Cut Banks, Low Banks

“Euroquarter” or the M-8 micro district forms a part of a residential district “Sky Seven” – one of the ambitious projects of a large Tatarstan development company “Ak Bars Development”. For quite a long time now architects have been working on the design concepts for “Sky Seven”, whose territory surrounds the new hippodrome of Kazan on three sides; Asadov Architectural Bureau and a number of other workshops worked on the district in 2008; the before-crisis ideas were left on paper. Now “Ak Bars Development” is building a second stage of the micro district “Kazan XXI Vek” in the Eastern part of “Sky Seven”: twenty eight-storey buildings out of panels of the KDSK, former KPD-3 – the plant bought out and modernized by the developer was inaugurated in July.

The territory of “Euroquarter” is situated on the other, Western side of the hippodrome, in place of the old airport – whose building of the Stalin period is planned to be preserved, and near as of yet the only skyscraper in Kazan – the tower “Azure Skies” (460ft high). “Euroquarter” will also be built using the resources of KDSK but architecturally – let’s say – more personified. In 2014 “Ak Bars Develpment” considered holding an international tender, but having dropped this idea it decided in favour of Sergey Skuratov’s bureau upon the recommendation of the adviser of the company on architecture and urban planning – Dmitriy Puzyryov; and so the architects received an order for a design concept of the new district M-8. The work was done by the beginning of 2005. Now the concept has been seen and approved by the Chief Architect of Kazan – Tatyana Prokofyeva, the mayor and the interim president of Tatarstan; the project has also been shown to the Minister of Construction of the Russian Federation, Michael Men.

It is planned that during two years the architects will be thoroughly working with the project for launching several new production lines at the plant – so that when the construction begins it goes fast: as Head of “Ak Bars Development” says, this way the company wants to “reach the western practice”. At the moment the facades are not yet elaborated, but in the future Sergey Skuratov plans to expand the number of individual variants up to a hundred. “We are planning to offer a kind of LEGO, – says the architect. – A construction set that could develop afterwards”. The new production lines, more precisely – the new type of production and relationship between an architect and a house-building plant established by the project – could trigger a development of a completely different kind of panel construction in Kazan: flexibly variable and suited for multiple architectural choices. Since the project suggested by Sergey Skuratov is by no means a “typical” one in the traditional sense.

zooming — Project of building Kazan's "Sedmoye Nebo" ("Seventh Heaven") residential district. Bird' height view © Sergey Skuratov Architects

The main theme of “Euroquarter” is the image of the Volga and in general contemplation about the bordering location of Kazan between East and West. The lengthwise park located almost at the spot of the former takeoff strip, with a small man-made winding river has become the axis of the district. The water will be taken from an artesian well and “wound up” in a closed cycle: the river comes out under the office tower (somewhat taller than its former neighbor – 492ft), runs along the site following the variation of the relief (82ft), then goes under the ground where the pumps bring it back. The banks are cut in some places and low in the others, the river flows from North to South winding and forming a couple of small islands. In a word, this little “Volga” divides the assumed West and East that in the mind of Sergey Skuratov associate with two basic materials: brick and stone respectively. In the presentation sketch-book of the concept the figural poles are defined with two towers of Kazan Kremlin: the white Spasskaya Tower and Söyembikä Tower. The division is evident but conditional: the white-stone of the Spasskaya Tower actually refers only to its lower part, built under Ivan the Terrible (was he a man of the East or the West? He did not know it for sure himself. Probably, a man of West at the beginning of his reign, when he conquered Kazan). The same in the residential complex of Sergey Skuratov – the banks are not divided literally, white and brick facades are mixing, meeting and facing each other. Only the embankments are defined literally: the western is made of brick and the eastern is white-stone, and their “meeting” takes place on a footbridge in the form of a striped gradient with stone transiting into brick. In other words, the inexhaustible topic of East vs. West is shown but not imposed: one may contemplate it or not, being limited to observing the curious plastic effects of juxtaposing brick and stone. Apparently, the stone in the lower floors of the houses will be natural, and in the upper floors – concrete, man-made; the authors are considering adding oriental ornaments into the décor, that will emphasize the cultural difference between the houses and accent the intrigue of the project.

