The Facade of Modern Medicine

At Moscow's Krasnaya Presnya, the construction of a multi profile diagnostic and treatment center of MEDCI Group is being completed.

Written by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

24 September 2015

Object

The new building of the medical center is situated not far away from the Moscow Zoo and the Krasnaya Presnya high-rise, at the crossing of the Krasnaya Presnya and Malaya Gruzinskaya streets, in the spot of the former "communal kitchen" built in the late twenties by the architect Sergey Kurabtsev. The building of the "kitchen", just like a few adjacent facilities, for a long time belonged to City Hospital №32. Then since 2006 it stood empty gradually falling into decay until in November of 2013, after long negotiations between MEDCI GROUP and Moscow municipality, the controversial decision to take down the old constructivist building was made. Instead, a new state-of-the-art private medical center was built. The customer committed to allot a share of it the city hospital and design the new building in the vein of Soviet constructivism - in memory of its predecessor.

zooming — Architectural solution of the facades of the diagnostic and treatment center © GrandProjectCity

As the master designer, the company KAPSTROYPROJECT was invited that did the implementation of the project and developed its planning structure. As for the authors of the architecture of this new building, and its facades in particular, they were chosen at a closed contest that included not only Russian but also foreign companies. Karen Saprichyan, the leader of "GrandProjectCity", together with Alexander Asadov, came up with a "compromise" proposal for this contest based on today's interpretation of the motifs of late constructivism. "We wanted to keep the spirit of the place intact - Karen Saprichyan shares - and pay homage to the existing urban environment of Krasnaya Presnya area where construction was underway from the 1930's to 1980's. Today, the most high-profile edifice of this area is the 1928 building of "Gostorg" department store built upon the project of Vesnin brothers. Besides, the style of the late constructivism seemed to us to be the most appropriate for a medical institution: it is in this particular style that, say, the Kremlin health center on the Vozdvizhenka is designed of the Russian Railways health center". The contest was won, and the authors got down to the design work.

In the first version proposed by the architects, the allusions to the late constructivism were rather strong: a rounded bay window overlooking Krasnaya Presnya, large windows and doubled semi-columns, and the horizontal belts of the cornices - all reminded, among other things, the Ivan Fomin buildings. The city council gave the project its approval. The customer, however, did not go for this proposal that was not only approved but also got the "architectural and urban planning solution" certificate: the customer reasoned that the task connected with the quality health care of the new millennium was not to look like the Soviet architecture but, quite the opposite, was to belong to the new age and bring associations with today's technologies. The customer even thought of implementing a different project with fully glazed facades.

However, as Karen Saprichyan shares, "thanks to the firm attitude of the main architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov, it was our version that was ultimately chosen, in the spirit of Moscow constructivism". The architecture, however, had to be transformed to a large extent to answer the preferences of MEDCI GROUP. A solution that could satisfy everybody - the city, the customer, the people living in this area that also cared, and the authors as well - was long searched for, in spite of the time constraints, the building had to be built (and actually was built) very quickly - within less than two years, from autumn 2013 to summer 2015.

The second and final version that suited all the parties looks less than the architectural avant-garde and early neoclassic - but the architects added to it some allusions to the "Azure House" on the Leningrad Avenue built by Andrew Burov. We can see here the same concrete grid that stands out from the glass background mounted on metal framework; the difference is that glass is even more abundant here, and the cells of the grid are wider; at some places they unite, as is the custom nowadays, two floors within one cell. We see here the same dominance of verticalls, but here they are spaced more apart and are covered not with imitation Venetian marble as in the Andrew Burov house but with thin rockface panels. Incidentally, the rockface, the blades, and the layered structure of the facade with sunken-in ribbed horizontals are the actually the building's reaction its nearest surroundings; they visually resonate with the Posokhin-Mndoyants Krasnaya Presnya high-rise viewable from here in the perspective.

But the main thing here is the openwork panels. Their pattern is generalized and looks something like gothic spider web with a plastique that is abstract and subjected to the arch-shaped lines, even though still not completely detached from the floral motifs.

The bas-reliefs are executed from sculptural clay full-size: from 3.5 to 8 meters on Karen Saprichyan's author sketches. They were molded and produced also by the team of "GrandProjectCity". "There were many options for these drawings - the author shares: the abstract, echoing the design of the portals of the railroad tracks in the city of Adler, executed by me for the Olympics 2014; floral ornament, simple geometric kind, and others". The openwork reliefs, it must be noted, turned out to be virtually the perfect solution for the problem of reconciling the historical contextualism within the boundaries of which the architects wanted to stay, and the conformity to the expectations of today on which the customer insisted - as is known, probably the "hottest" thing in the architecture of today is the moderately abstract ornament. In other words, the panels made the building look modern and historical at the same time. For the works by the bureau of Karen Saprichyan who is both an architect and a sculptor this solution is also quite characteristic - one can say that in this case the peculiarity of the author's trademark style went a long way to quickly overcome a whole number of contradictions, at the same time endowing the building with a character of its own.

