По-русски

The Arch and the Triangle

The new Stone Mnevniki business center by Kleinewelt Architekten – designed for the same client as their projects in Khodynka – bears certain similarities to those earlier developments, but not entirely. In Mnevniki, there are more angular elements, and the architects themselves describe the project as being built on contrast. Indeed, while the first phase contains subtle references to classical architecture – light touches like arches, both upright and inverted, evoking the spirit of the 1980s – the second phase draws more distantly on the modernism of the 1970s. What unites them is a boldly expressive public space design, a kaleidoscope of rays and triangles.

17 April 2025
Object
mainImg
Architect:
Nikolay Pereslegin
Sergey Pereslegin
Georgy Trofimov
Firm:
Kleinewelt Architekten http://www.kleinewelt.ru/
The Mnevniki floodplain is undergoing intensive development now. Over the past few years, the residential complex “Ostrov” has been under construction here, along with several sports venues, including Irina Navka’s Ice Palace. A government building and a new circus are also planned for the area. This narrow loop of the Moskva River – until recently a purely natural landscape – now presents a striking contrast: forest, vacant land, fences, construction sites, and already completed buildings and squares, often clustered around metro stations.

From the functional standpoint – for now, at least – the area is dominated by housing and sports infrastructure; offices are a natural addition in such a setting. The emergence of the Stone Mnevniki business center is therefore quite logical and connects with other projects by the same developer and largely the same architects, Kleinewelt Architekten, such as Khodynka 2 and 3. That area, too, is a developing district, although slightly further along in its residential development. Typologically, the business centers in Khodynka and Mnevniki are related. Similarities can also be seen in their spatial compositions: each consists of three buildings constructed in two phases, laid out in a longitudinal sequence.

Stone Mnevniki is located in a spot well-suited for a business center – between the main route running through the floodplain, the Nizhnie Mnevniki Street, and the slope of the Moskva River. The elevation drop is modest – only 6 meters – just beyond an almost perfectly flat site where the first phase of the business center is already under construction. The riverbank will also be landscaped in the future, and there is also a municipal development plan for the entire Mnevniki riverfront.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Location plan
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The business center will greet drivers coming from Zvenigorodskoe Highway, appearing on their right just before they reach Ostrov. At present, the two are separated by the site of the former Galalit factory, which was shut down in the 1960s. The main thoroughfare provides excellent accessibility for motorists, and the underground parking garage spans two levels. From Terekhovo metro station, it’s about a 10-15-minute walk.

The road gradually curves toward the Moskva River, giving the site a trapezoidal shape – almost that of an elongated triangle whose sharp point directs toward Zvenigorodskoe Highway. The development phases are arranged accordingly: the first phase, located in the southwest part of the plot, features a tower-like building with a nearly square base and 18 stories. The second phase includes two 12-story volumes connected by a bridge structure stretching from the 3rd to the 10th floor.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The bridge has a rooftop terrace, and underneath it, a wide “arch” is formed – a design element popular among architects of the 1970s but largely abandoned in later decades. This arch is intended to provide open access to the riverfront, as well as views of the water, the golf course on the opposite bank, and the distant “Island of Fantasy. It’s quite possible that in late June, when the sun sets in the northwest, its last rays will shine directly through this arch – and also between the buildings of the first and second phases.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The “arch” rests on round columns, allowing for a substantial span – about 23 meters wide. The columns are set at a slight diagonal, echoing the plot’s geometry and the angled facades facing the river. This configuration also helps shape a plaza on the side facing the road: the western building of the second phase steps back toward the river, allowing the space under the bridge and the area in front of the building to merge into a square. At the entrance to the arch, there are double-height lobbies on either side that serve as the main entrances for each building.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II. Ground Floor Plan at 0.000
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II. Typical Floor Plan (Levels 3–8)
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II. Plan of the 12th floor
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The square and the “arch” lend the site both a truly urban character and permeability, offering a direct pedestrian link from the main road to the embankment while introducing a touch of spatial intrigue. The high canopy of the arch provides shelter from the rain – making it an ideal spot for café seating with views of the river and the sunset. At the same time, it conveys a sense of wonder, as a massive structure appears to float above, and we are able to walk through the building in a passage that is both open and expansive. This quality – along with its functional benefits – is what made 1970s-era bridge structures so compelling, and why they are being revived today.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The views have been carefully considered – not only from the Mnevniki side but also, crucially, from the river. Here too, sunlight plays an important role, especially at sunset, with reflections coming from both the glass surfaces and the water itself. The business center stands right at the edge of the descent to the riverbank, making it highly visible from the water.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


A clarification is in order at this point. The reason we put “arch” in quotation marks when referring to the second phase is that it doesn’t actually have an arched shape. It’s more of an opening or a passage than a true arch, although we’ve grown up calling such underpasses in modernist structures “arches”. Still, the term is a kind of convention. In Moscow, the 1950s to 1970s weren’t particularly fond of arches as a form. Only in the 1980s – leaving aside Niemeyer’s influence – did architects begin to reconsider them. At the same time, Moscow has quite recently experienced what one might call an “arch craze”, dating roughly from the late 2010s into the early 2020s. These newer arches are mostly decorative and stylized, stripped of traditional architectural elements like imposts or such like.