And in truth, it is not so much about the Volga and the formal division of Europe and Asia. The whole Russia is made up of the transfusion of East and West, the idea that has been frequently put in words but never actually found its bottom line. This transfusion becomes noticeable suddenly, sometimes as something beautiful, inexplicable. Such is the “national” Russian architecture of the 17th century, as defined by the late romanticists, and it includes the Söyembikä Tower, the belltower of the Spasskaya – its stem is western and it looks curious, oriental, but the mixture of red and white is attractive. This is the way Sergey Skuratov mixes white and red houses: both for the sake of the idea and beauty. On the other hand, in our time Kazan managed to implement the western idea of an innovation centre earlier than Moscow, and so a European residential district with all the features of modern planning can appear in the near future.

However, the game of cultural East-West contraposition was basically invented by the European culture. In this project Sergey Skuratov stays more than a European – rational, subtle and aware of the latest trends. The network of the quarters is an orthogonal gridiron plan, strictly oriented to cardinal points. The authors suggest their own module for the quarter – twice as shorter than in Manhattan, but not as squared as in Barcelona, to be exact – 3261x2181 feet. Skuratov explains that this size is a result of calculations and is accounted for by a number of causes. The houses are not too high: the average number of floors is 8 or 9 – something in between the houses of Stalin’s time and commercial apartment buildings of the 19th century; closer to the 490 feet high office tower the height of buildings increases up to 12 floors. The yards are shut off from cars (gathered in the underground parking lot), lifted above the pavement, quiet and green. The ground floors are allocated for cafes and shops – coming out by the river they turn into galleries similar to Rue de Rivoli.

One of the characteristic features of the “Euroquarter” is the large area allocated for various, including public, infrastructure. It is a complete little town, much like an ancient middle-sized polis – it is to be populated by about five thousand people. No wonder that the authors intend to make a theatre with an attached outdoor performance stage here, as well as an amphitheater in the river bend, a small museum and a shopping and sporting centre with a square – “agora” in front of them. Two rectangles of the quarter amid the residential development are allocated for kindergartens, and two more kindergartens are built into residential houses.

But the most impressive thing is the school: its gigantic volume spread along the ground – bionic and calligraphic at the same time – reminds the twirls of the Arabic script. Covered with an ornament of triangular street lamps and flexible, it develops the “oriental theme” (the school is white), and begins a new line of thoughts – about the incursion of modern architecture into the relatively conservative quarter development and their coexistence. According to the rules of the popular nowadays architectural game of historical reconstruction of the city, we see a small, sooner a European, or bordering (we shall not forget the main theme) town with all the components: with small, rationally planned and conservative quarters of the “new urbanism”, with inserts of bionic plastics, with its “City” – the office tower, with a river, etc.

On the other hand, and especially looking at the school – one may say that the little town also becomes similar to an ancient polis: it also contains everything, or almost everything, considered essential in these in its way perfect cities. For example, the school – that with a gentle motion inarms the stadium with lines of benches – does not at all look like a box from the Stalin period or, for instance, a Victorian educational institution. But it does remind an ancient gymnasium, a place where people with strong spirits and bodies were raised – an inherent part of Roman and Greek cities. This excellently goes into resonance with the neighboring city hippodrome, the street network and the amphitheater. The theme is emphasized by the small motifs of thin Chipperfield porches glimpsing amid the temporary facades: the white-stone air of the East is shifted somewhere towards Asia Minor, building a bridge back to about two thousand years ago and indicating the relation of modern care for public areas with its original. Which is also subtle: you can count the semantic levels, or you can just stay by the one you like – for example, the European quality of life promised by the project.

Among the facades suggested by Sergey Skuratov at the stage of designing, and according to the author – subject to further development and individualization, there are many examples that give away his master touch: asymmetric slants of windows, thin network, various textures, bold consoles. There are also some fresh ideas that – as you may assume – will stay. For instance, knowing that there is still one of Shukhov Towers remaining on the Volga, Skuratov suggests his interpretation of this motif – a diagonal net of the truss supporting the façade is decorated with brick. “There have been similar solutions in metal and wood, but not yet in brick, as far as I know” – says the author. This Shukhov truss spread along the facades becomes another contextual “Volga” accent, and on the other hand – an engineering one, very Europe-like, it does not appear in the brick part for nothing.

