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.

Written by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

09 December 2025

Object

Golodny (“Hungry”), Sarpinsky, and Sporny (“Disputed”) islands, separated from one another by branches of the Volga, lay claim to being one of the largest river island systems in the country. Sarpinsky and Golodny islands – where the master plan proposes the main development measures – lie within Volgograd’s city limits and together account for about a quarter of its territory.

zooming — Strategic master plan for the Sarpinsky-Golodny island system. Key projects

Copyright: © Genplan Institute of Moscow

There is reason to believe that the first Tsaritsyn fortress – a wooden fort that was controlling part of the Volga trade route back in the day – was located on these very islands. After the fortress was moved to the mainland, the first hamlets emerged; today, thirteen of them remain.

The islands are largely undeveloped and sparsely populated due to their limited accessibility: in summer they can only be reached by ferry or boat, and in winter by crossing the ice. In total, about 800 people live there year-round. During the summer, the population increases with the arrival of seasonal residents and vacationers. Golodny Island is currently used by the city to house wastewater treatment facilities. In the northeastern part of Sarpinsky Island, which covers 8,820 hectares, garden cooperatives and small settlements are spread out. Electricity has been supplied to the area, but there is no gas, centralized water supply, or even a sewer system.

After the construction of the Volga Hydroelectric Power Station and the cascade of reservoirs on the Volga and Kama rivers, water levels dropped significantly; as a result, Golodny and Sarpinsky islands are separated only during the spring flood season.

The islands undoubtedly possess substantial potential – both recreational and economic. Located close to Volgograd’s administrative center, they offer opportunities not only for functions complementary to the city, but also the exceptional qualities of a nature reserve and resort.

The landscapes on the islands are truly diverse: sandy beaches stretching along the Volga, and deeper inland – dozens of large and small lakes fed by springs, wetlands, old oak groves, hayfields, and pastures. The rich birdlife includes both species typical of floodplains, such as herons and ducks, and rarer species – geese, partridges, red-breasted geese, Eurasian cranes, and swans. The wetlands also serve as resting grounds for birds migrating from Western Siberia to Asia Minor and Africa.

Science, Sports, and a “Sea Substitute”

If the measures set out in the master plan are implemented, within the next decade the Sarpinsky-Golodny island system will become a fully-fledged satellite city of Volgograd (similar to Innopolis and the federal territory of Sirius), combining a comfortable urban and estate-style living environment with surrounding natural landscapes. This satellite city will be capable of accommodating up to 72,000 temporary residents, for whom the project provides apartments of various classes. Infrastructure and recreational facilities, along with sports, educational, and IT clusters, will become the functional anchors of the islands. The construction of hotel complexes of different star ratings and the introduction of year-round activities will transform the island system into an all-season family resort – a “sea substitute” – generating a tourist flow of up to 800,000 visitors per year.

The client for the master plan was Sarpinsky Development LLC. The adopted master plan solutions will be integrated into Volgograd’s master plan, which is currently under development.

Above Zero

The first – and perhaps the most complex and non-trivial – task tackled by the specialists at the Genplan Institute of Moscow was identifying areas suitable for permanent construction. Since the islands are partially flooded every spring, far from the entire territory is suitable for development. Given that the project must be economically viable, large-scale landfilling was deemed impractical.

We carried out a meticulous analysis of the islands’ terrain and identified a notional “zero level” – dry areas that are not flooded for most of the year. The lower a site lies in relation to this conditional “zero”, the more fill would be required to raise it above the flood level, and the more expensive construction would become. At the same time, it was crucial to preserve the existing green areas and the island’s water system, made up of numerous lakes, channels, and brooks, so that all the architecture we propose is carefully integrated into the existing ecosystem.

After identifying the driest areas across the island (with a combined area of 946.6 hectares), as well as sites requiring the minimum amount of ground fill (where the height of the fill was not to exceed one meter), we assembled these areas into development zones. Determining the optimal boundaries of these zones required a large number of iterative calculations, measurements, and adjustments, carried out repeatedly until a construction cost that could be considered reasonable was achieved. As a result of this process, we arrived at an economically viable total volume of ground fill for all planned buildings and automobile roads, amounting to 8.25 million cubic meters.

In addition, the project provides for a system of shoreline reinforcement designed to protect both the proposed developments and the existing hamlets from the hazardous impact of the meandering branches of the Volga known as Kuropatka and Shchuchiy Proran. The construction of a breakwater with a contemporary embankment and landscaping will not only create a new public space in the northern part of Sarpinsky Island, but will also solve an important problem by relieving the hydrodynamic load on the shoreline near the Volgostroy hamlet, which is currently undergoing erosion.

By Land, by Water, by Air

The second most important task for the successful development of the territory and for attracting investors is the issue of transport accessibility. To connect the islands with the “mainland”, the Genplan Institute of Moscow proposes the construction of three bridges. The first bridge will link Sarpinsky Island with Volgograd’s Kirovsky District. On the island side, a fully-fledged intermodal transport hub is planned, integrating road traffic, river transport (enabled by the construction of a modern multifunctional river terminal), and even a cable car station. A park-and-ride facility with shared electric vehicles and micro-mobility charging stations will allow visitors to switch to environmentally friendly modes of transport and quickly reach key tourist destinations. The area will also include a market square with event spaces, as well as an alley with retail rows and “World Cuisine” restaurants. Passing through this area, the visitors will be able to access the interior of the island and the large Sarpinsky Park – the main center for recreation and entertainment.