As far as the overall picture is concerned, the architectural solution is based on the combination of greenish glass - this is MEDCI trademark brand book color which allowed the authors to use this color as an "argument" and to a large degree pushed forward the process of getting the customer's approval - with light stone-looking glass fiber concrete that forms on the facades a textured grid that on the longitudinal facades United the floors into pairs changing its rhythm on the street facade, outlining of the floors. According to the architects, they deliberately varied the different architectural elements using them "to different capacities": in a more reserved way in the yard and more actively at the "visual points of importance" on the street side - this technique was meant to help create the necessary contrast and help form the accents within the framework of a certain homogeneity of the stylistic devices employed.

One of the most noticeable plastic techniques is inherited from the original version - this is a semicircular bay window turned into the direction of the high-rise and hanging in a neat cantilever; the architects deliberately did not stretch it up to the roof level leaving it as a recognizable quotation. The corner at the crossroads side echoes this bay window with a smooth rounding.

The main entrance located in the middle of the slab of the building on the side of the Malaya Gruzinskaya Street, on the other hand, is accentuated by a slight cavity - the facade gets broken in a wide angle resembling an "open book" very much like the New Arbat buildings, even though the resemblance here is less obvious. At the place of the break, the facade gets predominantly glass, while the thin textured interfloor cornices of the left and right parts of the building stop short meeting like clenched fingers of a human hand - in a odd and even formula. Thus, through the difference in the rhythm and the alternation of the two-stores bands, the architects were able to visually break the elongated building into two volumes, as if growing into each other on the pivot of the entrance lobby. On the yard side, there is a cavity in this key place.

Besides, the new building fits in perfectly with the array of the soviet nine-story high-rises at Krasnaya Presnya - its tallness and color make it look like it really belongs here.

An important part in creating the individual image of the building is played by the architectural backlighting that helps to reveal the structure of the facades and enhance the individuality of the plastic techniques. The openwork panels got a special "bonus" - RGB backlight in the full color range; it delicately accentuates the inserts without violating the integrity of the facade structure.

The complex at the Krasnaya Presnya was built really fast, in spite of the complexity of the land site and the issues having to do with the demolition of the old building. The construction began in 2014, and as early as before 2016 the center should open for the patients. The clinic will cover all the medical branches from general therapy to immunology and allergy research. The clinic will also include the day patient facility, the operational, and the diagnostic block. For the nation's capital, this is a great step in the development of its health care system, however payable, while for the city environment it is something like a vitamin injection, an example of almost literal "alloy" of reflections of the days past with the new ideas of tomorrow.

24 September 2015

Headlines now

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.

Object

Blinds for Ice

An ice arena has been constructed in Domodedovo based on a project by Yuri Vissarionov Architects. To prevent the long façade, a technical requirement for winter sports facilities, from appearing monotonous, the architects proposed the use of suspended structures with multidirectional slats. This design protects the ice from direct sunlight while giving the wall texture and detail.

Report

Campus within a Day

In this article, we talk about what the participants of Genplan Institute of Moscow’s hackathon were doing at the MosComArchitecture booth at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition. We also discuss who won the prize and why, and what can be done with the territory of a small university on the outskirts of Moscow.

Overview

Vertical Civilization

Genpro considered the development of the vertical city concept and made it the theme of their pavilion at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition.

Interview

Marina Yegorova: “We think in terms of hectares, not square meters”

The career path of architect Marina Yegorova is quite impressive: MARHI, SPEECH, MosComArchitectura, the Genplan Institute of Moscow, and then her own architectural company. Its name Empate, which refers to the words “to draw” in Portuguese and “to empathize” in English, should not be misleading with its softness, as the firm freely works on different scales, including Integrated Territorial Development projects. We talked with Marina about various topics: urban planning experience, female leadership style, and even the love of architects for yachting.

Interview

Andrey Chuikov: “Optimum balance is achieved through economics”

The Yekaterinburg-based architectural company CNTR is in its mature stage: crystallization of principles, systematization, and standardization helped it make a qualitative leap, enhance competencies, and secure large contracts without sacrificing the aesthetic component. The head of the company, Andrey Chuikov, told us about building a business model and the bonuses that additional education in financial management provides for an architect.