There are many subtle details and apparently not quite polished ideas in this developing project. And yet the most interesting fact is that it is planned to be built with panel technology. In this case the merger of East and West looks like a cultural dressing to the other, more important process: having made manifold, artistic architecture of residential houses his specialization – few architects work with residential buildings so artistically – Sergey Skuratov applies his experience to prefabricated architecture, factory-built housing, vaccinating the renewed Kazan plant. This is not the first experience of Russian architects working with panel constructing, but each following example gives hope for gradual change of typical panel construction – so boring for everyone now – towards individual, reasonable and, on the other hand – relatively cheap. This process is akin to evolution of species – the architect must get inside the area of responsibility of the plant, put the production under his control and transform it, so that it does not repeat the history of the 70s – the other way around.

31 August 2015

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

Headlines now

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.

News

Flexibility and Integration

Not long ago, we covered the project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential complex, designed by APEX. Now, we’ve been shown different fence concepts they developed to enclose the complex’s private courtyards, incorporating a variety of public functions. We believe that the sheer fact that the complex’s architects were involved in such a detail as fencing speaks volumes.

Object

A Step Forward

The HIDE residential complex represents a major milestone for ADM architects and their leaders Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova in their quest for a fresh high-rise aesthetic – one that is flexible and layered, capable of bringing vibrancy to mass and silhouette while shaping form. Over recent years, this approach has become ADM’s “signature style”, with the golden HIDE tower playing a pivotal role in its evolution. Here, we delve into the project’s story, explore the details of the complex’s design, and uncover its core essence.

Object

Gold in the Sands

A new office for a transcontinental company specializing in resource extraction and processing has opened in Dubai. Designed by T+T Architects, masters of creating spaces that are contemporary, diverse, flexible, and original, this project exemplifies their expertise. On the executive floor, a massive brass-clad partition dominates, while layered textures of compressed earth create a contextually resonant backdrop.

Object

Layers and Levels of Flight

This project goes way back – Reserve Union won this architectural competition at the end of 2011, and the building was completed in 2018, so it’s practically “archival”. However, despite being relatively unknown, the building can hardly be considered “dated” and remains a prime example of architectural expression, particularly in the headquarters genre. And it’s especially fitting for an aviation company office. In some ways, it resembles the Aeroflot headquarters at Sheremetyevo but with its own unique identity, following the signature style of Vladimir Plotkin. In this article, we take an in-depth look at the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) headquarters in the Moscow agglomeration town of Zhukovsky, supplemented by recent photographs from Alexey Naroditsky – a shoot that became only recently possible due to the fact that improvements were finally made in the surrounding area.

Object

Light and Shadow

In this article, we delve into the architectural design of the “Chaika” house by DNK ag architects, which was recently completed in 2023 as part of the collection of signature designs at ZILArt. As is well-known, all the buildings in this complex follow a design code, yet each one is distinct. This particular building stands out not only for its whiteness and minimalism but also for the refined use of a limited number of techniques that, together, create what can confidently be called synergy.

View

Casus Novae

A master plan was developed for a large residential area with a name of “DNS City”, but now that its implementation began, the plan has been arbitrarily reformatted and replaced with something that, while similar on the surface, is actually quite different. This is not the first time such a thing happens, but it’s always frustrating. With permission from the author, we are sharing Maria Elkina’s post.

Report

Treasure Hunting

The GAFA bureau, in collaboration with Tegola and Arkhitail, organized an expedition to the island of Kilpola in Karelia as part of Moskomarkhitektura’s “Open City” festival. There, amidst moss and rocks, the students sought answers to questions like: what is the sacred, where does it dwell, and what sustains it? Assisting the participants in this quest were landscape engineer Evgeny Levin, artist Nicholas Roerich, a moose, and the lack of cellular connection. Here’s how the story unfolded.

Object

Depths of the Earth, Streams of Water

In the Malaya Okhta district, the Akzent building, designed by Stepan Liphart, was constructed. It follows a classic tripartite structure, yet it’s what you might call “hand-drawn”: each façade is unique in its form and details, some of which aren’t immediately noticeable. In this article, we explore the context and, together with the architect, delve into how the form was developed.

Object

Fir Tree Dynamics

The “Airports of Region” holding is planning to build an airport in Karachay-Cherkessia, aiming to make the Arkhyz and Dombay resorts more accessible to travelers. The project that won in an invitation-only competition, submitted by Sergey Nikeshkin’s KPLN, blends natural imagery inspired by the shape of a conifer seed, open-air waiting spaces, majestic large trees, and a green roof elevated on needle-like columns. The result is both nature-inspired and WOW.

