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​On a Skate’s Blade

The concept proposed by Aleksey Ivanov outside of the formal competition for the territory that surrounds the future ice arena is based on the image of the arched trail of a skate – but it operates large-scale masses.

25 October 2017
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“Hockey is absolutely my element and a happy hobby; this spectacular and temperamental game is unquenchable, just as the human thirst for rivalry and self-realization” – Valery Kharlamov.

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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Panorama as seen from the bridge. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


The decision about building a large hockey arena on the left bank of the Ob River before the Oktyabrsky Bridge in Novosibirsk is a part of the federally funded program for developing the children’s and youth’s sports that gained momentum after the Sochi Olympics. The 31-hectare land site is situated on an overgrown and swamped bank of the river, which is particularly wide in these parts, about a kilometer from bank to bank; this area is partially a wild land, but at the same time sort of a riverside resort as well because there is a recently built ski station just outside its southwest border, and a park lying south of it, as well as boat renting stations, a shooting range, and a horse-riding club. Over the bridge, there is a beach. So it comes as no surprise that all around new houses are built. Besides, within a 15-minutes’ walking distance, the campus of the Novosibirsk University is situated, surrounded by a few institutes of a smaller scale, and the “Studencheskaya” metro station – in fact, this is a second center of the city after the main historical one. The transport accessibility is also good: in addition to the metro (they are also going to build the “Sportivnaya” metro station here), the bridge is one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The location is so great that probably hitherto the construction work was delayed solely for the complex hydrological reasons.
  • Territory survey in the project by Arkhstroydesign
Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. The plan of the main pedestrian routes. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Pros and cons analysis. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Proposal on uniting the main existing and designed public spaces of the city. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Plan for integrating the project into the system of the public recreational spaces on the waterfront. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Stages of the master plan. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


It is planned that the arena will be placed practically on the very edge of the water and will be turned into the centerpiece of this area. Still, this virgin territory is really huge, and the picturesque riverside panoramas are unique as it is. In order to get the best architectural proposal, the authorities announced a competition for the concept of developing the entire area. It is planned that around the arena they will build a residential city block, a hotel, a business center, and a shopping mall. Seven concepts were submitted, and, as for Aleksey Ivanov, he was invited bypassing the competition by the client who was already familiar with “Arkhstroydesign” by their joint work on the project of the “Graphskie Prudy” (“Duke’s Ponds”) villa settlement, which won the company a third-in-a-row victory in International Property Awards. After visiting the awarding ceremony, the client again decided to turn to this firm for working on the concept of developing the territory around the hockey arena in Novosibirsk.

“It must be said that at first we even wanted to refrain from taking part in the competition when we learned that we only had a week to come up with a full version of the concept. But the client convinced us that it was a promising project and we could not remain indifferent to it – Aleksey Ivanov shares.

For working on the concept of the main building – the hockey arena itself – Aleksey Ivanov at once invited a project institute bearing the same name of “Arena”.
  • The arena project
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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Facade of the arena. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Section view of the arena. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Plan of the arena. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Plan of the arena. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


“Arkhstroydesign” at once focused on the town planning and architectural aspects of developing this land as a whole – specifically, planning and distributing the large-scale housing construction that was to occupy the south part of the territory. “What we needed to do was find the planning solutions already at the master plan stage, so it would “speak” architecture without any detailed development”. The outlines of the riverside territory, which will be turned into a residential area, are close to a trapeze with two appendices: one of them is the reconstructed waterfront with a promenade, the other – the land surrounding a sand quarry, a school, and the extension of the terrain park. The arena is the undisputed center of the composition, and it stood to reason that all the other buildings should be v catered around it. Besides, the architects were to take into account the climatic specifics of the place: in Siberia, роза ветров is a factor, all the more so in the bank of a large river.

The game of hockey defined the architectural and engineering theme of the project. Aleksey Ivanov recalls the Canadian joke that “hockey is figure skating in a war zone”. This is why the photograph of an ice filed that A.Khomyakov proposed to use became an epigraph to his own sketch, in which all the buildings are placed on elliptical lines, exploring the image of arcs drawn on the ice by the blades. This determined the plans of the buildings, the character of the pedestrian flows, and the arrangement of the recreational zones. Most of these buildings – 25-story slabs of sectional houses – also stand in an arc-shaped way, becoming a semblance of some giant sails filled with wind. This shape will yield a maximum number of apartments that command picturesque river views. As for the building that faces the water with one of its side ends, it gradually decreases its height with broad stairs of terraces that will also command fine river views; terraces of the same kind are also there on the main façade of the house that stands lengthwise along the Ob River. In order to address the розой ветров issue, the architects slit the buildings in large arches.