Object

The Fulcrum

Ostozhenka Architects have designed two astonishing towers practically on the edge of a slope above the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod. These towers stand on 10-meter-tall weathered steel “legs”, with each floor offering panoramic views of the river and the city; all public spaces, including corridors, receive plenty of natural light. Here, we see a multitude of solutions that are unconventional for the residential routine of our day and age. Meanwhile, although these towers hark back to the typological explorations of the seventies, they are completely reinvented in a contemporary key. We admire Veren Group as the client – this is exactly how a “unique product” should be made – and we tell you exactly how our towers are arranged.

Object

Crystal is Watching You

Right now, Museum Night has kicked off at the Museum of Architecture, featuring a fresh new addition – the “Crystal of Perception”, an installation by Sergey Kuznetsov, Ivan Grekov, and the KROST company, set up in the courtyard. It shimmers with light, it sings, it reacts to the approach of people, and who knows what else it can do.

Object

The Secret Briton

The house is called “Little France”. Its composition follows the classical St. Petersburg style, with a palace-like courtyard. The decor is on the brink of Egyptian lotuses, neo-Greek acroteria, and classic 1930s “gears”; the recessed piers are Gothic, while the silhouette of the central part of the house is British. It’s quite interesting to examine all these details, attempting to understand which architectural direction they belong to. At the same time, however, the house fits like a glove in the context of the 20th line of St. Petersburg’s Vasilievsky Island; its elongated wings hold up the façade quite well.

The Wrap-Up

The competition project proposed by Treivas for the first 2021 competition for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025 concludes our series of publications on pavilion projects that will not be implemented. This particular proposal stands out for its detailed explanations and the idea of ecological responsibility: both the facades and the exhibition inside were intended to utilize recycled materials.

Birds and Streams

For the competition to design the Omsk airport, DNK ag formed a consortium, inviting VOX architects and Sila Sveta. Their project focuses on intersections, journeys, and flights – both of people and birds – as Omsk is known as a “transfer point” for bird migrations. The educational component is also carefully considered, and the building itself is filled with light, which seems to deconstruct the copper circle of the central entrance portal, spreading it into fantastic hyper-spatial “slices”.

Faraday Grid

The project of the Omsk airport by ASADOV Architects is another concept among the 14 finalists of a recent competition. It is called “The Bridge” and is inspired by both the West Siberian Exhibition of 1911 and the Trans-Siberian Railway bridge over the Irtysh River, built in 1896. On one hand, it carries a steampunk vibe, while on the other, there’s almost a sense of nostalgia for the heyday of 1913. However, the concept offers two variants, the second one devoid of nostalgia but featuring a parabola.

Review

Midway upon the Journey of Our Life

Recently, Tatlin Publishing House released a book entitled “Architect Sergey Oreshkin. Selected Projects”. This book is not just a traditional book of the architectural company’s achievements, but rather a monograph of a more personal nature. The book includes 43 buildings as well as a section with architectural drawings. In this article, we reflect on the book as a way to take stock of an architect’s accomplishments.

Inverted Fortress

This year, there has been no shortage of intriguing architectural ideas around the Omsk airport. The project developed by the architectural company KPLN appeals to Omsk’s history as a wooden fortress that it was back in the day, but transforms the concept of a fortress beyond recognition: it “shaves off” the conical ends of “wooden logs”, then enlarges them, and then flips them over. The result is a hypostyle – a forest of conical columns on point supports, with skylights on top.

send.project

Transformation of Annenkirche

For Annenkirche (St. Anna Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg), Sergey Kuznetsov and the Kamen bureau have prepared a project that relies on the principles of the Venice Charter: the building is not restored to a specific date, historical layers are preserved, and modern elements do not mimic the authentic ones. Let’s delve into the details of these solutions.

The Paradox of the Temporary

The concept of the Russian pavilion for EXPO 2025 in Osaka, proposed by the Wowhaus architects, is the last of the six projects we gathered from the 2022 competition. It is again worth noting that the results of this competition were not finalized due to the cancellation of Russia’s participation in World Expo 2025. It should be mentioned that Wowhaus created three versions for this competition, but only one is being presented, and it can’t be said that this version is thoroughly developed – rather, it is done in the spirit of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, the project is interesting in its paradoxical nature: the architects emphasized the temporary character of the pavilion, and in its bubble-like forms sought to reflect the paradoxes of space and time.

