Pimenov fogginess

The two buildings, designed by Sergey Kiselyov’s studio in the project of regeneration, by the Pimen church in Novye vorotniki, reconstruct the volumes of the wooden small houses demolished in 1930s. This is why their above-ground constructions are desperately small, and shows how the surrounding area has grown in its height for the last 80 years. The architectural solution, on the contrary, is quite modern: stylized concrete "trees" on facade, glass, and grass on their roofs.

Written by:
Maria Fadeeva

24 December 2008

Object

Architect:

Firm:

Sergey Kisselev & Partners

Object:

Administrative building in Pimenovsky lane
Russia, Moscow, Pimenovsky street end, vladenie 5-7, 1

Project Team:
architects: Sergei Kiselev, Vladimir Labutin, Dmitry Deryabin, Alexander Dobrev, engineer: Igor Shvartsman

2003

clients: AOZT "Tizpribor"

Year by year the idea of “regeneration of a historical building” sounds weirder for Moscow, with its chaotic context of different periods. Nevertheless, quite often it is prescribed for projects of new buildings nearby objects of cultural heritage or just in historical environment. Among them is the project of an office designed by “Sergey Kiselyov and Partners” company for Pimenov deadlock near the Prepodobny Pimen Veliky church in Novye vorotniki (1697-1702).

No doubt, architectural monument, which 350 year anniversary was marked by the Russian orthodox church must be respected. Eight sided construction of the church dates back to XVII-XVIII centuries, the belltower is constructed in XIX century. One of the new side-chapels was designed by Konstantin Bykovsky, interiors were developed by Fedor Shehtel in beginning XX of a century. No matter, in Soviet years there appeared a garage, a 12storey apartment building, a factory and the deadlock lost all the houses, there are only trees left.

Actually, that is the place where the new business complex will be constructed. The lost Pimenov deadlock is being reconstructed, as well as a part of red line of Krasnoproletarskaya street (previously known as Pimenovskaya). Under the ground there will be a parking place occupying the entire area of the site (a canteen will be placed in the upper level of the underground building). There shapes a general underground “stylobate” on top of which there will be a small street – daughter of Pimenov deadlock. And over there are the five concrete volumes, of the same size as the houses that used to be here before 1930. So, there will be a village with a road to the church. Or, to the gates of the church and this is symbolic for the place where lived security guards of the Moscow gates. I picture the scene of white collars smoking by the doors and an old lady in kerchief walking to the church.

In addition to requirements of the intricate idea of "regeneration", architecture of the future complex was influenced by the client – a well-known developer company Forum Properties which is planning to have their headquarters here. They wanted to see their office not only as a practical and high-quality box, but an expressive architectural object, a kind of company’s trademark (such is the “penguin” house of Capital-group). And, must say, quite logical for a developer company.

Yet, the task set for the architects seems paradoxical in a way: on the one hand, the concept of regeneration and the neighbourhood of a monument supposes maximal "modesty" of a new building. On the other hand – it should represent the owners as people interested in arts of architecture. So, it must be invisible and expressive at the same time. Well, "SK&P" works much in the center of Moscow and is used to such paradoxes. Here are used: play of volumes, glass, texture.

In order to transform the five lost small houses into two at least, singly at the both sides, the author put them in a glass fog – its transparent "caps" appear as an original connecting tissue. And such division into two parts also answers the structure of the company-customer which consists of the two divisions. Within, they create an integral space splits easily into corridors and cabinets. At that there are no special multilighted spaces and other fancies – the volume is very small, and it will be occupied by one of the largest developer companies By the way, the company "SK&P" has constructed for the company the well-known office center "Hermitage-Plaza", located at the other end of that Krasnoproletarskaya (Pimenovskaya) streets.

However, glass is not just functional here. At last it is used not to hide a building, but as self-valuable art element. It really looks like an alive substance. The glass volume tightens to the right where the next house changes height from 2 to 4 storeys, creeps atop of concrete blocks and breaks from 12storey building, just where the access path folds to the corner. As if a machine have gone by and set afloat this "cloud".

The image of a small village in fog came later. The project was started in 2003 and the houses were taller, but with oblique roofs, but the idea was rejected by the experts of the landscape-visual analysis. There was another idea to make facades copper or bronze: “Then that would be a monument to remember the former development”, – says the main architect of the project Vladimir Labutin. There appeared a large collection sketches of facades, almost in all materials. But the wooden variant was rejected by the firemen, volume ceramics remained on paper as well, but the attention of the customer was involved with a concrete variant.