And the building from the first phase gives us exactly such arches.

The facades of this building are conceived as double-skin – and in a very emphatic way. The outer “shell” is set back from the inner glass prism by about two meters. It is pierced by large arches: one on each façade near the top. These arches are inverted and resemble Gothic “horns” or fortress “crenellations”, although the resemblance is all but distant. Meanwhile, the top of the outer surface appears to “slip off” the inner prism in a deliberate way, evoking distant echoes of a fortress tower. This building serves as the vertical focal point of the entire business center.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


The outer shell is composed of closely spaced vertical metal louvers. They enhance the building’s slenderness and act as an intermediate surface in front of the façade, producing various visual effects depending on the viewing angle – sunlight reflections and highlights during the day, and a naturally shifting pattern of interior light in the evenings. It goes without saying that, unlike the large parabolic arches – neo-modernist in character – the louvers are a “classic” device from the 1970s, refined to near-perfection in that era and executed in a range of formats. The only difference is that now they’re made of metal, not concrete.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


There are only two lower arches, positioned directly opposite each other on a central axis: one marks the entrance from the highway side, the other from the river. The riverside exit is rendered fantastically well in the visualizations – you almost feel like asking for a swim there.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


Both arches rise to a height of six stories and are outlined with prominent, protruding archivolts made of glass-fiber-reinforced concrete. There is no through-passage between the arches: there’s a lobby on the highway side, with turnstiles, security, and six elevators; there are side exits on the lateral facades, and there’s a café at the corner facing the river – for people strolling along the embankment and for employees alike.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I. Ground Floor Plan at Elevation 0.000
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I. Sixth floor plan at elevation +21.300
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


I’ll say it plainly: in my imagination, a luxurious six-story atrium “tunnel” between the two arches, with panoramic elevators, would be perfectly fitting here. But it would have taken up a third of the entire vertical volume, and ultimately, this isn’t a Moscow City skyscraper – spatial efficiency is also a consideration here.

  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten
  • zooming
    STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase I
    Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


Still, these decorative arches – impressive portals forming the two main façades of the first phase – echo the through “arch” passage of the second phase.

A kind of dialogue emerges between them.

And also between the two phases as a whole: according to the architects, it’s a dialogue of contrast.

Nikolay Pereslegin, «Kleinewelt Architekten»

In this project, we deliberately tried to make things as contrastive as possible: a light, vertically elongated glass volume – almost weightless – stands next to a horizontally stretched building, confident in its form. They seem to reflect two states – movement and stillness, air and earth. This contrast is not just a visual device but a means to create a striking and memorable silhouette, where nature and architecture come together, not overpowering one another but enhancing each other. We wanted harmony to emerge from this opposition.


However, it’s important to note that this contrast doesn’t amount to conflict – the overall business center reads as quite cohesive.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Isiness Center. Phase I
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


From the city side, it greets us with a truncated prow; from the “Ostrov” complex side, with a somewhat monumental gesture made through its deliberately unfinished-looking propylaea and “tell-tale” inverted arches.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


Indeed, the first-phase building is more monumental – you might even see a tetrapylon in it, a nod to Roman monuments on the forum… It’s all arches and verticals. The second phase next to it is more horizontal, with a diagonal grid, a through passage, and slanted façade planes – much more “modernist.”

Even so, the contrast is handled mostly through nuance. All the buildings are glass; all the lower tiers are “stone” and, what’s more, they are planned to be clad in real stone – although, in my opinion, concrete wouldn’t be a bad fit either. Again, there are subtle differences between the two: the first-tier of Phase One leans toward 1980s solutions, with schematic lines near the tops of pilasters that even suggest – with just a hint, mind – capitals of a column.

zooming
STONE Mnevniki Business Center. Phase II
Copyright: © Kleinewelt Architekten


In the second phase, the pilasters are slanted, cut at the bottom, with structural cantilevers; and the texture resembles concrete more closely.



