Taking Flight

The pavilion that represents Russia at EXPO 2015 in Milan was designed by Sergey Choban.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

14 May 2015

Object

The pavilion representing Russia at EXPO 2015 is located in the western part of the mile-long axis of the world exposition, which the organizers called in the spirit of antiquity: decamanus. It is rather far, about a thirty minutes walk, from the main entrance, back from the main square of the exposition. However, the pavilions of Japan, Turkey, and the USA are also situated nearby, and the territory was evidently divided by way of lottery – there is no logic to be seen in their mutual alignment – it seems to be quite random. The sections of the national pavilions are densely collected around the main axis and are cut up in three different ways. Middle-sized sections – narrow lines, bigger sections that have a P-shape in plan: a narrow arm leads to the decamanus and the wide convenient rectangle is placed deeper; a corner cut on the side of the main street forms another small lot of the next pavilion. The section of the Russian pavilion is one of the large P-shaped ones. The project by Sergey Choban, Alexey Ilyin and Marina Kuznetskaya was selected at a closed selection organized by the selection committee of the Russian section in February 2014. According to Sergey Choban, the result was in particular determined by the right choice of the high-rise accent in the context of a dense development, limited viewing angles and exact height restrictions. It was also important that SPEECH was able to offer a bright, distinctive volume, that develops the traditions of the Soviet and Russian buildings at world expositions in the previous years and, what also matters, a volume that could be built within a limited time and budget.

zooming — Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2015 in Milan. SPEECH. Photo © Aleksey Naroditsky

So the densely cut master plan of the exposition set a tough task before the architects: how to make the entrance noticeable if it faces the main street only with its narrow fore part? EXPO offers plenty of answers to this question: ramparts, amusement arcades, maze gardens… The version introduced by Sergey Choban is one of the most architectural ones - his pavilion falls into line with the well-defined plastic gesture: the long canopy of almost extreme proportions. Its sharp peak with a slightly bowed mirror backing strip easily soars up over the narrow square paved with wood attracting the visitors with the wholeness of its shape and the clarity of its image – particularly attractive in the background of the prevailing complicated solutions. A lot of other pavilions for some reason preferred to hide their entrances by placing it in some unusual spot: on a side of the building, behind it, or even by “protecting” it with a maze – which turned the exposition into a challenging quest with long runs that are not always entertaining for the visitor. The Russian pavilion is one of the lucky exceptions – its entrance is not only easy to find but it also becomes the central architectural attraction. The authors underline: the mirror allows for making selfies quite conveniently – and indeed, already on the opening day, despite the unpleasant drizzle, few would walk past it, everyone went onto the wooden platform with interest, threw their heads back, and, yes – took their photos in the giant mirror.

One must say that mirror surfaces are one of the favorite themes of Sergey Choban and SPEECH architects in general. It is enough to recall the NHow hotel in Berlin and the Russian pavilion at Venice Biennale 2015, where the dome – like in a pantheon – reflected itself placing the spectator into the center of the imaginary sphere. Renaissance patios of the Milan University is currently hosting an exposition by Interni magazine, where an installation by Sergey Choban, Sergey Kusnetsov and Agniya Sterligova makes its centerpiece – and it as well is completely glassy, so as to dissolve in the surroundings at times.

The foundation of the soaring, smoothly curved canopy is supported by four large mirror columns inside of a transparent glass tambour: thin joints of the glass slabs make the entrance area of the pavilion completely see-through. The cantilever seems to be lying on the glass. The image is completed by the hatch of the wooden lamellas that visually extend the line of the canopy where it is practically no longer there – on the facades of the volume of the main exposition that, as opposed to the tambour, are made of black glass. The canopy visually rises from the volume and seems even longer because of that – the idea can be best appreciated looking from south-east: the view point that Sergey Choban calls the main one, is located in the way of the main flow of the visitors, so the majority of the spectators will not miss this perspective anyway.

The black volume with the exposition itself is built in the deep of the lot and following its contours spreads eastwards. Its upper part is on all sides finished with wooden lamellas which, according to Sergey Choban’s idea, are supposed to remind the traditional Russian building material. The oval reception stand inside of the glass vestibule is decorated with similar ribs. There is not that much wood however, and it only slightly masks the glass-metal volumes.

SPEECH bureau designed the architecture of the pavilion and the reception stand inside the tambour. The exposition “Growing for the World. Cultivating for the Future” was made by another team. Right after the entrance, in the lobby, the visitors face a painting by Vinogradov-Dubosarsky named “Rye”, then, behind the transparent lobby, it gets dark. The walls in the first hall are covered with pictures of plants from Vavilov’s seed collection, and in the second hall – with Mendeleev’s Table interlaced with scripts about elements valuable for nutrition. The concept of the exposition was based on an idea of a recipe catalog suggested by Yuriy Avakumov, but was later transformed. The book of recipes however was published specially for EXPO. The first hall meets the visitors with a glowing model of a distillation still, the visitors are treated to alcohol-free drinks; in the second hall, they can take part in food tasting; at the back, there is a restaurant. The halls of the first floor are arranged along the perimeter of the technical rooms located in the middle, and all together it reminds a styled letter P. There is a boardroom and a VIP-stanza on the second floor, and the roof, built in a form of a smoothly rising rampart is made green and, according to the architects, will soon be open for the visitors.

