Biotechnogenic Duality

A concept of nature and technology combined in the interior of company MRTS, performing construction of major subsea pipelines.

Written by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

08 June 2016

Object

Architect:

Firm:

Arch Group http://arch-group.ru/

The interior has been designed for “Mezhregiontruboprovodstroy” (MRTS), whose specialization is subsea pipe laying and reconstruction. The complicated specifics of the client’s work have in many ways determined the character of the project. The task of the architects of Arch group bureau was not only to build an office, but to represent the company’s image, create a space for work and inspiration for the whole MRTS team.

The office, with the total area a bit exceeding 2 000 sqm, is located in a building in the south of Moscow, and occupies the top, ninth floor. However, despite the floor-to-ceiling glazing, the room cannot boast of a marvelous view from the window – all around is a housing development and industrial territories. Another problem is the original layout: tiny offices, narrow corridors and fixed position of the communication core. The architects proposed to transform this so irrationally-used space into a modern, wide open space designed in a single stylistics. They arranged all the working areas along the perimeter of the floor, closer to the light, whereas the central part was allotted for meeting rooms, offices, coffee-points for the employees and two reception zones.

zooming — MRTS Office. Implementation, 2015 © Arch group

A perfectly traditional and maximally convenient layout has obtained a bold and original form. The main idea of the project was a symbolic union of natural and manmade elements. As explained by the authors – Alexey Goryainov and Mikhail Krymov – they tried to play with the idea of “eternal confrontment of nature and man”, in which the man has finally learnt to use the resources of the planet without harming it. This resulted in a contrast of natural and technogenic materials, calm and blazing colors, warm wooden and cold metallic and glass surfaces.

You can feel this duality of the interior already in the lift lobby, where the rich-yellow stemalite walls compete with milky-matt horizontal floor and ceiling surfaces. A continuous line of built-in lights creates a soft glow in the whole room, reflected in the glossy surfaces of the glass. The fine line separating the snow-white floor from the yellow walls is highlighted in black, which creates an impression that the walls do not touch the floor. Black has become the symbol of technological effectiveness of the extraction and transport of minerals. Yellow, on the contrary, is associated with sun and sand shore.

On both sides of the lift lobby are the two main office areas – MRTS Engineering and MRTS Holding. The reception faced at the entrance to the main working area reflects the sea theme, so familiar to the employees. Minimum details, metal walls, white ceiling and floor, reception desk and stands for house-plants: all of this shapes a wonderful image – a snow-white ship on the background of waves. It seems that sprays of water are continuously falling down, shining in the sun, and the deck of the ship slightly fluctuates. The authors could achieve this effect by using silvery perforated alucobond with backlight for wall finishing. Round holes of different diameters, lit from the inside, look like small bubbles even close-up. The role of the ship is performed by the reception desk made of corian – it is multilayered, flowing and smoothly growing from the white floor. Above it – like a reflection in water – rises the ceiling construction, with lamps hidden in it.

Two corridors part both ways from the reception, leading to the work places. They are executed differently, but both in a laconic and clever way. For example, through combination of two finishing materials, that cover not the parallel, but adjoining surfaces, the architects manage to completely transform and turn around the space, cutting it diagonally. The corridors repeat the familiar approach with perforated metal walls. Though the “bubbles and water drops” hide behind the second layer of glass, they do not have to be lit from behind – the light coming from the “open space” is enough.

The floor is divided in several working areas, each with its own character. The interior of the largest room of 480 m² resorts to the sea and ships theme again. The space is founded on the contrast of the bright blue floor, symbolizing the sea, and the volumetric white ceiling, playing the role of the sky. The sky draws the most of attention due to the complex constructions of corian, reminding clouds. Long, wavelike constructions visually extend the room, and besides, serve as framing for the lights and absorb sound. One of them goes down so low, that it turns into a partition, provided with storage places. Under the hanging down construction, whose outlines once again remind of marine vessels, the authors arranged a beautiful planted green area. This not only helps to diversify the space, but also to zone it, making it cozier. Both the partition, hanging from the ceiling, and the ceiling itself were developed according to the authors’ drafts.

The complex ceiling in the other “open space” holds volumetric hexagonal lamps. As explained by the authors, the hexagonal shape is dominating in the room. It is repeated in the pattern of the carpet flooring with colorful hexagons and in the table constructions. For the other separate department the authors made up a more formal interior, based on the contrast of yellow and black. Here, the leading positions are given to glossy surfaces and geometrical forms.

The authors also found an original solution for the meeting rooms. It should be mentioned that color plays the main role in the office, where the key areas are executed in certain colors, which helps to find one’s way around more easily. The meeting room, just like the lift lobby, is marked yellow. The bright yellow glow can be seen from the corridor through the matt translucent walls. This glow appears due to the yellow carpet flooring. Apart from that, the room looks reserved. Lamps and a projecting prismatic black wall with a large TV screen in its center make the room a bit more futuristic.

The second reception is arranged before the MRTS Holding zone, where the management offices are. Their interior, with the emphasized high-status character, differs greatly from the stylistics of the whole office. That is why, the reception zone became a sort of connecting, transitional link. Here, instead of modern, synthetic materials, dominating in the interiors of the employees, the architects apply natural wood; the forms become softer, the furniture – traditional. All walls of the room are clad with wood; the reception stand is also wooden. White matt and black glossy MDF panels serve only to highlight the noble texture of wood.

Light plays a significant role in the formation of the space: multiple dots of light are built in the ceiling, the walls are underlined with linear lighting that traces the pattern of the panels on wooden surfaces. The company’s logo is also glowing on the reception stand. Another noticeable room in this office is the main meeting room with a large floor-to-ceiling window. The dominating accents here are the white table of corian and an “island” of green plants in the center. A big square “window” made of MDF panels is fixed on the ceiling and colored in yellow gloss.

The hard and not very poetic work of the client inspired the architects to create a romantic and, at the same time, austere and practical interior, which became an icon of the company. The architects are convinced that the versatile interior that they got in the end fully reflects the modern spirit of the company, its unconventional approach to business, special care for the environment and advanced technology. The employees, who call the new office their home, agree with it as well.

Architect:

Firm:

Arch Group http://arch-group.ru/

08 June 2016

Headlines now

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.

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.

Contest Results

Frozen Magma

A competition for the creation of a public and cultural center was held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Three architectural companies made it to the final, and we consider it important to share about the work of each. Let’s start with the winner – the consortium led by Wowhaus.

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.