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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Searching for the image. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Birds-eye view. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Birds-eye view. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Sketch development: A.Ivanov, A.Khomyakov. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Solution: A.Ivanov, A.Khomyakov. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. View of the park. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. View of the housing complex. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. View from the window of the housing complex. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


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Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. View from the river. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


The curves of the buildings and roads rhyme with the smooth contours of the metallic roof of the arena. It rests on a large semicircular podium that will host cafés, shops, and other retail businesses. The top of the podium will be a usable one; one will be able to walk upon it exiting directly from the arena, and further on the elliptical line of the podium is continued by a pedestrian bridge, which leads to the waterfront with a seasonal park that functions as a skating rink in the wintertime, and as place for bicycle riding in the summertime.

The automobile and pedestrian flows are organized along the same elliptic lines. In the center of the complex, the architects have designed a small (also arc-shaped) artificial creek that is meant to turn into a skating rink in winter. Around the entire perimeter, there are a large number of driveways; the project also includes two public transportation stops - from the side of the waterfront and from the side of the highway at the bridge. The parking garages are situated in the podiums of the buildings, making the most of the terrain relief and the necessity of building a dam here. The architects also propose to make an open-air parking lot for the visitors of the arena upon the metro bridge.

Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Section view. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. Master plan. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena" project. The location plan of the main projects. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Transport diagram. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Master plan of the arena. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Pedestrian and cyclist flows. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign


Architectural and planning concept of "Novosibirsk Srena". Theme park areas. Project, 2016 © Arkhstroydesign




Whether the concept will be finished in detail and then make it to the realization stage, is yet unknown. According to Aleksey Ivanov, the competition-winning concept also looks quite decent to him, worthy of implementing (we will remind you at this point that the proposal by “Arkhstroydesign” comes outside the competition). One way or another, if the interest for winter sports doesn’t die out in this country, and the left bank of the Ob does get a hockey arena, the territory around it, so promising in terms of its location and so complex in terms of engineering work, is sure to be reformed.


