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By Right of the Nearest Neighbor

On Kulneva Street, Moscow, next to the Third Transport Ring, “SPEECH Choban&Kuznetsov” Studio is designing a new mixed-use development.

07 November 2011
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The architects had to design a building that was lengthy and wide at the same time:its dimensions, determined by the size of the site and the marks of the neighboring structures, were known in advance - 135 x 76 meters with a height of 68 meters. In search of the optimum solution that would give the maximum output of usable square meters and acceptable insolation figures, “SPEECH Choban&Kuznetsov” came up with four completely different construction layouts of the rectangular site that had different numbers of light-pockets and different options of their positioning. In the first solution, there were four pockets and they were placed on the two long sides (in this case, the layout looked like a double “H”). In the second solution, there were only two pockets, and they were placed either on one side (like a Cyrillic “Ш”), or from different sides (“S” lying on its side). In the third solution, the pockets were altogether substituted by inner open atriums. Eventually, the third option was selected as the basic one. The two bottom floors of the complex were reserved for public and commercial spaces, with the stores concentrated mainly on the ground floor and overlooking a small pedestrian street between the new building and “Mirax Plaza” shopping mall. On the second floor of the building, there are conference halls, meeting rooms, and a fitness center that both tenants and guests of the complex can benefit from. The offices, located on floors 3 to 17 are grouped into 4 independent open-plan units, each of which has its own elevator lobby.And at the ends of the building, there are two blocks of apartments that are designed as deluxe hotel rooms and have their own communication nodes with elevators, spacious lounges, winter gardens, and security-points located on each floor. Thanks to this solution, the entrance lobbies are available on all the four outer façades of the building - two for the office facilities, and two for the residential part. The architects alternate flat and textured facades uniting them with a common pattern that vaguely resembles a microchip or an electronic board. The “convex” decoration details are used on the outer façades of the building that overlook Kulneva Street and the “Mirax Plaza” skyscraper: the main structural fenestration is topped by a large-scale framework of wide horizontal and vertical imposts coated with metal composite panels. Interestingly, these imposts (formed by two surfaces meeting at 60 degrees) play not only an aesthetic but also an important practical part: the resulting bay windows provide a tangible addition to the office area.
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07 November 2011

Headlines now
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.
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.
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.
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”.