Back to the canopy: the mirror surface of its cantolever reflects not only the people taking photographs on the square in front of the pavilion, but also the glass tambour, and, when viewed from afar, it is even misleading: it seems that the lobby with the red letters “RUSSIA” above the entrance extends upwards, curving, growing into the surface of the canopy, there seems to be twice as many people coming in and it forms a kind of a swirl – only in a couple of seconds the illusion is unveiled and you start to understand what is real and what is a reflection. It is also a part of the idea, and unlike many other mirror attractions that are more often hidden inside the pavilions of EXPO, here the plot is brought outside. Architecture has become a significant part of the exposition, besides in a way it summarizes the many years of Russian participation in previous world expositions, calling on the historic pavilions and summing up their methods.

Of course, first of all, I asked Sergey Choban why his project remind Mikhail Posokhin’s Montreal pavilion at EXPO’67 so much – the likeness is obvious, in both cases there is a soaring canopy placed upon a glass volume emphasizing the effect of a levitating roof line. In response the architect suggested me to recollect a wider historical context. According to Choban, the Montreal pavilion is simply the most famous example of a general tendency connecting a whole series of other soviet pavilions at world expositions. In particular, Sergey Choban reminded a project that Konstantin Melnikov drew in 1962 for a world exposition in New York, 1964 (the project remained on paper, the USSR did not take part in the exposition). Opinions concerning the connection between the Montreal pavilion and the unimplemented Melnikov’s project have been already aired (for example, see here).

You can learn more about the the sequence of the Soviet pavilions at world expositions from a recent review made by archspeech website. Part of them really does follow the “up and ahead” urge, like “The Worker and Kolkhoz Woman”; others are more pompous, but also fly to somewhere, maybe into space. The flying theme does not go down to world expositions – the titanium monument of the “To the Conquerors of the Space” is just as energetic.

In other words, the project of Sergey Choban not only continues the line famous due to the Montreal pavilion, but to some extent restores historic justice, returning both to Mikhail Posokhin and to Konstantin Melnikov. It is interesting that Melnikov planned to execute his pavilion “at the end of tether” – and Sergey Choban speaks practically the same words about the canopy built in Milan. The overhang of the cantilever is 98 feet – the maximum possible for such a construction. The rise in the highest point – 55 feet, which is 15 feet more than the height of the main building, subdued to the 40 feet of height restrictions set in the master-plan of the exposition. At that, according to Sergey Choban, the rise of the console could start only outside of the main volume, in the glass vestibule. It gives a feeling that the architect aims to use up this theme completely, develop it up to the limit of technical and emotional possibilities. The pavilion in Milan is more scaled-down than the Montreal one, but its long narrow console flies up more energetically and the mirror adds to the effect giving staginess of the exposition installation to the architectural solution. The impression really is closer to Melnikov’s draft where the console aims towards stars and visually, and symbolically – there is even a cosmic drawing on it, and the project description, in keeping with the best traditions of the 60s, tells about the “hidden power of celestial mechanics”. It reminds both of the first satellite and the passion for the starry sky – zodiac and astrological – of the Renaissance architects, and the scientific, astronomical interest in it of the Empire. And here we probably reach the essence of the plot: Sergey Choban’s mirror console makes us look up at the sky – to see ourselves in it. There is something special in it. But on the other hand what difference does it make, for what reason exactly we looked at the sky – even seldom? Even for the sake of a making a selfie today? The mere fact of us looking up is great!

14 May 2015

Headlines now

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

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.

Object

A New Track

We took a thorough look at D_Station, a railcar repair depot dating back to 1906, recently reconstructed while preserving its century-old industrial structure, upon the project by Sergey Trukhanov and T+T Architects. Though work on the interiors – set to house restaurants and public spaces – is still underway, the building’s exterior already offers plenty to see. Visitors can explore the blend of old and new brickwork, appreciate the architect’s unique interpretation of ruin aesthetics, and enjoy the newly built pedestrian route that connects the Citydel Business Center’s arches to Kazakova Street.

Report

Four Different Surveys

The “Explore the City” competition, organized this year by the Genplan Institute of Moscow, stands out as a pretty unconventional one for the architectural field but aligns perfectly well with the character of urban planning work. The winning project analyzed contemporary residential complexes, combining urban planning insights with a realtor’s perspective to propose a hybrid approach. Other entries explored public centers, motivations for car ownership, and housing vacancy rates. A fifth participant withdrew. Here’s a closer look at the four completed works.

Report

Scheduled Evolution

ASADOV Architects unveiled the EvyCenter pavilion, a microcultural hub for fostering personal growth, organizing workshops, and doing gymnastics. Additionally, this pavilion serves as a prototype for a scalable country house, drawing inspiration from the “Loskutok” project, and constructed from CLT panels in a factory. This marks the beginning of a developer project initiated by the architectural firm (sic!), which is seeking partners to expand both small Evy settlements and even larger Evy cities, which are, according to Andrey Asadov, aimed at fostering the “evolutionary” development of the people who will inhabit them.

Object

The Golden Crown

The concept for a dental clinic in Yekaterinburg, developed by CNTR Studio, revolves around the idea of a “mouth full of gold”: pristine white porcelain stoneware walls are complemented by matte brass details. To avoid an overly literal interpretation, the architects focused on the building’s proportions, skillfully navigating between sunlight requirements and fire safety regulations.