In other words, the already-under-construction first phase leans toward the 1980s – a time fascinated by classicism, though still in a softened form – and is also “calibrated” to meet the aesthetic interests of the 2020s. The second phase, slated for later construction, leans toward the 1970s. It’s an intriguingly particle-wave sort of logic in the search for historical models.

A separate chapter of the project is the landscaping design. The architects proposed paving made from differently toned triangles, and they extended the same “radiating” concept to the design of benches, planters, and flowerbeds. The result is rather bold: while the first-phase “tower” with its arches supports the themes introduced by the “Ostrov” complex – which in its middle zone is fairly classical in spirit, with a block layout and art deco clubhouses – the eastern buildings completely break stylistically from that context, evoking a different kind of nostalgia: a modernist one. And that, it must be said, is much more relevant today than arches as such. So everything is accurate and on point – the evolution is headed precisely in that direction, and it doesn’t contradict the overall modernity of the business center as a whole: it is, after all, quite contemporary, with all its glass and metal.

In the end, the bold, angular landscaping ties it all together, like a kind of “leap into the future”. Star shapes, lighting effects… a kaleidoscope.

Architect:
Nikolay Pereslegin
Sergey Pereslegin
Georgy Trofimov
Firm:
Kleinewelt Architekten http://www.kleinewelt.ru/