25 October 2017

Headlines now
Daring Brilliance
In this article, we are exploring “New Vision”, the first school built in the past 25 years in Moscow’s Khamovniki. The building has three main features: it is designed in accordance with the universal principles of modern education, fostering learning through interaction and more; second, the façades combine structural molded glass and metallic glazed ceramics – expensive and technologically advanced materials. Third, this is the school of Garden Quarters, the latest addition to Moscow’s iconic Khamovniki district. Both a costly and, in its way, audacious acquisition, it carries a youthful boldness in its statement. Let’s explore how the school is designed and where the contrasts lie.
A Twist of the Core
A clever and concise sculptural solution – rotating each floor by N degrees – has created an ensemble of “dancing” towers: similar yet different, simple yet complex. The designers meticulously refined a single structural node and spent considerable effort on the column construction – after that, “everything else was easy”. The architects also rotated the core walls on each floor to maximize the efficiency of the office spaces.
The Sculpting of Spring Forest Matter
We’ve been observing this building for a couple of years now: seemingly simple, perhaps even unassuming, it fits in remarkably well with the micro-district context shaped by the Moscow MCD road junctions. This building sticks in the memory of everyone who drives along the highway, even occasionally. In our opinion, Sergey Nikeshkin, by blending popular architectural techniques and approaches of the 2010s, managed to turn a seemingly simple structure into a statement “on the theme of a house as such”. Let’s figure out how this happened.
Water and Wind Whet the Stone
The Arisha Terraces residential complex, designed by Asadov Architects, will be built in a district of Dubai dedicated to film and television production. To create shaded spaces and an intriguing silhouette, the architects opted for a funnel-shaped composition and nature-inspired forms of erosion and weathering. The roofs, podium, and underground spaces extend leisure opportunities within the boundaries of a man-made “oasis”.
Elevation 5642
The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a comprehensive development project for three ski resorts in the Caucasus, which have been designated as special economic zones of the tourism and recreation type. The first of these zones is Elbrus. The project includes the construction of new ski runs, cable cars, and hotels, as well as the modernization of stations and improvements to the Azau tourist meadow. To expand the audience and enhance year-round appeal, a network of eco-trails is also being developed. In this article, we provide a detailed breakdown of each stage.
The IT Town
Taking the example of the first completed phase of the “U” district, we examine how the new neighborhood in Innopolis will be organized. T+T Architects and HADAA formed a well-balanced and ingenious master plan with different types of housing, a green artery, a system of squares, and a park in the town’s central part.
The Heart Lies Within
The second-phase building of the Evgeny Primakov School already won multiple awards while still in the design stage. Now that it’s completed, some unfinished nuances remain – most notably, the exposed ceiling structures, which ideally should have been concealed. However, given the priority placed on the building’s volumetric composition, this does not seem critical. What matters more is the “Wow!” effect created by the space itself.
Magnetic Forces
“Krylatskaya 33” is the first large-scale residential complex to appear amidst the 1980s “micro-districts” that harmoniously coexist with the forests, the river, the slopes, and the sports infrastructure. Despite its imposing scale, the architects of Ostozhenka managed to turn the complex into something that can be best described as a “graceful dominant”. First, they designed the complex with consideration for the style and height of the surrounding micro-districts. Second, by introducing a pause in its tallest section, they created compositional tension – right along the urban planning axis of the area.
Orion’s Belt
The Stone Khodynka 2 office complex, designed by Kleinewelt Architekten for the company Stone, is built with an ergonomic layout following “healthy building” principles: natural light, ventilation, and all the necessary features for an efficient office environment. On the outside, it resembles – like many contemporary buildings – an iPhone: sleek, glowing, glass-and-metal, edges elegantly rounded. Yet, it responds sensitively to the Khodynka context, where the main theme is the contrast between vertical and horizontal lines. The key intrigue lies in the design of the “stylobate” as a suspended passage, leaving the space beneath it open for free pedestrian movement.
Grigory Revzin: “It Was a Bold Statement Made on the Sly. Something Won”
In this article, we discuss the debates surrounding the circus competition and the demolition of the CMEA building with the most renowned architectural critic of our time. A paradox emerges in the process: while nostalgia for the Brezhnev era seems to be in vogue in Russia, a landmark building – the “axis” of the Warsaw Pact – has been sentenced to demolition. Isn’t that strange? We also find out that wow-architecture has made a comeback as a post-COVID trend. However, to make a truly powerful statement, professionals still remain indispensable.
Exposed Concrete
One of the stages of improving a small square in the town of Lermontov was the construction of a skatepark. Entrusting this part of the project to the XSA team, the city gained a 250-meter trick track whose features resemble those of land art objects – unparalleled in Russia in both scale and design. Here’s a look at how the experimental snake run in the foothills of the Caucasus was built.
One Step Closer To the Dream
The challenges of getting all the mandatory approvals, an insufficient budget, and construction site difficulties did not prevent ASADOV Bureau from achieving its main goal in the realization of the school project in the town of Troitsk – taking another step away from outdated notions of educational spaces toward creating a fundamentally new academic environment.
Chalet on the Rock
An Accor hotel in Arkhyz, designed by A.Len, will be situated at the gateway to the resort’s main tourist hubs. The architects reinterpreted the widely popular chalet style while adding an unexpected twist – an unfinished structure preserved on the site. The design team transformed this remnant into an exciting space featuring an open-air pool and a restaurant with panoramic views of the region’s highest mountain ridges.
Sergey Skuratov: “By and large, the project has been realized in line with the original ideas”
In this issue, we talk to the chief architect of Garden Quarters, looking back at the history and key moments of a project that took 18 years to develop and has now finally been completed. What interests us most are the transformations that the project underwent during construction, and the way the “necessary void” of public space was formed, which turned this remarkable complex into a fragment of a whole new type of urban fabric – not just at the horizontal “street” level but in its vertical structure as well.
A Unique Representative
The recently concluded year 2024 can be considered the year of completion for the “Garden Quarters” residential complex in Moscow’s Khamovniki. This project is well-known and, in many ways, iconic. Rarely does one manage to preserve such a number of original ideas, achieving in the end a kind of urban planning Gesamtkunstwerk. Here is a subjective view from an architecture journalist, with an interview with Sergey Skuratov soon to follow.