Material is fine and modern, but alone is too much brutal to be nearby the classicist belltower. Therefore it was decided to reconsider in an artful way the texture. One of the sketches had the idea of tree prints on the glass, it was transferred onto new material.

This the first such work in Moscow, actually in this project the capital architecture have got a new method of working with well-known, but underestimated material. As is known, the material was explored by the architects of brutalism in 1970, but they saved all the roughness, bubbles, traces of a timbering. The attention was given to natural, "severe" features of the material – in attempt to add a façade a shade of hand-made work as opposite to mechanization of mass industry. Things are different here, the concrete surface is not deliberately unpolished, but it is transformed into a sculpture-pattern and this is the world tendency to create ornamental facades.

As a result the "village" looks like a concrete forest of extending walls between windows, textured by special technology. This is a kind of memory for the lost small houses and for trees replaced them after constructions were demolished. Layers of reminiscences. The concept of "regeneration" has been applied to houses and trees, and in the result there shapes the third. On the background of pink Brezhnev buildings something unexpectedly small, with modern functions, with a grass on its flat roofs. However, it is hard to tell what might see that old lady in this stone jungle.

Today it is an obsessive remark, but – crisis, crisis…But today no one knows for sure whether their project will be realized or not. That is true for most of the architectural works started before the last fall.

Architect:

Firm:

Sergey Kisselev & Partners

Object:

24 December 2008

Headlines now

Object

The Altai Ornament

The architectural company Empate has developed the concept for an eco-settlement located on a remote site in Altai. The master plan, which resembles a traditional ornament or even a utopian city, forms a clear system of public and private spaces. The architects also designed six types of houses for the settlement, drawing inspiration from the region’s culture, folklore, and vernacular building practices.

Object

Pro Forma

Photos have emerged of the newly completed whisky distillery in Chernyakhovsk, designed by TOTEMENT / PAPER – a continuation of their earlier work on the nearby Cognac Museum. From what is, in essence, a merely technical and utilitarian volume and space, the architects have created a fully-fledged theatre of impressions. Let’s take a closer look. We highly recommend a visit to what may look like a factory, but is in fact an experiment in theatricalizing the process of strong spirit production – and not only that, but also of “pure art”, capable of evolving anywhere.

Object

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.

Object

Health Factory

While working on a wellness and tourist complex on the banks of the Yenisei River, the architects at Vissarionov Studio set out to create healing spaces that would amplify the benefits of nature and medical treatments for both body and soul. The spatial solutions are designed to encourage interaction between the guests and the landscape, as well as each other.

Object

The Blooming Mechanics of a Glass Forest

The Savvinskaya 27 apartment complex built by Level Group, currently nearing completion on an elongated riverfront site next to the Novodevichy Convent, boasts a form that’s daring even by modern Moscow standards. Visually, it resembles the collaborative creation of a glassblower and a sculptor: a kind of glass-and-concrete jungle, rhythmically structured yet growing energetically and vividly. Bringing such an idea to life was by no means an easy task. In this article, we discuss the concept by ODA and the methods used by APEX architects to implement it, along with a look at the building’s main units and detailing.

Object

Grace and Unity

Villa “Grace”, designed by Roman Leonidov’s studio and built in the Moscow suburbs, strikes a balance between elegant minimalism and the expansive gestures of the Russian soul. The main house is conceived as a sequence of four self-contained volumes – each could exist independently, yet it chooses to be part of a whole. Unity is achieved through color and a system of shared spaces, while the rich plasticity of the forms – refined throughout the construction process – compensates for the near-total absence of decorative elements.

Object

Daring Brilliance

In this article, we are exploring “New Vision”, the first school built in the past 25 years in Moscow’s Khamovniki. The building has three main features: it is designed in accordance with the universal principles of modern education, fostering learning through interaction and more; second, the façades combine structural molded glass and metallic glazed ceramics – expensive and technologically advanced materials. Third, this is the school of Garden Quarters, the latest addition to Moscow’s iconic Khamovniki district. Both a costly and, in its way, audacious acquisition, it carries a youthful boldness in its statement. Let’s explore how the school is designed and where the contrasts lie.

Object

A Twist of the Core

A clever and concise sculptural solution – rotating each floor by N degrees – has created an ensemble of “dancing” towers: similar yet different, simple yet complex. The designers meticulously refined a single structural node and spent considerable effort on the column construction – after that, “everything else was easy”. The architects also rotated the core walls on each floor to maximize the efficiency of the office spaces.

