Introvert Colossus

The multifunctional complex "Lotus" stands out among Moscow's projects of recent years. In this article, we examine the end result, analyze its image, and try t -o sort out our impressions of it.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

25 July 2016

Object

We already shared in detail about the project of this multifunctional (still, predominantly office) center situated in the district of Zyuzino on the Odesskaya Street, next to "Nakhimovsky Prospect" metro station and the small Kotlovka River (the authors of the project being Sergey Tchoban, Sergey Kuznetsov, Aleksey Ilin, and SPEECH). By the end of 2014, it was implemented practically the way it was designed, got the name of "Lotus", and was nominated for numerous prestigious Russian architectural awards. In other words, this building is as high-profile as it is conspicuous, among other reasons, because of the fact that this is one of the projects that were designed right before the economic crisis of 2008, but still were successfully implemented when the recession was in full swing. But then again, this project is a high-profile one not only in theory: the complex is viewable from many sides, from long distances, and, of course, it makes a striking impression on those who drive down the Nakhimovsky Avenue, when, among the dusty vistas of panel buildings, shabby five-story affairs, the inevitable road repair, and abundant but still scraggy trees, they suddenly see a large but self-sufficient glittering volume, compactly packed, and at the same time looking as it it was spinning a little bit - sort of like a glass tornado.

zooming — Multifunctional complex "Lotus". Construction 2011-2014. Photograph © Aleksey Naroditskiy

What first met my eye was the total "extraterrestrial" quality of this project. The crumbly and monotonous background of the "sleeping belt" area where five-story affairs and panel-house neighborhoods alternate with all-but-abandoned industrial parks and wastelands suddenly gives way to a smooth glittering dark-blue monster 85 meters tall that looks as if it had grown up (or, should I say "drilled up") from underground, if not fallen from the sky. The building is a total alien, and so it feels – it stays within its self-imposed circle – not timidly but quite confidently. The whole thing also feels a bit like the Ancient Greek fable about a dragon's teeth that would grow up in a field: what we are seeing here is a strong and self-sufficient edifice. In the Moscow contest, the only thing that it is emotionally on a par with is the complex of Moscow City – it also fills a casual observer with awe at its sheer magnitude and the quality of its surfaces. Yes, this building definitely seems like a distant offshoot of the host of skyscrapers of Moscow City. Most parallels can be drawn, of course, with the Federation Tower because it was built, with Peter Schweger as the co-author, by Sergey Tchoban – but it's not so much this likeness that's important – rather, both Moscow City and Lotus belong to one and the same genre of an "honest" office giant that does not even think of keeping a low profile, which implies huge glass façades, a giant scale, and the integrity of the 3D technology-born form. The thirty years of postmodernism have shown that mimicry is not something that such buildings should be about, and it is not their strong point either – honesty and straightforwardness are much more appropriate in such cases.

Back to the topic of drilling from beneath the ground, though! First of all, the building's spiral plan consists of three blade-shaped buildings that do suggest some sort of a propeller, maybe the helicopter kind in the avant-garde spirit, or maybe of some other type. Second of all, the faceting of the two bottom floors reminds – particularly for a casual observer glancing from below - a jagged edge of some sharpened tool. It can be, of course, traced back to the classic attic with pylons alternating in a staggered order but the image of the building, which is rather on the technology side, brings more associations with some sophisticated machine rather than with an attic. And third: the glass façade springs directly from the ground, without any basement floor, and at some points it only opens the recession of the entrance, which suggests that there's plenty more of such matter left underground.

Which is partially true: underneath, there are four levels of the parking garage. In its center, there is an atrium covered with a dome, inside of which it was planned, according to the project, to grow a tree – we already wrote about that. Right about that time, proceeding from the idea of a living tree planted in the middle of a "mechanical" building, a logical structure came about: the skyscraper is all about glass and concrete but the living tree went a long way to make it come alive.

Yes, all this is true. Looking at the building for the first time, one, is, of course, impressed by its sheer size. On second sight, however, you notice a lot of signs of subtle silhouette play that unfolds on a superhuman scale but does not lose any intensity because of that – rather, gains extra momentum.

First of all, the shape of each of the units - and they look pretty much alike – combines a cylinder and a cone, giving an interesting spin to the tension that appears between these different but still akin shapes. Each unit can be viewed as a third of a cylinder but this is not the whole of it. If we are to take a look at their sides, we will see that they are trapeze-shaped, one tapering and one widening towards the top. The entire volume is covered with some eternal ripples that bring associations with light waves or magnetic fields – on the one hand. On the other hand, it resembles the curvatures of the classical column adapted the post-Einsteinian language of modern architecture.

