiding flashy sculptural effects, and maintaining a reasonable balance, which contributes to the overall cohesion of the complex. At a glance, making sense of it all might seem like a tall order, but, upon closer inspection, one can indeed discern a lot of nuances of subtleties and similarities.

The quarter itself is almost enclosed. Its courtyard, like all the courtyards of the “Garden Quarters”, is both recessed and multi-leveled, a feature enhanced in the second quarter by the change in elevation – this is where the Moscow landscape gently rises “uphill”. As a result, a small public space has formed along the outer contour of the quarters facing 3rd Frunzenskaya Street – in addition to the impressive urban square with a pond at their center. I’ve already described this interesting space as a “city balcony”.

Indeed, it resembles a balcony – or even two balconies, to be exact.

If you exit under the archway between the fourth and second quarters and turn right at the corner of the black building, you find yourself on a boulevard with stone paving on the right and rather lush (including meadow-like!) greenery on the left.

View of the minor buildings from the side of 3rd Frunzenskaya Street. “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


The paved area is a pedestrian street, and from there, you can turn slightly right, descending a bit: here, in the gaps between the low-rise buildings, are two platforms with glass railings offering views into the courtyard of the second quarter, making it somewhat less secluded from the city. One platform is located between the black and white buildings, the other between the white building’s sections. The first platform hosts a shop, and the second has a café where you can sit comfortably – it’s not exactly secluded, but it’s a quiet and cozy nook with a view of the courtyard from above. It’s indeed a true balcony, an original spatial solution that fits into the multi-level concepts, which have been a signature technique, almost a credo of the “Garden Quarters” since the project first appeared in the public eye.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    View of the minor buildings from the side of 3rd Frunzenskaya Street. “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    View of the monor buildings from the yard. “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


The Ostozhenka building takes up two-thirds of the “city balcony”, as its low-rise section extends twice as far south.

The building itself is taller and more massive than its neighbor, with only two steps instead of three. The larger volume, starting from the neighboring 17-story brick building designed by Sergey Skuratov, stretches to 14 stories along two-thirds of its length, combining three sections, and then drops by only two floors, to twelve, before it turns and halves to six stories in two volumes along 3rd Frunzenskaya Street.

However, there are more ledges and cuts here, especially in the lower part: a large archway, five stories high, one of Ostozhenka’s favorite techniques, plus a through “window” in the body of the building where one of the courtyard bridges adjoins.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


If you look at the façade pattern, it doesn’t follow the rhythmic step of the five sections that make up the extended volume but instead turns into a puzzle reminiscent of Tetris: it’s as if two volumes are joined here – one partially mirrors the steps of the building designed by Reserve Union, but asymmetrically and in the opposite direction. The grid of its facades is noticeably more material, as it uses splayed reveals that widen the spaces between the windows. The other volume seems to be placed on top of it – its grid of reveals, on the contrary, is thin, grouping the windows in pairs vertically, and besides that, it “dissolves” towards the south as the stone gradually gives way to black metallic inserts. To some extent, it reflects the more rigid and measured black structure, but not like in a mirror, more like in water – not in the exact way, not even as a reflection, but more like a retelling. Some kind of dialogue, which is not even a dialogue after all, not really.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka


The theme is repeated on the exterior façade, and as we observe it, we see that three frames above the lobby’s stained glass contribute to the stepped form within the courtyard.

“Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


However, there is quite a bit of dynamism on the facades. For instance, on the end of the elongated building, the grid in the upper part gradually loses its reveals – the two themes, voluminous and thin-boned, blend together unobtrusively.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


And if we look at the smaller buildings, there’s even less stone “matter” there. From the courtyard side, their facades transform into a veritable Mondrian-esque pattern, resembling an asymmetric “sliding puzzle”. On the outside, they are voluminous with reveals, while inside, they become two-dimensional and purely graphical. This is beautiful, light, and harmonizes well with the dark building designed by Reserve Union, which gravitates towards flatness.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


Just a couple of techniques: stone bevels, steps, black metal inserts – but there are many variations of the “melody”, with emphasis sometimes on rhythm, sometimes on volume, sometimes on flatness and line. I believe such diversity became possible because, unlike the neighboring building, essentially only one material was used on the facades of this building. Glass, tinted glass, and black metal as “background” participants don’t count: here, limestone, white stone, is the dominant material.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


And this is very important because the foundation of the “Garden Quarters” design code is brick and white stone.