Object

The Sculpting of Spring Forest Matter

We’ve been observing this building for a couple of years now: seemingly simple, perhaps even unassuming, it fits in remarkably well with the micro-district context shaped by the Moscow MCD road junctions. This building sticks in the memory of everyone who drives along the highway, even occasionally. In our opinion, Sergey Nikeshkin, by blending popular architectural techniques and approaches of the 2010s, managed to turn a seemingly simple structure into a statement “on the theme of a house as such”. Let’s figure out how this happened.

Object

Water and Wind Whet the Stone

The Arisha Terraces residential complex, designed by Asadov Architects, will be built in a district of Dubai dedicated to film and television production. To create shaded spaces and an intriguing silhouette, the architects opted for a funnel-shaped composition and nature-inspired forms of erosion and weathering. The roofs, podium, and underground spaces extend leisure opportunities within the boundaries of a man-made “oasis”.

Object

Elevation 5642

The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a comprehensive development project for three ski resorts in the Caucasus, which have been designated as special economic zones of the tourism and recreation type. The first of these zones is Elbrus. The project includes the construction of new ski runs, cable cars, and hotels, as well as the modernization of stations and improvements to the Azau tourist meadow. To expand the audience and enhance year-round appeal, a network of eco-trails is also being developed. In this article, we provide a detailed breakdown of each stage.

Object

The IT Town

Taking the example of the first completed phase of the “U” district, we examine how the new neighborhood in Innopolis will be organized. T+T Architects and HADAA formed a well-balanced and ingenious master plan with different types of housing, a green artery, a system of squares, and a park in the town’s central part.

Object

The Heart Lies Within

The second-phase building of the Evgeny Primakov School already won multiple awards while still in the design stage. Now that it’s completed, some unfinished nuances remain – most notably, the exposed ceiling structures, which ideally should have been concealed. However, given the priority placed on the building’s volumetric composition, this does not seem critical. What matters more is the “Wow!” effect created by the space itself.

Object

Magnetic Forces

“Krylatskaya 33” is the first large-scale residential complex to appear amidst the 1980s “micro-districts” that harmoniously coexist with the forests, the river, the slopes, and the sports infrastructure. Despite its imposing scale, the architects of Ostozhenka managed to turn the complex into something that can be best described as a “graceful dominant”. First, they designed the complex with consideration for the style and height of the surrounding micro-districts. Second, by introducing a pause in its tallest section, they created compositional tension – right along the urban planning axis of the area.

Object

Orion’s Belt

The Stone Khodynka 2 office complex, designed by Kleinewelt Architekten for the company Stone, is built with an ergonomic layout following “healthy building” principles: natural light, ventilation, and all the necessary features for an efficient office environment. On the outside, it resembles – like many contemporary buildings – an iPhone: sleek, glowing, glass-and-metal, edges elegantly rounded. Yet, it responds sensitively to the Khodynka context, where the main theme is the contrast between vertical and horizontal lines. The key intrigue lies in the design of the “stylobate” as a suspended passage, leaving the space beneath it open for free pedestrian movement.

Interview

Grigory Revzin: “It Was a Bold Statement Made on the Sly. Something Won”

In this article, we discuss the debates surrounding the circus competition and the demolition of the CMEA building with the most renowned architectural critic of our time. A paradox emerges in the process: while nostalgia for the Brezhnev era seems to be in vogue in Russia, a landmark building – the “axis” of the Warsaw Pact – has been sentenced to demolition. Isn’t that strange? We also find out that wow-architecture has made a comeback as a post-COVID trend. However, to make a truly powerful statement, professionals still remain indispensable.

Object

Exposed Concrete

One of the stages of improving a small square in the town of Lermontov was the construction of a skatepark. Entrusting this part of the project to the XSA team, the city gained a 250-meter trick track whose features resemble those of land art objects – unparalleled in Russia in both scale and design. Here’s a look at how the experimental snake run in the foothills of the Caucasus was built.

Object

One Step Closer To the Dream

The challenges of getting all the mandatory approvals, an insufficient budget, and construction site difficulties did not prevent ASADOV Bureau from achieving its main goal in the realization of the school project in the town of Troitsk – taking another step away from outdated notions of educational spaces toward creating a fundamentally new academic environment.

Object

Chalet on the Rock

An Accor hotel in Arkhyz, designed by A.Len, will be situated at the gateway to the resort’s main tourist hubs. The architects reinterpreted the widely popular chalet style while adding an unexpected twist – an unfinished structure preserved on the site. The design team transformed this remnant into an exciting space featuring an open-air pool and a restaurant with panoramic views of the region’s highest mountain ridges.

