Metropolitan Image

A.Len has designed in Voronezh a residential complex named “Russia. Five Capitals” – creating a comfortable environment in spite of a rather high building density.

Written by:
Natalya Muradova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

10 July 2017

Object

Architect:

Firm:

A-Len http://www.a-len.ru/

The residential complex “Russia. Five Capitals” was designed by Sergey Oreshkin for Voronezh. It occupies the western part of the new residential neighborhood “Troitsky” named after the architect Nikolai Troitsky who headed the restoration of Voronezh after the Second World War. The location of the new area with a binding “architectural” name proved to be a lucky one – practically between the park of Biotechnology Institute and the Botanical Garden of the Voronezh University, amidst the greenery but at the same time but a ten minutes drive away from the city center. The total area of Troitsky is 29 hectares; its middle part is occupied by the large “Olimpiysky” residential complex that consists of almost-complete 18-story buildings of architecture that is calm and reserved but rather on a simple side and stereotypical. The west and east parts of the complex are occupied by two housing projects also designed by the Saint Petersburg architectural company headed by Sergey Oreshkin: the east side is occupied by the housing complex “Avangard”, while on the west side, on a narrow land site in the shape of a rectangular triangle, its major leg adjoining the Zagorovskogo Street – “Russia. Five Capitals” is situated. The acute angle of the triangle is pointed northward into the tree nursery, while the minor leg of the triangle adjoins the broad highway of the Shishkova Street that makes here a smooth 90-degree turn.

The five 25-story towers that gave the complex its name were the client’s idea. Sergey Oreshkin proposed to unite them with an L-shaped podium. On the east side, one that stretches along the relatively quiet Zagorovskogo Street, the slabs of towers, placed in a ship’s wake fashion, alternate with six-story buildings that face the street with a building front of a human-friendly “city” scale (regretfully, not supported by the neighboring buildings but valuable nonetheless). The podium of the minor leg has two stories in it; it carries but two towers that are shifted forward upon slender pillars of galleries set in a futuristic fashion. From this side, the complex is permeable; it looks like it opens up the giant “blinds” letting into the center of Voronezh a stream of fresh air from the park. Or maybe the other way around: it asserts itself as a pair of giant propylaea.

zooming — Housing complex "Russia. Five Capitals". Project, 2016 © A.Len

The extreme northern tower – the “nose” of Unit 9 pointed towards the tree nursery – is slightly shifted off the main “ship’s wake” towards the west, thus opening the forest views to the towers of the central part. For the same purpose – catching more panoramic views – the towers took on a somewhat spindle-like quality: their walls are slightly slanted, while the balconies turned on the direction of the best views form a cascade of steps, the further ones standing out more than the closer ones.

The second “panoramic segment” of the complex is the south one. From this side, the complex commands city views, and it is also built in a cascade fashion. “This, of course, is a rather interesting place. Here, the land site comes out to a great wide open in terms of panoramic views. At that point, the Shishkova Street takes a turn and keeps going down all the time. This opens up a rather wide space between the buildings, and this mesmerizing bend of the road is clearly seen, stretched into the distance of the land” – shares Sergey Oreshkin.

The client opted out of insisting on the idea of painting each of the towers its individual color, and the architects were able to come up with an integral color design solution for the façades: in gray and white colors, with bright green inserts – it all looks almost like a metaphor of the famous local “black soil”, through which the young offshoots are showing. The extended outside eastern wall is dominated by black, the yard is half white, half green but the colors blend here: for example, the outside parts of the towers smoothly grow white, thus making their silhouette look more elegant. This smoothness, however, is relative, of a pixel kind – the black and white frames of the stanzas first alternate, overlapping in a staggered order, but white “takes over” with every next step leading outside. The green side walls of the stanzas also come into play, first only “igniting” here and there, and then blending into spots of happy green in the distance.

“The towers grow from a multistory podium like stalagmites: the material used in the bottom part goes over to the top part, and then the upper part begins to “pixelate” – this is how Sergey Oreshkin describes the image of the building.

The long string cornice of the green awning above the entire podium above the Zagorovskogo Street cuts the transparent glass base away from the point where the black-green-white mass of the building starts to grow. This cutaway has a lot of meaning to it: here, in the glass part, in addition to the retail function, there are also offices situated in the basement, the first floor, and, for the two south towers, on the second floor as well. It is planned to use high-quality glass, without rough seams, and the workspaces will get plenty of natural light.

It is planned that the adjacent land will be very well organized. The functional zones are numerous; landscape elements go one after another, and Sergey Oreshkin likens them to train cars. At the same time, the entire yard is not a very large one, particularly considering the size of the housing complex and the expected number of people that will live here. The yard will be of a residents-only type.

The yard territory will include volleyball and basketball grounds, a piazza with a fountain, flowerbeds and lawns, an event square, three playgrounds of different content, recreation zones, wooden gazebos, a green amphitheater, a fruit alley running along the hallway lobbies, and five-meter high туи at the border of the yard that will visually separate the territory of the new housing complex from the already-existing bleak buildings. At this same “border zone”, they will make the extra parking lot, even though the complex will have an underground parking garage of its own.

The principle of arranging apartments of different size reminds a layered cake: the more spacious housing is concentrated closer to the bottom part of the complex and on the top floors of the towers, while the main middle part is occupied by studios, two and three room apartments. For the people living on the top floors, the architects designed individual exits to the roof upon which terraces will be organized. All the elevator shafts are grouped at the west façade because it is this façade that faces the comparatively dull-looking neighborhood.

Each of the towers symbolizes one of the Russian “capital cities”: in addition to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, these are Sochi as the city of the Olympics, Yalta as the capital of the Crimea, and Voronezh as the capital of the “black soil” region of Russia. The spacious entrance lobbies and elevator halls of each tower will be designed in accordance with the city that this particular tower represents.

Even a fleeting glimpse at the main mass of the Voronezh newly built stock is enough to see that it is a bit on the monotonous side. “Russia. Five capitals” stands out against this background not only thanks to its colorful façades. A.Len has designed a housing complex that, thanks to the architects’ careful approach to organizing the public space takes the city environment to a whole new level.

Architect:

Firm:

A-Len http://www.a-len.ru/

10 July 2017

Written by:

Natalya Muradova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

Headlines now

Object

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.

Review

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.

Object

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.

Report

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.

Object

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!

Contest Results

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Report

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.

Report

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.

Object

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.

News

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.

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”.