But if you look globally, there’s more brick in the “Garden Quarters”. In our building, however, it’s just stone. In this, the Ostozhenka building echoes the two buildings by Sergey Skuratov, flanking Roman Klein’s building on Usacheva Street. Their slanted facades form a giant “portal” on either side of Klein, which is echoed on a smaller scale by the rough stone reveals against the smooth exterior surface. Similar reveals, accompanied by stone “steps” accentuating the grid lines, are also present in Skuratov’s stone buildings within the second quarter, on the pond side.

Ostozhenka draws inspiration from its neighbors, incorporating both steps and reveals, but separates them: the first for the fine grid, the second for the denser one.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


The two types of grids – vertical and horizontal, thin and voluminous – also respond to the characteristics of the two neighboring buildings. The thin vertical grid employs the characteristic gradient of gradual “dissolution” of mass (and sometimes color) typical of the “Garden Quarters” and Sergey Skuratov’s buildings, while the horizontal one echoes the chessboard rhythm of Plotkin’s building.

The “Ostozhenka” building unifies and reconciles these elements through both material and composition. It’s as if it says: we can live together peacefully! And indeed, there is no radical contradiction between the vertical and horizontal structures when they are side by side – it’s even more enjoyable.

However, it’s fascinating to observe how sensitively this building responds to all the features of its surroundings while maintaining the integrity of its expression, largely thanks to the material.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


This brings us back to the “Mondrianesque pattern”, mentioned earlier, on the inner side of the smaller volumes – because, when looking at the “Ostozhenka” building as a whole, one can see a progression: from the northeastern pole, where it neighbors Skuratov’s brick building (there the grid is strict and vertical) to the southern buildings (where the grid stretches as in knit weaving, but more geometrically). Finally, in the courtyard, the grid flattens out, transforming into an “abstract painting”.

“Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


And the cutouts – they are significant here, not only dividing the building into parts “for ventilation” but also creating axes, at least two transverse ones, through the courtyard, at the top and bottom. Their shape echoes the window reveals: for example, the upper lintels of the “arches” flare out toward the courtyard.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


These facades are full of movement, inviting you to examine them, compare the parts, ask yourself – why is it like this? Answer that question, move on... The façade grid tells a whole fascinating story here.



The duplex apartments in the “Ostozhenka” building are situated in the upper sections of all the blocks, including the smaller six-story ones. Each of these apartments is equipped with fireplaces, and in the smaller blocks, every apartment on all floors has a fireplace. The duplex apartments also feature terraces: in the smaller volumes, they face the pedestrian boulevard of 3rd Frunzenskaya Street, while in the apartments grouped along the inner contour of the extended block, the terraces overlook the courtyard.

It’s worth noting that the terraces in the “Ostozhenka” building are completely hidden from the outside; they are more like patios, open to the sky but enclosed on all four sides by windows. Without prior knowledge, it’s impossible to guess the intricate design of the upper part of the building. The architects themselves acknowledge that it was the upper section, and not the façade, that became the “real puzzle”. And, as we can see, this puzzle was successfully solved.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Cross-section 1-1 and 3-3
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 7th floor at +21.600 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 13th floor at +43.200 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 2nd floor at +39.600 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 11th floor at +36.000 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 6th floor at +18.000 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 5th floor at +14.400 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 2nd floor at +3.600 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 3rd floor at +7.200 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Plan of the 4th floor at +10.800 elevation
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10. Cross-section 2-2
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka


The lobby interiors, which in the “Garden Quarters” were designed by the authors of each building – tall, two-story spaces – in this case, like the façades, balance on the edge between resonating with the neighbors and making their own statement.

Firstly, all the lobbies feature golden triangles – a motif that feels like a symbol of our time. However, the architects do not use these triangles to create flexible forms, limiting them to a background element on the walls. Some of the triangles are smooth, while others are textured, echoing the treatment of the façades, where limestone is rough (honed) on the main surface and smooth (polished) on the reveals. Interestingly, the polished reveals are darker, revealing cuts of prehistoric shells.

“Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
Copyright: © Ostozhenka


“The main idea of the lobby interiors was to connect all the lobbies with a “golden ribbon”” says Ksenia Berdnikova, the chief architect of the project.

Indeed, the entrance areas are spacious frames with glass walls, their spaces, especially in the evening, glowing with a warm golden light. The stone from the façades continues inside, and black elements echo the black inserts outside; however, in the interior, their role is more active rather than just a background.