Interview

Sergey Skuratov: “By and large, the project has been realized in line with the original ideas”

In this issue, we talk to the chief architect of Garden Quarters, looking back at the history and key moments of a project that took 18 years to develop and has now finally been completed. What interests us most are the transformations that the project underwent during construction, and the way the “necessary void” of public space was formed, which turned this remarkable complex into a fragment of a whole new type of urban fabric – not just at the horizontal “street” level but in its vertical structure as well.

Object

A Unique Representative

The recently concluded year 2024 can be considered the year of completion for the “Garden Quarters” residential complex in Moscow’s Khamovniki. This project is well-known and, in many ways, iconic. Rarely does one manage to preserve such a number of original ideas, achieving in the end a kind of urban planning Gesamtkunstwerk. Here is a subjective view from an architecture journalist, with an interview with Sergey Skuratov soon to follow.

Object

Field of Life

The new project by the architectural company PNKB (an acronym for “Design, Research, and Advisory Bureau”), led by Sergey Gnedovsky and Anton Lyubimkin, for the Kulikovo Field Museum is dedicated to the field as a concept in its own right. The field has long been a focus of the museum’s thorough and successful research. Accordingly, the exterior of the new museum building is gentler than that of its predecessor, which was also designed by PNKB and dedicated specifically to the historic battle. Inside, however, the building confidently guides the visitor from a luminous atrium along a spiral path to the field – interpreted here as a field of life.

Object

A Paper Clip above the River

In this article, we talk with Vitaly Lutz from the Genplan Institute of Moscow about the design and unique features of the pedestrian bridge that now links the two banks of the Yauza River in the new cluster of Bauman Moscow State Technical University (MSTU). The bridge’s form and functionality – particularly the inclusion of an amphitheater suspended over the river – were conceived during the planning phase of the territory’s development. Typically, this approach is not standard practice, but the architects advocate for it, referring to this intermediate project phase as the “pre-AGR” stage (AGR stands for Architectural and Urban Planning Approval). Such a practice, they argue, helps define key parameters of future projects and bridge the gap between urban planning and architectural design.

Review

Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making

Do architects design houses for themselves? You bet! In this article, we are examining a new book by TATLIN publishing house. This book – unprecedented for Russia – features 52 private homes designed and built by contemporary architects for themselves. It includes houses that are famous, even iconic, as well as lesser-known ones; large and small, stylish and eccentric. To some extent, the book reflects the history of Russian architecture over the past 30 years.

Object

A City Block Isoline

Another competition project for a residential complex on the banks of the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod has been prepared by Studio 44. A team of architects led by Ivan Kozhin concluded that using a regular block layout in such a location would be inappropriate and developed a “custom design” approach: a chain of parceled multi-section buildings stretching along the entire embankment. Let’s explore the features and advantages of this unconventional method.

Report

Competition: The Price of Creativity?

Any day now, we’re expecting the results of a competition held by the “Samolet” development group for a plot in Kommunarka. In the meantime, we share the impressions of Editor-in-Chief Julia Tarabarina, who managed to conduct a public talk. Though technically focused on the interaction between developers and architects, the public talk turned into a discussion about the pros and cons of architectural competitions.

Object

Terraced Design

The “River Park” residential complex has confidently and securely shaped the Nagatinsky Backwater shoreline. Featuring a public embankment, elevated courtyards connected by pedestrian bridges, and brick façades, the development invites exploration of its nuanced response to the surrounding context, as well as hints of the architects’ megalithic design thinking.

A Kremlin’s Core and Meteorite Fragments

We continue our coverage of the competition projects for the residential district that the development company GloraX plans to build along the embankment of the Rowing Channel in Nizhny Novgorod. ASADOV Architects approached the concept through a deep dive into local identity, using storytelling to pinpoint a central idea for the design: the master plan and composition are imagined as if a meteorite had struck a “proto-Kremlin”. Sounds weird? Find more details below!

Contest Results

The Volga Regatta

GloraX plans to develop a residential complex spanning 14 hectares along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod. The winning design in a closed-door competition, created by GORA Architects, features housing typologies ranging from townhouses to terraced high-rise slabs, a balance of functions, diverse ways of engaging with the water, and even a dedicated island (no less!) for the city residents.

Object

Life Plans

The master plan for the residential district “Prityazheniye” (“Gravity”) in Naberezhnye Chelny was developed by the architectural company A.Len, taking into account the specific urban planning context and partially implemented solutions of the first phase. However, the master plan prioritized its own values: a green framework, a system of focal points, a hierarchy of spaces, and pedestrian priority. After this, the question of what residents will do in their neighborhood simply doesn’t arise.