17 April 2025

Headlines now
View
“Strangers” in the City
We asked Alexander Skokan for a comment on the results of 2025 – and he sent us a whole article, moreover one devoted to the discussion we recently began on the “appropriateness of high-rises” – or, more broadly speaking, “contrasting insertions into the urban fabric”. The result is a text that is essentially a question: why here? Why like this?
Interview
Dmitry Ostroumov: “To use the language of alchemy, we are involved in the process of “transmutation...
What we ended up having was an extremely unusual conversation with Dmitry Ostroumov. Why? At the very least, because he is not just an architect specializing in the construction of Orthodox churches. And not just – which is an extreme rarity – a proponent of developing contemporary stylistics within this still highly conservative field. Dmitry Ostroumov is a Master of Theology. So in addition to the history and specifics of the company, we speak about the very concept of the temple, about canon and tradition, about the living and the eternal, and even about the Russian Logos.
Object
A Glazed Figurine
In searching for an image for a residential building near the Novodevichy Convent, GAFA architects turned to their own perception of the place: it evoked associations with antiquity, plein-air painting, and vintage artifacts. The two towers will be entirely clad in volumetric glazed ceramic – at present, there are no other buildings like this in Russia. The complex will also stand out thanks to its metabolic bay-window cells, streamlined surfaces, a ceremonial “hotel-style” driveway, and a lobby overlooking a lush garden.
Report
A Knight’s Move via the Cour d’Honneur
Intercolumnium Architects presented to the City Planning Council a residential complex project that is set to replace the Aquatoria business center on Vyborgskaya Embankment. Experts praised the overall quality of the work, but expressed reservations about the three cour d’honneurs and suggested softening the contrast between the facades facing the embankment and the Kantemirovsky Bridge.
Object
A Small Country
Mezonproekt is developing a long-term master plan for the MEPhI campus in Obninsk. Over the next ten years, an enclave territory of about 100 hectares, located in a forest on the northern edge of the city, is set to transform into a modern center for the development of the nuclear energy sector. The plan envisions attracting international students and specialists, as well as comprehensive territorial development: both through the contemporary realization of “frozen” plans from the 1980s and through the introduction of new trends – public spaces, an aquapark, a food court, a school, and even a nuclear medicine center. Public and sports facilities are intended to be accessible to city residents as well, and the campus is to be physically and functionally connected to Obninsk.
Object
Pearl Divers
GAFA has designed an apartment complex for Derbent intended to switch people from a work mode to a resort mindset – and to give the surrounding area a much-needed jolt. The building offers two distinct faces: restrained and laconic on the city side, and a lushly ornate façade facing the sea. At the heart of the complex, a hidden pearl lies – an open-air pool with an arch, offering views of a starry sky, and providing direct access to the beach.
Object
A Satellite Island
The Genplan Institute of Moscow has prepared a master plan for the development of the Sarpinsky and Golodny island system, located within the administrative boundaries of Volgograd and considered among the largest river islands in Russia. By 2045, the plan envisions the implementation of 15 large-scale investment projects, including sports and educational clusters, a congress center with a “Volgonarium”, a film production cluster, and twenty-one theme parks. We explain which engineering, environmental, and transportation challenges must be addressed to turn this vision into reality. The master plan solutions have already been approved and incorporated into the city’s general development plan.
Object
The Amber Gate
The Amber City residential complex is one of the redevelopment projects in the former industrial area located beyond Moscow’s Third Ring Road near Begovaya metro station. Alexey Ilyin’s studio proposed an original master plan that transformed two clusters of towers into ceremonial propylaea, gave the complex a recognizable silhouette, and established visual connections with new high-rise developments on both right and left – thus integrating it into the scale of the growing metropolis. It is also marked by its own futuristic stylistic language, based on a reinterpreted streamline aesthetic.
Object
A Theater Triangle
The architectural company “Chetvertoe Izmerenie” (“Fourth Dimension”) has developed the design for a new stage of the Magnitogorsk Musical Theater, rethinking not only theater architecture but also the role of the theater in the contemporary city.
Interview
Aleksei Ilyin: “I approach every task with genuine interest”
Aleksei Ilyin has been working on major urban projects for more than 30 years. He has all the necessary skills for high-rise construction in Moscow – yet he believes it’s essential to maintain variety in the typologies and scales represented in his portfolio. He is passionate about drawing – but only from life, and also in the process of working on a project. We talk about the structure and optimal size of an office, about his past and current projects, large and small tasks, and about creative priorities.
Object
​A Golden Sunbeam
A compact brick-and-metal building in the growing Shukhov Park in Vyksa seems to absorb sunlight, transform it into yellow accents inside, and in the evening “give it back” as a warm golden glow streaming from its windows. It is, frankly, a very attractive building: both material and lightweight at the same time, with lightness inside and materiality outside. Its form is shaped by function – laconic, yet far from simple. Let’s take a closer look.
Architecton Awards
In 2025, the jury of the Architecton festival reviewed the finalist projects through live, open presentations held right in the exhibition hall – a rather engaging performance, and something rarely seen among Russian awards. It would be great if “Zodchestvo” adopted this format. Below, we present all the winning projects, including four special nominations.
send.project
Garden of Knowledge
UNK architects and UNK design created the interiors of the Letovo Junior campus, working together with NF Studio, which was responsible for developing the educational technology that takes into account the needs and perception of younger and middle school children.
The Silver Skates
The STONE Kaluzhskaya office quarter is accompanied by two residential towers, making the complex – for it is indeed a single ensemble – well balanced in functional terms. The architects at Kleinewelt gave the residential buildings a silvery finish to match the office blocks. How they are similar, how they differ, and what “Silver Skates” has to do with it – we explore in this article.
Overview
On the Dynastic Trail
The houses and townhouses of the “Tsarskaya Tropа” (“Czar’s Trail”) complex are being built in the village of Gaspra in Crimea – to the west and east of the palaces of the former grand-ducal residence “Ai-Todor”. One of the main challenges for the architects at KPLN, who developed the project, was to respond appropriately to this significant neighboring heritage. How this influenced the massing, the façades, and the way the authors work with the terrain is explored in our article.
Object
A New Path