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The first sketch of the entrance groups. “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
Copyright: © Ostozhenka


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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka
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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: Photograph © Daniel Annenkov / provided by Ostozhenka


The most striking element in the lobby of the “Ostozhenka” building is the black spiral staircase – an eternal, nearly timeless method for organizing space in a dramatic fashion.

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    “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka
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    The lobby project. “Garden Quarters” housing complex. Quarter 2, buildings 2.7-2.10
    Copyright: © Ostozhenka


Thus, both signature buildings, one designed by Reserve Union and the other by Ostozhenka, mark the culmination of an 18-year-long saga of constructing the iconic residential complex in the heart of Moscow’s elite Khamovniki district. This complex has become a core, a kind of “spine”, both conceptually and plastically, in the history of Moscow residential construction over the past decades and within the city’s urban landscape. It is definitely a highlight by any standards. The two signature buildings bring this saga to a close – each in its own way. They conclude it by conversing with each other while maintaining their distinct characters and individual expressions.

In this architectural dialogue, the “Ostozhenka” building plays a more communicative role.


26 August 2024

Headlines now
​A Brick Shell
In the process of designing a clubhouse situated among pine trees in a prestigious suburban area near Moscow, the architectural firm “A.Len” did the façade design part. The combination of different types of brick and masonry correlates with the volumetric and plastique solutions, further enhanced by the inclusion of wood-painted fragments and metal “glazing”.
Word Forms
ATRIUM architects love ambitious challenges, and for the firm’s thirtieth anniversary, they boldly play a game of words with an exhibition that dives deep into a self-created vocabulary. They immerse their projects – especially art installations – into this glossary, as if plunging into a current of their own. You feel as if you’re flowing through the veins of pure art, immersed in a universe of vertical cities, educational spaces – of which the architects are true masters – and the cultural codes of various locations. But what truly captivates is the bold statement that Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochy make, both through their work and this exhibition: architecture, above all, is art – the art of working with form and space.
Flexibility and Acuteness of Modernity
Luxurious, fluid, large “kokoshniks” and spiral barrel columns, as if made from colorful chewing gum: there seem to be no other mansion like this in Moscow, designed in the “Neo-Russian-Modern” style. And the “Teremok” on Malaya Kaluzhskaya, previously somewhat obscure, has “come alive with new colors” and gained visibility after its restoration for the office of the “architectural ecosystem” as the architects love to call themselves. It’s evident that Julius Borisov and the architects at UNK put their hearts into finding this new office and bringing it up to date. Let’s delve into the paradoxes of this mansion’s history and its plasticity. Spoiler: two versions of modernity meet here, both balancing on the razor’s edge of “what’s current”.
Yuri Vissarionov: “A modular house does not belong to the land”
It belongs to space, or to the air... It turns out that 3D printing is more effective when combined with a modular approach: the house is built in a workshop and then adapted to the site, including on uneven terrain. Yuri Vissarionov shares his latest experience in designing tourist complexes, both in central Russia and in the south. These include houseboats, homes printed from lightweight concrete using a 3D printer, and, of course, frame houses.
​Moscow’s First
“The quality of education largely depends on the quality of the educational environment”. This principle of the last decade has been realized by Sergey Skuratov in the project for the First Moscow Gymnasium on Rostovskaya Embankment in the Khamovniki district. The building seamlessly integrates into the complex urban landscape, responding both to the pedestrian flow of the city and the quiet alleyways. It skillfully takes advantage of the height differences and aligns with modern trends in educational space design. Let’s take a closer look.
Looking at the Water
The site of Villa Sonata stretches from the road to the water’s edge, offering its own shoreline, pier, and a picturesque river panorama. To reveal these sweeping views, Roman Leonidov “cut” the façade diagonally parallel to the river, thus getting two main axes for the house and, consequently, “two heads”. The internal core – two double-height spaces, a living room and a conservatory, with a “bridge” above them – makes the house both “transparent” and filled with light.
The White Wing
Well, it’s not exactly white. It’s more of a beige, white-stone structure that plays with the color of limestone – smoother surfaces are lighter, while rougher ones are darker. This wing unites various elements: it absorbs and interprets the surrounding themes. It responds to everything, yet maintains a cohesive expression – a challenging task! – while also incorporating recognizable features of its own, such as the dynamic cuts at the bottom, top, and middle.