The Forum of Time

The competition project for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka designed by Aleksey Orlov and Arena Project Institute consists of cones and conical funnels connected into a non-trivial composition, where one can feel the hand of architects who have worked extensively with stadiums and other sports facilities. It’s very interesting to delve into its logic, structurally built on the theme of clocks, hourglasses and even sundials. Additionally, the architects have turned the exhibition pavilion into a series of interconnected amphitheaters, which is also highly relevant for world exhibitions. We are reminding you that the competition results were never announced.

Mirrors Everywhere

The project by Sergey Nebotov, Anastasia Gritskova, and the architectural company “Novoe” was created for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025, but within the framework of another competition, which, as we learned, took place even earlier, in 2021. At that time, the competition theme was “digital twins”, and there was minimal time for work, so the project, according to the architect himself, was more of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, this project is interesting for its plan bordering on similarity with Baroque projects and the emblem of the exhibition, as well as its diverse and comprehensive reflectiveness.

Report

The Steppe Is Full of Beauty and Freedom

The goal of the exhibition “Dikoe Pole” (“Wild Field”) at the State Historical Museum was to move away from the archaeological listing of valuable items and to create an image of the steppe and nomads that was multidirectional and emotional – in other words, artistic. To achieve this goal, it was important to include works of contemporary art. One such work is the scenography of the exhibition space developed by CHART studio.

The Snowstorm Fish

The next project from the unfinished competition for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025, which will be held in Osaka, Japan, is by Dashi Namdakov and Parsec Architects. The pavilion describes itself as an “architectural/sculptural” one, with its shape clearly reminiscent of abstract sculpture of the 1970s. It complements its program with a meditative hall named “Mendeleev’s Dreams”, and offers its visitors to slide from its roof at the end of the tour.

The Mirror of Your Soul

We continue to publish projects from the competition for the design of the Russian Pavilion at EXPO in Osaka 2025. We are reminding you that the results of the competition have not been announced, and hardly will ever be. The pavilion designed by ASADOV Architects combines a forest log cabin, the image of a hyper transition, and sculptures made of glowing threads – it focuses primarily on the scenography of the exhibition, which the pavilion builds sequentially like a string of impressions, dedicating it to the paradoxes of the Russian soul.

Part of the Ideal

In 2025, another World Expo will take place in Osaka, Japan, in which Russia will not participate. However, a competition for the Russian pavilion was indeed held, with six projects participating. The results were never announced as Russia’s participation was canceled; the competition has no winners. Nevertheless, Expo pavilion projects are typically designed for a bold and interesting architectural statement, so we’ve gathered all the six projects and will be publishing articles about them in random order. The first one is the project by Vladimir Plotkin and Reserve Union, which is distinguished by the clarity of its stereometric shape, the boldness of its structure, and the multiplicity of possible interpretations.

Object

The Fortress by the River

ASADOV Architects have developed a concept for a new residential district in the center of Kemerovo. To combat the harsh climate and monotonous everyday life, the architects proposed a block type of development with dominant towers, good insolation, facades detailed at eye level, and event programming.

Object

In the Rhombus Grid

Construction has begun on the building of the OMK (United Metallurgical Company) Corporate University in Nizhny Novgorod’s town of Vyksa, designed by Ostozhenka Architects. The most interesting aspect of the project is how the architects immersed it in the context: “extracting” a diagonal motif from the planning grid of Vyksa, they aligned the building, the square, and the park to match it. A truly masterful work with urban planning context on several different levels of perception has long since become the signature technique of Ostozhenka.

Object

Generational Connection

Another modern estate, designed by Roman Leonidov, is located in the Moscow region and brings together three generations of one family under one roof. To fit on a narrow plot without depriving anyone of personal space, the architects opted for a zigzag plan. The main volume in the house structure is accentuated by mezzanines with a reverse-sloped roof and ceilings featuring exposed beams.

Object

Three Dimensions of the City

We began to delve into the project by Sergey Skuratov, the residential complex “Depo” in Minsk, located at Victory Square, and it fascinated us completely. The project has at least several dimensions to it: historical – at some point, the developer decided to discontinue further collaboration with Sergey Skuratov Architects, but the concept was approved, and its implementation continues, mostly in accordance with the proposed ideas. The spatial and urban planning dimension – the architects both argue with the city and play along with it, deciphering nuances, and finding axes. And, finally, the tactile dimension – the constructed buildings also have their own intriguing features. Thus, this article also has two parts: it dwells on what has been built and what was conceived

Object

New “Flight”

Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.

Object

The Yauza Towers

In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.