Because of the geometry that makes each of the volumes make an unconventional twist from a usual trapeze to an inverted one, the outside walls are non-vertical almost at all points. This is clearly seen on the drawings and section views. And, if we are to take a walk around the building, one's eyes do not take in the details at once, and an impression is created as if the signal of the immanent complexity of this giant comes out from one's subconscious. Suddenly you realize that this building, however large, sturdy, and simple, has a soul, and it not just stands, it teeters, and not because of the wind but in time to its inner tune.

That's not how the story ends, however. All the glass stories are grouped in twos, and the outside glass of the broad glass bands is tilted toward the sky; their bottom edge functions as a cantilever, forming a semblance of a marquee that protects each following pair of floors from the sun – the architects proudly stress. The tilted surfaces reflect the sky better, and this is why the building looks so navy blue, while the so-popular-nowadays rhythm helps to "eat away" the scale to a certain extent. The black shadows of the cantilevers dissect the volumes with graphic lines looking like they were made in black Indian ink. The outlines of the "strokes" smoothly change as they go into perspective, grow thinner and painted as a line skillfully drawn on Chinese silk (it looks particularly like silk on a sunset), and bring out the best features in the volume. And these features are so powerful that, while looking at them, one really starts having doubts about whether the cantilevers stick out evenly or whether they also take an active role in the game of light and shade. But – make no mistake – they stand out evenly, only the lines of the shadows deceive one's eyes inviting them to follow. The impression is very much like a watercolor painting, drawn with a feather: dissected by a regular grid pattern of thin joints, the façades serve as a canvas for broad "strokes" of cantilevers, at some places the circular ones from the curved surfaces meeting the straight ones from the sides – in these places the powerful tension of the volumes is felt particularly strong. Anybody who has ever applied strokes on a cylinder will get what I am talking about. The transparency of the corners seen against the light, just as the fact that the buildings reflect one another, adds to the complex's beauty and picturesqueness, due to the colorful spots of varying intensity getting fractured at the bends of the walls.

One should also say that, apart from the above-mentioned "drill", the complex looks like the mechanism of a clutch pencil: some of you must remember these pencils that hold the graphite with three-four tiny metallic paws. So, if you take away the graphite, push the button at the back of the pencil, and pry the petals open – they really look like this complex. And if we are to remember that both Sergey Tchoban and Sergey Kuznetsov – who also worked on this project when he wasn't yet the chief architect of Moscow - are passionate drawing artists, the resemblance ceases to look all that improbable.

The glass is a bit on the smoked side: it only lets in 45% of the visible ambient light and 30% of heat. It still retains its transparency letting an outside observer see the white strokes of fluorescent lights on the ceiling of each floor: particularly noticeable on an overcast day, they fall together to form a laconic pattern that makes the stripes of cantilevers come alive. At night, the building glows from the inside like an anthill of fireflies – this, incidentally, also reminds me of Moscow City. Visible from the outside, the lines of light add to the building's openness: for a person going down the street at night, the chandeliers shining on the ceilings of other people's apartments are a comforting sight to see; without being a peeping Tom, we still sort of feel as if we are a tiny part of somebody else's life, and, therefore, not so lonely anymore - the white strokes on the ceiling of the office complex explore this particular emotion – a technique that adds a soul to this multi-dimensional giant, making it closer, warmer, and more alive.

***

In these days and in this country (other countries excepted), few people are really willing to examine architecture. On the other hand, most people are quick to hang labels without ever seeing the project in question. An "office building" project is a "bad" project; a "compacted" or a "pointed" one – still worse. And, as for "building of glass and concrete" term, ever since the 1980's it has been as close to an insult as an architectural term could ever get. In such surroundings, office towers inevitably try to keep a low profile, try to make themselves inconspicuous – which, as we remember, is something they are not good at, anyway, and the awkward attempts at disguising themselves only ruin their looks. What we are seeing here is a totally different case: Lotus establishes itself as something that's glass and concrete – yes, this is all true, but that's only one side of the story. It still reserves the right to be agile and moving, or maybe even meditate on its own architectural genre, molding its thoughts, and maybe even controversies, into the barely noticeable subtleties of the design solution. This giant baby has a soul to it – which is what the whole project was all about. It has been proven many times: this is exactly the way one must work within this genre.

25 July 2016

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.