Urban Dunes
The XSA Ramps team designed and built a three-part sports hub for a park in Rostov-on-Don, welcoming people of all ages and fitness levels. The skate plaza, pump track, and playground are all meticulously crafted with details that attract a diverse range of visitors. The technical execution of the shapes and slopes transforms this space into a kind of sculptural composition.
Proportional Growth
The project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential area has been announced. The buildings are situated on an elongated plot – almost a “ray” that shoots out from the center of the area towards the river. Their layout reflects both a response to Moscow’s architectural preferences over the past 15 years, shifting “from blocks to towers”, and an interpretation of the neighboring business park designed by SOM. Additionally, the best apartments here are not located at the very top but closer to the middle, forming a glowing “waistline”.
The “Staircase” Building
In designing the “Details” residential complex in New Moscow, Rais Baishev spiced up the now-popular Moscow theme of a “courtyard” building with an idea drawn from the surrealist drawings by Maurits Escher. He envisioned the stepped silhouettes and descending slopes as a metaphysical mega-staircase, creating a key void within the courtyard that gave the project an internal “spine”. This concept is felt both in the building’s silhouette and on its façades.
Projection of the Quarter
No one doubted that the building that Vladimir Plotkin designed as part of the “Garden Quarters” would be the most modernist of all. And it turned out just that way: while adhering to the common design code, the building successfully combines brick and white stone, rhythmically responding to the neighboring building designed by Ostozhenka, yet tactfully and persistently making a few statements of its own. This includes the projection of the ideal urban development composition “14–9–6”, which can be found right next door, mathematical calculations, including those for various types of terraces (and perhaps the only reminder of the Soviet past of the Kauchuk rubber factory!), and the white “cross-stitch” pattern of the façade grid.
Domus Aurea
In this issue, we examine the “Tessinsky-1” house, designed by Sergey Skuratov and completed in 2023. Located in the middle of the Serebryanicheskaya Embankment district, at the intersection of its main streets, this house assumes a sort of “nodal” role: it not only responds to everything around it and preserves many memories of the former EMA factory within itself, but it weaves all this into a newly directed pattern, reconciling bright “gold” and dark-colored brick, largely with the help of the new, modern-yet-archaic Columba brick, which, come to think about it, is the most precious element here.
The Chimney of Nikola-Lenivets
In this issue, we are examining the “Obelisk House” designed by KATARSIS and built for the Arkhstoyanie 2023 festival. However, it was only finished later on, and this is why we are examining it now. It seems to us that after the “Obelisk House” appeared in Nikola-Lenivets, a dialogue and a few inner connections appeared between the temporary structures built here. These houses no longer look like “accidental neighbors”, more of which below.
​Periscope by the Bay
The jury awarded the second place in the competition for a public and cultural center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the companies GORA (“Mountain”) and M4. In the consortium’s proposal, the building resembles a sperm whale with a calf swimming next to it or a periscope, whose lenses capture the most spectacular views from the surrounding landscape.
From Arcs to Dolmens
While working on the competition project for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, ASADOV Architects prioritized the value of the natural and urban environment, aiming to preserve the balance of the location while minimizing the resemblance of the volume that they designed to a “traditional building”. The task was challenging, and the architects created three versions, one of which having been developed after the competition, where their main proposal took third place. However, the point of interest here is not the competition result but the continuity of creative thinking.
Hide and Seek
The ID Moskovskiy house, designed by Stepan Liphart in St. Petersburg, in the courtyards near Moskovskiy Avenue beyond the Obvodny Canal and recently completed, is notable for several reasons. Firstly, it has been realized with considerable accuracy, which is particularly significant as this is the first building where the architect was responsible not only for the facades but also for the layouts, allowing for better integration between the two. On the other hand, this building is interesting as an example of the “germination” of new architecture in the city: it draws on the best examples from the neighborhood and becomes an improved and developed sum of ideas found by the architect in the surrounding context.
The Big Twelve
Yesterday, the winners of the Moscow Mayor’s Architecture Award were announced and honored. Let’s take a look at what was awarded and, in some cases, even critique this esteemed award. After all, there is always room for improvement, right?
Above the Golden Horn
The residential complex “Philosophy” designed by T+T architects in Vladivostok, is one of the new projects in the “Golubinaya Pad” area, changing its development philosophy (pun intended) from single houses to a comprehensive approach. The buildings are organized along public streets, varying in height and format, with one house even executed in gallery typology, featuring a cantilever leaning on an art object.
