Breaking the Pattern

"Atrium" keeps on proving the versatility of its skills and approaches - each new project that it completes possesses a new function, yet the author's style is still inevitably recognizable in it. A year and a half ago the company completed a residential project with a sports complex; still before that - "KVN" youth center. The new building is a shopping and business center by the name of "Vodny" ("By the Water").

Written by:
Maria Fadeeva
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

19 May 2016

Object

Architect:

Firm:

ATRIUM

Object:

Mixed-use retail and business centre on Golovinskoe highway
Russia, Moscow, Golovinskoe highway, 5

Project Team:
Gennady Nadtochy, Vera Butko, Anton Nadtochy, Alexey Naumenko, Alexandr Malygin

2010 — 2011 / 2014

MR Group

Hitherto, "Atrium" has only worked with offices in the format of interiors and reconstructions, and, as far as the recently finished building is concerned, this is "Atrium"'s first project of this kind, let alone its mixed function. In addition, this is the first project of this height and magnitude in the company's portfolio - the 26-floor "cloud breaker" towers the whopping one hundred and six meters above the ground. Add to this the fact that the construction place that the architects got was not exactly inspiring: the Kronstadt Boulevard, next to the "Vodny Stadion" ("Water Stadium") metro station. Within a walking distance, the surroundings consist predominantly of a lot of haphazardly situated segments of the N44 "Bratsevo" industrial park (that includes a graveyard, among other things), and a few residential areas scattered around. The latter are so few in number that no infrastructure projects or appropriate public buildings are in sight, barring the building of the local hotel. As for the "title sightseeing point" that can, other things being equal, claim to be "high profile landmark", it is the good old water stadium of "Dinamo", designed by Movchan, now slowly decaying, and located not so near - a 20-minutes' walk away from the metro station, on the other side of the Leningrad Highway. Still, the place is a bustling one. The "Vodny Stadion" is a transport hub for a lot of overland routes: they carry the people out of the depth of the huge neighborhood. Their oversized parking lot is yet another discomfort factor that is felt the moment one alights from the metro line. In a word, this place could have easily gotten yet another garish "suitcase" of a shopping center; just like a lot of Moscow's pre-suburban metro stations already did.

It was an extraordinary piece of luck that the development company MR Group that possessed the land site was far too ambitious to settle for any trivial solution. Not for nothing does it get for a few consecutive years the "developer of the year" at Urban Awards. "Vodny", by the way, also kept winning various prizes and awards throughout its entire first year: as the best shopping center, as the best office center, and even as "the best project that uses gypsum plasterboard in its interior".

zooming — Shopping and business center "Vodny" © Atrium Architects

The building of "Vodny" presents a rather sharp contrast to its surroundings but this is exactly the case when the conflict between the new building and its architectural context is just what the place needs. This looks particularly important now that it has become clear that the complex is but the first shot of retrieving the territories for a new urban life from the old industrial park. At the neighboring land site - as the second phase of construction - an apartment complex is now being completed, and, in the autumn of 2015, the city got the approval for building a hotel here and reconstructing the "Mebel Rossii" ("Russian Furniture") furniture supermarket, also situated in the immediate vicinity of this metro station. Now all these buildings will have to "mind" the "Atrium" project.

The building came out really cool-looking, with its volume visually fractured in a thought-out way, which makes it look original without being too sophisticated. If viewed from distant vantage points, it looks like a neat sculpture, just like a high-rise landmark should. When viewed from a close range, however, in spite of its considerable volume, it looks almost ethereal. The cliché of "thanks to the rich texture of the façade" would be misplaced in this case because what we see here is interaction between volumes with cantilevers that are six-eight meters long. In the formal project diagram, the authors presented the project as an assembly model of several Tetris pieces; in the reality, however, things are a little bit more complex. First of all, the blocks that we consider to be the "Tetris pieces" are completely devoid of the "Tetris" monolith quality - embracing the necessary chunk of space, their lamellar casings vibrate against the light, the optical effect being enhanced by the cutaways in their "fabric". It is also noteworthy that this technique works equally great from the outside and from the inside office part that commands a broad cityscape view. One can easily imagine such casing being created with a 3D-pen but... when this project was being developed this gadget was not yet there!

Second of all, the block of the office part wedges into the shopping one setting the main quality of the stores' interior - the abundance of light and air. The vertical of the tower is "strung up" through the roof of the slab of the shopping center. In the place of this penetration, we find a sun tube with a logical atrium underneath it. The crevice of the sun tubes runs away from the epicenter along the length of the shopping gallery lines. At one point, this line of sun tubes almost disappeared from the project because of the investor's desire to cut costs - but the architects were ultimately able to defend it. Now these spotlights make a positive impact on the demand for the food court points situated beneath them: the lighted space above makes the impression as if the very air here is thinner and invites people to take a break from the shopping spree. And, one must say that this is a very special feeling when you not just enjoy the natural ambient light in a shopping center but the very structure of the center's space pushes you to look up to the sky (and, of course, see the stores located on the upper floors).

In a similar way, only in the opposite direction, meaning downwards, works the interior design of the entrance lobby of the office section - the least tense point of the building. Its double-height space is almost ethereal, its ceiling continuing the idea of the outside lamellae - only there they take on an unexpected agile quality. The softness of the interior design solution is also supported by a custom -designed reception desk. Developing the vertical volume of the office block inside the retail interior and visualizing their interaction the architects defy the stereotype of a retail space being horizontal. And this is but one of the unexpected and eye-pleasing elements that form a rather unique consumer experience. The curved outlines that appeared very early on at the advice of the retail consultants who claim that the customers feel a lot better when they flow among the stores along curved lines - they were really raised to high art. The inside space turned out to be quite sculptural - and, because, of that, very coherent which covers up beautifully for the inevitable motley crew of the goods on display.

It is also important to mention that the office high-rise penetrates the retail block not only on a formal level but also functionally: the office workers can get down, for example, to buy flowers for a colleague, for a business lunch at the food court, or just go to the movies after the day's work. The point where the office workers ooze into the world of retail trade is marked by a portal of the same color as the street entrance to the office block. Furthermore, leaving their cars in the multilevel parking garage, the office employees inevitably pass through the shopping center - thus increasing the retail figures.

In a word, the closer you examine the building and the more details you take in, the more you come to a conclusion that the classic modernist couple of "slab+vertical" still has a great potential and it's still got a lot to say to the modern architecture. And, handled by true professionals, two bulky "cubes" of functions can turn into a really beautiful city sculpture.

Architect:

Firm:

ATRIUM

Object:

19 May 2016

Headlines now

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

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Object

In the Rhombus Grid

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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.

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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.

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Architecture and Leisure Park

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Overview

The U-House

The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.

Object

Black and White

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The “Snake” Mountain

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Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring

The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.

Object

Feed ’Em All

A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.

Object

The Ensemble at the Mosque

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Pargolovo Protestantism

A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.

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The Shape of the Inconceivable

The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.

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Rays of the Desert

A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.

Object

The Dairy Theme

The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.

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The Road to the Temple

Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.

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Towers Leaning Towards the Sun

The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.

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In the spirit of ROSTA posters

The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.

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The Northern Thebaid

The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.

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Brilliant Production

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Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor

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The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement

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A Single-Industry Town

Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.

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A New Age Portico

At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.

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A New Starting Point

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Molding Perspectives

Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.