The main feature of the Yar Park project, designed by Sergey Skuratov for Kazan, is that it is organized along the “spine” of a multifunctional mall with an impressive multi-height atrium space in its middle. The entire site, both on the city side and the Kazanka River embankment, is open to the public. The complex is intended not to become “yet another fenced enclave” but, as urban planners say, a “polycenter” – a new point of attraction for the whole of Kazan, especially its northern part, made up of residential districts that until now have lacked such a vibrant public space. It represents a new urban planning approach to a high-density mixed-use development situated in the city center – in a sense, an “anti-quarter”. Even Moscow, one might say, doesn’t yet have anything quite like it. Well, lucky Kazan!
Object
Beneath the Azure Sky
A depository designed by Studio 44 will soon be built in Kenozersky National Park to preserve and display the so-called “heavens” – ceiling structures characteristic of wooden churches in the Russian North, painted with biblical scenes. For each of these “heavens”, the architects created a volume corresponding in scale and dimensions to the original church interior. The result is a honeycomb-like composition, with modules derived directly from the historic monuments themselves, allowing visitors to view the icons from the historically accurate angle – from below, looking upward. How exactly this works is the subject of our story.
Object
​The Power of Lines
The building at the very beginning of New Arbat is the result of long deliberations over how to replace the former House of Communication. Contemporary, dynamic, and even somewhat zoomorphic in character, it is structured around a large diagonal grid. The building has become a striking accent both in the perspective of the former Kalinin Avenue and in the panorama of Arbat Square. Yet, unfortunately, the original concept was not fully realized. In 2020, the Moscow ArchCouncil approved a design featuring an exoskeleton – an external load-bearing structure, which eventually turned into a purely decorative element. Still, the power of the supergraphic “holds” the building, giving it the qualities of a new urban landmark with iconic potential. How this concept took shape, what unexpected associations might underlie the grid’s form, and why the exoskeleton was never built – all this is explored in our article.
News
Resort on the Kama River
Wowhaus has developed a project for the reconstruction of Korabelnaya Roshcha (“Mast Grove”), a wellness resort located on the banks of the Kama River.
Object
Nests in Primorye
The eco-park project “Nests”, designed by Aleksey Polishchuk and the company Power Technologies, received first prize at the Eco-Coast 2025 festival, organized by the Union of Architects of Russia. For a glamping site in Filinskaya Bay, the authors proposed bird-shaped houses, treehouses, and a nest-shaped observation platform, topping it all with an entrance pavilion executed in the shape of an owl.
Object
The Angle of String Tension
The House of Music, designed by Vladimir Plotkin and the architects of TPO Reserve, resembles a harp, and when seen from above, even a bass clef. But if only it were that simple! The architecture of the complex fuses two distinct expressive languages: the lattice-like, transparent, permeable vocabulary of “classical” modernism and the sculptural, ribbon-like volumes so beloved by today’s neo-modernism. How it all works – where the catharsis lies, which compositional axes underpin the design, where the project resembles Zaryadye Concert Hall and where it does not – read in the article below.
Object
How Historic Tobolsk Becomes a Portal to the Future
Over the past decade, the architectural company Wowhaus has developed urban strategies for several Russian cities – Vyksa, Tula, and Nizhnekamsk, to name but a few. Against this backdrop, the Tobolsk master plan stands out both for its scale – the territory under transformation covers more than 220 square kilometers – and for its complexity.
Object
St. Petersburg vs Rome
The center of St. Petersburg is, as we know, sacred – but few people can say with certainty where this “sacred place” actually begins and ends. It’s not about the formal boundaries, “from the Obvodny Canal to the Bolshaya Nevka”, but about the vibe that feels true to the city center. With the Nevskaya Ratusha complex – built to a design that won an international competition – Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Tchoban created an “image of the center” within its territory. And not so much the image of St. Petersburg itself, as that of a global metropolis. This is something new, something that hasn’t appeared in the city for a long time. In this article, we study the atmosphere, recall precedents, and even reflect on who and when first called St. Petersburg the “new Rome”. Clearly, the idea is alive for a reason.
Object
On the Wave
The project of transforming the river port and embankment in the city of Cheboksary, developed by the ATRIUM Architects, involves one of the city’s key areas. The Volga embankment is to be turned into a riverside boulevard – a multifunctional, comfortable, and expressive space for work and leisure activities. The authors propose creating a new link with the city’s main Krasnaya (“Red”) Square, as well as erecting several residential towers inspired by the shape of the traditional national women’s headdress – these towers are likely to become striking accents on the Volga panorama.
Interview
Valery Kanyashin: “We Were Given a Free Hand”
The Headliner residential complex, the main part of which was recently completed just across from Moscow City, is a kind of neighbor to the MIBC that doesn’t “play along” with it. On the contrary, the new complex is entirely built on contrast: like a city of differently scaled buildings that seems to have emerged naturally over the past 20 years – which is a hugely popular trend nowadays! And yet here – perhaps only here – such a project has been realized to its full potential. Yes, high-rises dominate, but all these slender, delicate profiles, all these exciting perspectives! And most importantly – how everything is mixed and composed together... We spoke with the project’s leader Valery Kanyashin.
Object
​The Keystone
Until quite recently, premium residential and office complexes in Moscow were seen as the exclusive privilege of the city center. Today the situation is changing: high-quality architecture is moving beyond the confines of the Third Ring Road and appearing on the outskirts. The STONE Kaluzhskaya business center is one such example. Projects like this help decentralize the megalopolis, making life and work prestigious in any part of the city.
send.project
Perpetuum Mobile
The interior of the headquarters of Natsproektstroy, created by the IND studio team, vividly and effectively reflects the client’s field of activity – it is one of Russia’s largest infrastructure companies, responsible for logistics and transport communications of every kind you can possibly think of.
Object
Water and Light
Church art is full of symbolism, and part of it is truly canonical, while another part is shaped by tradition and is perceived by some as obligatory. Because of this kind of “false conservatism”, contemporary church architecture develops slowly compared to other genres, and rarely looks contemporary. Nevertheless, there are enthusiasts in this field out there: the cemetery church of Archangel Michael in Apatity, designed by Dmitry Ostroumov and Prokhram bureau, combines tradition and experiment. This is not an experiment for its own sake, however – rather, the considered work of a contemporary architect with the symbolism of space, volume, and, above all, light.