Nuanced Alternative
How can you rhyme a square and space? Easily! But to do so, you need to rhyme everything you can possibly think of: weave everything together, like in a tensegrity structure, and find your own optics too. The new exhibition at GES-2 does just that, offering its visitor a new perspective on the history of art spanning 150 years, infused with the hope for endless multiplicity of worlds and art histories. Read on to see how this is achieved and how the exhibition design by Evgeny Ace contributes to it.
Blinds for Ice
An ice arena has been constructed in Domodedovo based on a project by Yuri Vissarionov Architects. To prevent the long façade, a technical requirement for winter sports facilities, from appearing monotonous, the architects proposed the use of suspended structures with multidirectional slats. This design protects the ice from direct sunlight while giving the wall texture and detail.
Frozen Magma
A competition for the creation of a public and cultural center was held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Three architectural companies made it to the final, and we consider it important to share about the work of each. Let’s start with the winner – the consortium led by Wowhaus.
Campus within a Day
In this article, we talk about what the participants of Genplan Institute of Moscow’s hackathon were doing at the MosComArchitecture booth at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition. We also discuss who won the prize and why, and what can be done with the territory of a small university on the outskirts of Moscow.
Vertical Civilization
Genpro considered the development of the vertical city concept and made it the theme of their pavilion at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition.
Marina Yegorova: “We think in terms of hectares, not square meters”
The career path of architect Marina Yegorova is quite impressive: MARHI, SPEECH, MosComArchitectura, the Genplan Institute of Moscow, and then her own architectural company. Its name Empate, which refers to the words “to draw” in Portuguese and “to empathize” in English, should not be misleading with its softness, as the firm freely works on different scales, including Integrated Territorial Development projects. We talked with Marina about various topics: urban planning experience, female leadership style, and even the love of architects for yachting.
Andrey Chuikov: “Optimum balance is achieved through economics”
The Yekaterinburg-based architectural company CNTR is in its mature stage: crystallization of principles, systematization, and standardization helped it make a qualitative leap, enhance competencies, and secure large contracts without sacrificing the aesthetic component. The head of the company, Andrey Chuikov, told us about building a business model and the bonuses that additional education in financial management provides for an architect.
The Fulcrum
Ostozhenka Architects have designed two astonishing towers practically on the edge of a slope above the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod. These towers stand on 10-meter-tall weathered steel “legs”, with each floor offering panoramic views of the river and the city; all public spaces, including corridors, receive plenty of natural light. Here, we see a multitude of solutions that are unconventional for the residential routine of our day and age. Meanwhile, although these towers hark back to the typological explorations of the seventies, they are completely reinvented in a contemporary key. We admire Veren Group as the client – this is exactly how a “unique product” should be made – and we tell you exactly how our towers are arranged.
Crystal is Watching You
Right now, Museum Night has kicked off at the Museum of Architecture, featuring a fresh new addition – the “Crystal of Perception”, an installation by Sergey Kuznetsov, Ivan Grekov, and the KROST company, set up in the courtyard. It shimmers with light, it sings, it reacts to the approach of people, and who knows what else it can do.
The Secret Briton
The house is called “Little France”. Its composition follows the classical St. Petersburg style, with a palace-like courtyard. The decor is on the brink of Egyptian lotuses, neo-Greek acroteria, and classic 1930s “gears”; the recessed piers are Gothic, while the silhouette of the central part of the house is British. It’s quite interesting to examine all these details, attempting to understand which architectural direction they belong to. At the same time, however, the house fits like a glove in the context of the 20th line of St. Petersburg’s Vasilievsky Island; its elongated wings hold up the façade quite well.
The Wrap-Up
The competition project proposed by Treivas for the first 2021 competition for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025 concludes our series of publications on pavilion projects that will not be implemented. This particular proposal stands out for its detailed explanations and the idea of ecological responsibility: both the facades and the exhibition inside were intended to utilize recycled materials.
Birds and Streams
For the competition to design the Omsk airport, DNK ag formed a consortium, inviting VOX architects and Sila Sveta. Their project focuses on intersections, journeys, and flights – both of people and birds – as Omsk is known as a “transfer point” for bird migrations. The educational component is also carefully considered, and the building itself is filled with light, which seems to deconstruct the copper circle of the central entrance portal, spreading it into fantastic hyper-spatial “slices”.