Object

A Brick Shell

In the process of designing a clubhouse situated among pine trees in a prestigious suburban area near Moscow, the architectural firm “A.Len” did the façade design part. The combination of different types of brick and masonry correlates with the volumetric and plastique solutions, further enhanced by the inclusion of wood-painted fragments and metal “glazing”.

Report

Word Forms

ATRIUM architects love ambitious challenges, and for the firm’s thirtieth anniversary, they boldly play a game of words with an exhibition that dives deep into a self-created vocabulary. They immerse their projects – especially art installations – into this glossary, as if plunging into a current of their own. You feel as if you’re flowing through the veins of pure art, immersed in a universe of vertical cities, educational spaces – of which the architects are true masters – and the cultural codes of various locations. But what truly captivates is the bold statement that Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochy make, both through their work and this exhibition: architecture, above all, is art – the art of working with form and space.

Object

Flexibility and Acuteness of Modernity

Luxurious, fluid, large “kokoshniks” and spiral barrel columns, as if made from colorful chewing gum: there seem to be no other mansion like this in Moscow, designed in the “Neo-Russian-Modern” style. And the “Teremok” on Malaya Kaluzhskaya, previously somewhat obscure, has “come alive with new colors” and gained visibility after its restoration for the office of the “architectural ecosystem” as the architects love to call themselves. It’s evident that Julius Borisov and the architects at UNK put their hearts into finding this new office and bringing it up to date. Let’s delve into the paradoxes of this mansion’s history and its plasticity. Spoiler: two versions of modernity meet here, both balancing on the razor’s edge of “what’s current”.

Interview

Yuri Vissarionov: “A modular house does not belong to the land”

It belongs to space, or to the air... It turns out that 3D printing is more effective when combined with a modular approach: the house is built in a workshop and then adapted to the site, including on uneven terrain. Yuri Vissarionov shares his latest experience in designing tourist complexes, both in central Russia and in the south. These include houseboats, homes printed from lightweight concrete using a 3D printer, and, of course, frame houses.

Object

Moscow’s First

“The quality of education largely depends on the quality of the educational environment”. This principle of the last decade has been realized by Sergey Skuratov in the project for the First Moscow Gymnasium on Rostovskaya Embankment in the Khamovniki district. The building seamlessly integrates into the complex urban landscape, responding both to the pedestrian flow of the city and the quiet alleyways. It skillfully takes advantage of the height differences and aligns with modern trends in educational space design. Let’s take a closer look.

Object

Looking at the Water

The site of Villa Sonata stretches from the road to the water’s edge, offering its own shoreline, pier, and a picturesque river panorama. To reveal these sweeping views, Roman Leonidov “cut” the façade diagonally parallel to the river, thus getting two main axes for the house and, consequently, “two heads”. The internal core – two double-height spaces, a living room and a conservatory, with a “bridge” above them – makes the house both “transparent” and filled with light.

Object

The White Wing

Well, it’s not exactly white. It’s more of a beige, white-stone structure that plays with the color of limestone – smoother surfaces are lighter, while rougher ones are darker. This wing unites various elements: it absorbs and interprets the surrounding themes. It responds to everything, yet maintains a cohesive expression – a challenging task! – while also incorporating recognizable features of its own, such as the dynamic cuts at the bottom, top, and middle.

Object

Urban Dunes

The XSA Ramps team designed and built a three-part sports hub for a park in Rostov-on-Don, welcoming people of all ages and fitness levels. The skate plaza, pump track, and playground are all meticulously crafted with details that attract a diverse range of visitors. The technical execution of the shapes and slopes transforms this space into a kind of sculptural composition.

Object

Proportional Growth

The project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential area has been announced. The buildings are situated on an elongated plot – almost a “ray” that shoots out from the center of the area towards the river. Their layout reflects both a response to Moscow’s architectural preferences over the past 15 years, shifting “from blocks to towers”, and an interpretation of the neighboring business park designed by SOM. Additionally, the best apartments here are not located at the very top but closer to the middle, forming a glowing “waistline”.

