Destroying Stereotypes

The architects of DNK ag approached the task of doing a comfort-class housing project as a super-objective. They were ultimately able to break the frame of “inexpensive housing equals standardized blocks of flats” staying, at the same time, within their budget constraints. Their customized and professional approach to mass housing construction allowed the architects to create a comfortable and human-friendly urban territory.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

03 July 2017

Object

The housing complex “Severny” (meaning – “Northern”) is being built on the strip of land that formally belongs to Moscow but lies beyond the Moscow Ring Road; if one is driving out of Moscow, the complex will be situated to the right of the Dmitrivskoe Highway. Just as the land lying immediately beyond the Ring Road should, this place looks mottled and brand-new, yet, at some points, surprisingly peaceful and harmonious. Again, if one is gazing north, on the left they will see the huge “mega-crates” of the local shopping mall and the typical residential high-rises; the territory on the right is chiefly occupied by 3-story townhouses that form the housing complex “Severnaya Sloboda”, and even some of the houses of the villa community that surrounds the surviving fragment of the park of the “Arkhangelskoe-Tyurikovo” estate, whose conservation zone defined the low-rise character of the new construction

*(…“recently, in the course of digging a construction pit for yet another house, the builders unearthed a marble statue of the Ancient Greek goddess”).

The construction here takes place on two independent land sites: to the west and to the south from the Khlebnikov or “Northern” Park. As for the western fragment, we do not know anything about it, while the architects of DNK ag are working on the south territory stretching between the park and the Landau Boulevard, the construction being realized in two stages: the first one – which has already been built – consists of Quarters 7 and 8 which are located on the west side; the second one is the neighboring west-side Quarter with a pilot name of 9.10. Quarters 7 and 8 are complete; the construction of Quarter 9.10 is beginning.

zooming — "Severny" housing project. Units 7,8. Photo © Ilia Ivanov

DNK ag was invited to work on the project at the point when all the volume parameters and even the floor plans of the apartments of the Quarters 7.8 were defined – in fact, as is often the case nowadays – their task was to draw the façades. The architects liked the surroundings and the set scale of the house – it was expected that the average height of the buildings would be about 8 stories, this being the accepted comfortable city magnitude. However, the architects pushed the limits of the task as much as possible.

From the conditional “do the façade design”, their task turned into a full-scale architectural project that included revising the flats’ layouts and creating an individual image in spite of all the restrictions including the financial constraints: the architects were able to work with the plastique of the walls in such a way that the outward appearance of the volumes became the basis for a comfortable urban environment around the boulevard with three floors on one side and eight on the other. They were also able to fracture the façade surface in such a way that now it has on it lots of things that catch the eye, to think out the difference between the two blocks or “quarters” but in such a way that their likeness would also be apparent, and, most importantly, to use – in the comfort-class genre – the solutions of a truly architectural kind, taking the outside appearance of the buildings (and, partially, some of the apartments’ layouts) outside the viscous circle of the standard monotony. “It’s not about the visual class improvement, or, rather, not about the visual class improvement alone – the architects – We wanted to get a full understanding of how, by using architectural and engineering techniques, but, above all, “plastique” stylistic devices, and being strictly limited by the stipulated construction volume and budget constraints, one could create decent architecture and decent living environment, very different from what is usually associated with «comfort class»”.

So, the 8 and 9-story brackets of the blocks are stretched along the boulevard, while their “side strokes” point to the yard side and end in 14-story towers. “In a regular “comfort class” housing project, they would just end in blind side walls, even if the house was not built of prefabricated blocks (which is usually the case) but was based on a monolithic framework (which is our case – shares Konstantin Khodnev – Such blind walls at the end are a stereotypical solution, and we don’t have stereotypical solutions here. Some of the apartments also got windows in their bathrooms – which also increased the diversity of their layouts”. Although not very large, the apartments are rather diverse: from studios to three-room apartments. The architects added a number of improvements, such as the already-mentioned windows in the bathrooms, or rooms with two windows – and this innovation proved to be a success, the apartness selling like hotdogs, and Quarters 7 and 8 being built ahead of schedule.

