Glass Dune

Along the left bank of the Volga river, opposite to Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, not yet developed, soon there will grow a modern tourist and business center. The project of this mixed-use facility was designed by PTAM Vissarionov. The architects interpreted Kremlin vis-а-vis as a giant dune of glass.

Written by:
Natalia Koriakovskaia

22 March 2010

Object

Architect:

Firm:

Architectural bureau of Yuri Vissarionov

Object:

Health and recreation hotel and business complex nearby Nizhny Novgorod
Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Bor

Project Team:
PTAM Vissarionov

2009 — 2009

The building site is just 800m from the Bor district (a former town which joint Nizhniy Novgorod agglomeration) on the bank of the Volga and fronts Kreml and Nizhnevolzhskaya embankment on the opposite bank. Another positive side is that actually there is no housing development around, there are just old factory buildings, one of which investor has decided to include into the new ensemble due to is fine condition. In the renewed red-brick building there will be an administrative complex and a small museum, fragment of the nearby construction will become a part of the complex interior as a piece of a scenic ruin. Combination of good ecology, nearness of water, fine view and transport accessibility determined functionality of the future development. Architects and the client were certain there would be a holiday hotel with private beach, sports and entertainment complex, but soon there was added a business center. The bank territory is turned into beach zone and yachts dock. Basis of composition is the 9-storey hotel housing a business centre on the first two floors. Building is predictably stretched along the river and thus provided by stunning panoramic views in most rooms. In order to avoid long flat surfaces, the architects changed enormously the traditional box of the hotel. It front the city That is to the city with its smooth and laconic façade, but its river side is extending and wavy, gradually narrowing at top. Health centre and the hotel are joint by a covered passage. Inner layout of the hotel is organized around the atrium shifted from the centre, it pierces the floors and is topped with a glass dome. Another large dome covers the health centre almost entirely. The both buildings have a common stylobate, which curved shape follows the curve of the bank.

Architect:

Firm:

Architectural bureau of Yuri Vissarionov

Object:

Health and recreation hotel and business complex nearby Nizhny Novgorod
Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Bor

Project Team:
PTAM Vissarionov

2009 — 2009

22 March 2010

Headlines now

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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.

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A Twist of the Core

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The Sculpting of Spring Forest Matter

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Water and Wind Whet the Stone

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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.

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The IT Town

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The Heart Lies Within

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Magnetic Forces

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Orion’s Belt

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Interview

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

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Exposed Concrete

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One Step Closer To the Dream

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Chalet on the Rock

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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.

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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.

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Field of Life

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A Paper Clip above the River

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Review

Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making

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A City Block Isoline

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Report

Competition: The Price of Creativity?

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Terraced Design

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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.

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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.

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A New Track

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Report

Four Different Surveys

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Report

Scheduled Evolution

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The Golden Crown

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News

Flexibility and Integration

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A Step Forward

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