The second bridge is proposed for the southern part of Sarpinsky Island, connecting it to Volgograd’s Krasnoarmeysky District and thereby creating a unified and safe transport link between the island and the city. The third bridge will connect the islands with the Sredneakhtubinsky District.

Roads on the island itself will be equipped with intelligent traffic management and safety systems. Plans also include the development of infrastructure for self-driving and electric transport, as well as the creation of an extensive network of bicycle paths.

Another way to reach different parts of the island will be the cable car, which will connect Volgograd’s central embankment and Tsaritsyn Park with the northernmost cape of Golodny Island, where a festival venue is planned.

Living and Working

The territory of the island system, with its complex topography, is subject to specific land-use constraints. Therefore, in response to the goals of creating a fully-fledged resort and a modern satellite city, the master plan proposes the development of apartment clusters of various typologies on Sarpinsky Island for temporary accommodation – from a “contemporary village” to conventional urban blocks with courtyard spaces and multifunctional ground floors. The average height of these districts is 7-9 stories. Such urban environment is designed to fully meet modern demands for high-quality preschool and secondary education, as well as sports and leisure infrastructure. Urbanized districts are located mainly in the interior of the island and are strung along transport corridors served by public transit. The master plan provides for full connection of new development to all necessary utility infrastructure: water supply, sanitary and stormwater sewer systems, communications, as well as gas, heat, and power supply. New high-quality engineering infrastructure will also be extended to the existing hamlets and garden associations on the island, and unpaved roads there are planned to be upgraded to meet regulatory standards.

The environment is conceived as multifunctional: the island is expected to generate 47,000 jobs. A significant share of them will be provided by the educational cluster – a large-scale complex with a technopark, laboratories, a sports and wellness center, and a student residence for 4,500 people – as well as by an IT cluster designed to attract promising young professionals and highly qualified specialists. One of the first projects to be built on the Volga riverbank will be a congress center with the “Volgonarium” – a key federal-level exhibition and business, concert and festival, and museum venue in Russia’s Southern Federal District, complemented by a five-star congress hotel. The complex is conceived as a unified architectural and urban ensemble with sweeping panoramic views.

200 Leisure Scenarios

As noted above, the infrastructure of the Sarpinsky-Golodny island system is expected to attract nearly 800,000 travelers annually, offering hundreds of leisure and recreation scenarios throughout the year.

First and foremost, the islands are positioned as an all-Russian “sea substitute”. This ambitious goal is supported by 60 km of shoreline and sandy beaches, an extensive system of lakes, and more than 300 sunny days a year. To accommodate such a large number of visitors, the master plan provides for the construction of hotels of various categories, wellness complexes and spa hotels, and, last but not least,a large number of glamping facilities.

Other attractions will also draw visitors, including the country’s largest “World Cuisines” alley, the Volgonarium science and education center within the congress complex, as well as concert halls, museums, and exhibition pavilions. Among the more unexpected features is a film cluster with a large auditorium, filming pavilions, an apartment hotel, and a virtual worlds center.

The sports cluster, designed to host nationwide competitions, will include an ice arena, an indoor athletics arena with a tennis court, and an aquatic sports center. The island’s landscape makes it possible to lay out routes for endurance races, organize drone competitions, and develop phygital sports.

The islands will also be covered by a network of thematic parks of different scales and focuses – from golf courses and hot-air balloon facilities to a historical reenactment park. More than twenty parks will be linked by nine tourist routes with a total length of 230 km.

Ecological Balance

To reduce the impact of planning decisions on the islands’ existing ecosystems, specialists from the Genplan Institute of Moscow propose zoning natural areas according to the type and intensity of recreational use – from areas intended for intensive activity (thematic parks) to protected natural territories with minimal human impact, where only educational eco-tourism aimed at raising environmental awareness will be permitted and encouraged. Certain parts of the islands are proposed to be excluded from recreational use altogether in order to preserve endangered plant, animal, and bird species listed in the Red Data Book, most of which are concentrated in the southern areas of the islands.

The project is expected not only to give the city a strong development impulse, but also to shape a contemporary and multifaceted image of the region – as an innovative center of science and new technologies, as well as an all-Russian “sea substitute”.

09 December 2025

Headlines now

Object

The Copper Mirror

The varied-toned sheen of “unsealed” copper, painterly streaks and fingerprints, exposed concrete, and the unusual proportions – when you study the ZILART Museum building by Sergei Tchoban and SPEECH architects, there is plenty to talk about. However, it seems to us that the most interesting thing is how the museum’s composition responds to the realities of the district itself. The residential district has been realized as an open-air exhibition of façade statements by contemporary architects – but without public access to the inner courtyards of the blocks. This building – that is, the museum – is exactly the opposite: on the outside, it is deliberately restrained, while inside it shines spectacularly, creating its own sunbeams in any weather.

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.

Interview

MB-PROJECT: “Every new project is a challenge”

In this issue, we speak with Dmitry and Oleg Shurygin, founders of the company MV-PROJECT, which has extensive experience in designing theater and entertainment buildings as well as working with cultural heritage sites.

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

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.

Interview

Sergey Tchoban: “My ideal model for shaping a museum space is the Uffizi Gallery. In the...

Yesterday, the ZILART Museum opened on the ZILART grounds with three exhibitions curated by well-known curators. We speak with Sergey Tchoban about the concept and its realization.

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.