Echoing the towers, the surfaces of the 7 and 8-story façades boast alternating large slabs of risalits with ledges hinting at a street composed of different houses. Here, however, one will not see a popular copy of a fractured city of different sectional façades: at the bottom, the ledges merge together into a single base, forming a city front with the shop windows and cafes.

The façades are coated with fiber cement panels which were stipulated in the project specifications. For Quarters 7 and 8, the architects of DNK ag chose the respectable-looking “warm” white-and-brown color palette: the panels of terra-cotta colors look as if they were truly ceramic, while the white color is a sure-fire choice in all cases. What they ultimately got is two basic kinds of matter: the white broad-rhythm façades are rather horizontal, covered by textured zigzagging verticals in their first floors. The terra-cotta façades, on the other hand, are more on the vertical side on the large scale and unite floors into couples; on the small scale, they are covered with panels decorated with horizontal rock-face grooves. The buildings are inversive: in one of them the white matter stands out, in the other – forms a backdrop, which underscores the connection between them.

All the yard façades are flat, white, and devoid of any outstanding ledges; they are the “inner” matter, the white color slightly helping to visually broaden the semi-confined space. In addition, the yards are turned north, and each spec of sunlight is of great value here.

Striving to overcome the stereotype of the “glass thermometers” of the stacks of stanza balconies, characteristic of the comfort class housing, DNK ag sank in the stanzas making them look like French windows when viewed from the outside. It is only an occasional bay window that one will see standing out, and these are not vertically aligned either; they are marked by sometimes bright and sometimes “wooden” inserts.

Yet another visual stereotype to be dispelled was in fact a consequence of construction rules and regulations: according to them, the space between the windows must be no less than 1.2 meters. In order to make the so-called “French windows” running all the way down to the floor, it was not only necessary to hide in that same floor the heaters (which is a rather expensive thing to do) but also come up with special Project-Specific Design Code – which also would incur expenses incompatible with the notion of “comfort class” construction. Hence, having no opportunity to make the real thing, the architects simulated them from the outside by using sunken-in metallic bands of dark gray together with the boxes of the air conditioning units.

“The building’s plastique is developed on both large and small scale, especially if you look at it from different angles going down the street: the risalits and the air-conditioning units – working together, they form a rather powerful rhythm. Another thing that we were able to avoid was this unpleasant feel of a single-chunk box – continues Daniel – a person will feel as if the house that they live in has volume and it's material”.

Actually, one will probably agree with the statement that “rank-and-file solutions” begin in our heads, in anywhere. Social housing projects (or just comparatively inexpensive housing projects, for that matter, as was our case, the project being of quite a commercial nature) boasting elegant architectural solutions that we admire in the European countries, are indeed quite a common and affordable thing, and its success directly depends on the architects’ determination to do a decent job in this inexpensive market segment. “We must admit that today our project is not one of its kind – but when we started working with “Severny” back in the day, it was pretty much the only one around” – DNK ag explain.

In this case, in addition to the individual custom-designed architecture, to which the architects deliberately resorted in order to avoid typified solutions and even visually “raise” the housing class, unique conditions came together, and, as a consequence, a unique environment was formed. Natalia Sidorova describes it as “part countryside, part urban”. She also compares it to European cities where small-sized buildings can stand alongside with townhouses and “multistory buildings, but not of a giant scale”. Indeed, the broad boulevard – that may even be possibly improved in the – separates three-story houses, and, at some places, two-story villas and the eight-story construction front with shops and cafes on the first floor. Architects often compare the atmosphere that the architects created here to the “Sokol” district and its surroundings – which is indeed a rare thing by Moscow standards, vastly different from 25-story anthills built out in the fields. This is a very demonstrative example in many respects. This scale of urban construction is being talked a lot by many experts in connection with numerous renovation projects: we would be happy to have six-eight floors of basic housing with an odd tower here and there. There is a lot of talk to this point going on but the architects of DNK ag have already built an example to the contrary. It’s not that it’s one of a kind but it’s one of the few. Nearby, they have begun the construction of Quarter 9.10 that is chiefly built on the same principles but with a slightly cooler and contrastive black-and-white design, with green accents.

03 July 2017

Headlines now

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”.

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.

​Destroying Stereotypes

Destroying Stereotypes