Object

The “Staircase” Building

In designing the “Details” residential complex in New Moscow, Rais Baishev spiced up the now-popular Moscow theme of a “courtyard” building with an idea drawn from the surrealist drawings by Maurits Escher. He envisioned the stepped silhouettes and descending slopes as a metaphysical mega-staircase, creating a key void within the courtyard that gave the project an internal “spine”. This concept is felt both in the building’s silhouette and on its façades.

Object

Projection of the Quarter

No one doubted that the building that Vladimir Plotkin designed as part of the “Garden Quarters” would be the most modernist of all. And it turned out just that way: while adhering to the common design code, the building successfully combines brick and white stone, rhythmically responding to the neighboring building designed by Ostozhenka, yet tactfully and persistently making a few statements of its own. This includes the projection of the ideal urban development composition “14–9–6”, which can be found right next door, mathematical calculations, including those for various types of terraces (and perhaps the only reminder of the Soviet past of the Kauchuk rubber factory!), and the white “cross-stitch” pattern of the façade grid.

Object

Domus Aurea

In this issue, we examine the “Tessinsky-1” house, designed by Sergey Skuratov and completed in 2023. Located in the middle of the Serebryanicheskaya Embankment district, at the intersection of its main streets, this house assumes a sort of “nodal” role: it not only responds to everything around it and preserves many memories of the former EMA factory within itself, but it weaves all this into a newly directed pattern, reconciling bright “gold” and dark-colored brick, largely with the help of the new, modern-yet-archaic Columba brick, which, come to think about it, is the most precious element here.

send.project

The Chimney of Nikola-Lenivets

In this issue, we are examining the “Obelisk House” designed by KATARSIS and built for the Arkhstoyanie 2023 festival. However, it was only finished later on, and this is why we are examining it now. It seems to us that after the “Obelisk House” appeared in Nikola-Lenivets, a dialogue and a few inner connections appeared between the temporary structures built here. These houses no longer look like “accidental neighbors”, more of which below.

Periscope by the Bay

The jury awarded the second place in the competition for a public and cultural center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the companies GORA (“Mountain”) and M4. In the consortium’s proposal, the building resembles a sperm whale with a calf swimming next to it or a periscope, whose lenses capture the most spectacular views from the surrounding landscape.

Contest Results

From Arcs to Dolmens

While working on the competition project for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, ASADOV Architects prioritized the value of the natural and urban environment, aiming to preserve the balance of the location while minimizing the resemblance of the volume that they designed to a “traditional building”. The task was challenging, and the architects created three versions, one of which having been developed after the competition, where their main proposal took third place. However, the point of interest here is not the competition result but the continuity of creative thinking.

Object

Hide and Seek

The ID Moskovskiy house, designed by Stepan Liphart in St. Petersburg, in the courtyards near Moskovskiy Avenue beyond the Obvodny Canal and recently completed, is notable for several reasons. Firstly, it has been realized with considerable accuracy, which is particularly significant as this is the first building where the architect was responsible not only for the facades but also for the layouts, allowing for better integration between the two. On the other hand, this building is interesting as an example of the “germination” of new architecture in the city: it draws on the best examples from the neighborhood and becomes an improved and developed sum of ideas found by the architect in the surrounding context.

The Big Twelve

Yesterday, the winners of the Moscow Mayor’s Architecture Award were announced and honored. Let’s take a look at what was awarded and, in some cases, even critique this esteemed award. After all, there is always room for improvement, right?

Object

Above the Golden Horn

The residential complex “Philosophy” designed by T+T architects in Vladivostok, is one of the new projects in the “Golubinaya Pad” area, changing its development philosophy (pun intended) from single houses to a comprehensive approach. The buildings are organized along public streets, varying in height and format, with one house even executed in gallery typology, featuring a cantilever leaning on an art object.

Report

Nuanced Alternative

How can you rhyme a square and space? Easily! But to do so, you need to rhyme everything you can possibly think of: weave everything together, like in a tensegrity structure, and find your own optics too. The new exhibition at GES-2 does just that, offering its visitor a new perspective on the history of art spanning 150 years, infused with the hope for endless multiplicity of worlds and art histories. Read on to see how this is achieved and how the exhibition design by Evgeny Ace contributes to it.

Cut Banks, Low Banks

Sergey Skuratov has suggested Kazan an architectural concept of a residential district that is not only filled with multiple cultural meanings and provided with public functions, but also suited for panel construction.