Field of Life
The new project by the architectural company PNKB (an acronym for “Design, Research, and Advisory Bureau”), led by Sergey Gnedovsky and Anton Lyubimkin, for the Kulikovo Field Museum is dedicated to the field as a concept in its own right. The field has long been a focus of the museum’s thorough and successful research. Accordingly, the exterior of the new museum building is gentler than that of its predecessor, which was also designed by PNKB and dedicated specifically to the historic battle. Inside, however, the building confidently guides the visitor from a luminous atrium along a spiral path to the field – interpreted here as a field of life.
A Paper Clip above the River
In this article, we talk with Vitaly Lutz from the Genplan Institute of Moscow about the design and unique features of the pedestrian bridge that now links the two banks of the Yauza River in the new cluster of Bauman Moscow State Technical University (MSTU). The bridge’s form and functionality – particularly the inclusion of an amphitheater suspended over the river – were conceived during the planning phase of the territory’s development. Typically, this approach is not standard practice, but the architects advocate for it, referring to this intermediate project phase as the “pre-AGR” stage (AGR stands for Architectural and Urban Planning Approval). Such a practice, they argue, helps define key parameters of future projects and bridge the gap between urban planning and architectural design.
Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making
Do architects design houses for themselves? You bet! In this article, we are examining a new book by TATLIN publishing house. This book – unprecedented for Russia – features 52 private homes designed and built by contemporary architects for themselves. It includes houses that are famous, even iconic, as well as lesser-known ones; large and small, stylish and eccentric. To some extent, the book reflects the history of Russian architecture over the past 30 years.
A City Block Isoline
Another competition project for a residential complex on the banks of the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod has been prepared by Studio 44. A team of architects led by Ivan Kozhin concluded that using a regular block layout in such a location would be inappropriate and developed a “custom design” approach: a chain of parceled multi-section buildings stretching along the entire embankment. Let’s explore the features and advantages of this unconventional method.
Competition: The Price of Creativity?
Any day now, we’re expecting the results of a competition held by the “Samolet” development group for a plot in Kommunarka. In the meantime, we share the impressions of Editor-in-Chief Julia Tarabarina, who managed to conduct a public talk. Though technically focused on the interaction between developers and architects, the public talk turned into a discussion about the pros and cons of architectural competitions.
Terraced Design
The “River Park” residential complex has confidently and securely shaped the Nagatinsky Backwater shoreline. Featuring a public embankment, elevated courtyards connected by pedestrian bridges, and brick façades, the development invites exploration of its nuanced response to the surrounding context, as well as hints of the architects’ megalithic design thinking.
A Kremlin’s Core and Meteorite Fragments
We continue our coverage of the competition projects for the residential district that the development company GloraX plans to build along the embankment of the Rowing Channel in Nizhny Novgorod. ASADOV Architects approached the concept through a deep dive into local identity, using storytelling to pinpoint a central idea for the design: the master plan and composition are imagined as if a meteorite had struck a “proto-Kremlin”. Sounds weird? Find more details below!
The Volga Regatta
GloraX plans to develop a residential complex spanning 14 hectares along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod. The winning design in a closed-door competition, created by GORA Architects, features housing typologies ranging from townhouses to terraced high-rise slabs, a balance of functions, diverse ways of engaging with the water, and even a dedicated island (no less!) for the city residents.
Life Plans
The master plan for the residential district “Prityazheniye” (“Gravity”) in Naberezhnye Chelny was developed by the architectural company A.Len, taking into account the specific urban planning context and partially implemented solutions of the first phase. However, the master plan prioritized its own values: a green framework, a system of focal points, a hierarchy of spaces, and pedestrian priority. After this, the question of what residents will do in their neighborhood simply doesn’t arise.
A New Track
We took a thorough look at D_Station, a railcar repair depot dating back to 1906, recently reconstructed while preserving its century-old industrial structure, upon the project by Sergey Trukhanov and T+T Architects. Though work on the interiors – set to house restaurants and public spaces – is still underway, the building’s exterior already offers plenty to see. Visitors can explore the blend of old and new brickwork, appreciate the architect’s unique interpretation of ruin aesthetics, and enjoy the newly built pedestrian route that connects the Citydel Business Center’s arches to Kazakova Street.
Four Different Surveys
The “Explore the City” competition, organized this year by the Genplan Institute of Moscow, stands out as a pretty unconventional one for the architectural field but aligns perfectly well with the character of urban planning work. The winning project analyzed contemporary residential complexes, combining urban planning insights with a realtor’s perspective to propose a hybrid approach. Other entries explored public centers, motivations for car ownership, and housing vacancy rates. A fifth participant withdrew. Here’s a closer look at the four completed works.
Scheduled Evolution
ASADOV Architects unveiled the EvyCenter pavilion, a microcultural hub for fostering personal growth, organizing workshops, and doing gymnastics. Additionally, this pavilion serves as a prototype for a scalable country house, drawing inspiration from the “Loskutok” project, and constructed from CLT panels in a factory. This marks the beginning of a developer project initiated by the architectural firm (sic!), which is seeking partners to expand both small Evy settlements and even larger Evy cities, which are, according to Andrey Asadov, aimed at fostering the “evolutionary” development of the people who will inhabit them.
The Golden Crown
The concept for a dental clinic in Yekaterinburg, developed by CNTR Studio, revolves around the idea of a “mouth full of gold”: pristine white porcelain stoneware walls are complemented by matte brass details. To avoid an overly literal interpretation, the architects focused on the building’s proportions, skillfully navigating between sunlight requirements and fire safety regulations.
Flexibility and Integration
Not long ago, we covered the project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential complex, designed by APEX. Now, we’ve been shown different fence concepts they developed to enclose the complex’s private courtyards, incorporating a variety of public functions. We believe that the sheer fact that the complex’s architects were involved in such a detail as fencing speaks volumes.
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.