A Roman Rome

Designed by Mikhail Filippov, the UP-quarter “Rimsky” is being built by FSK Lider at the crossing of the Kashirskoe Highway and the Moscow Ring Road. This place never was either expensive or respectable but the introduction of this unique author-architecture project can make a difference.

Written by:
Lara Kopylova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

30 August 2017

Object

zooming — UP-quarter "Rimsky". Project © Mikhail Filippov Architects

See also an interview with
Mikhail Filippov from August 29, 2017

In terms of its scale, “Rimsky” is not even a quarter or a block but rather a traditional European town consisting of several blocks. The plan of the town looks like the L letter. One of its parts – the one that is currently under construction – includes a 17-section building with a semicircular yard, across a football field from which there is a school that forms a triangle with propylaea. The first stage will be put into operation in the IV quarter of 2018, the entire project due to be completed in 2023. “Rimsky” will in fact be an ensemble of five squares strung on one axis and connected by city streets. The round central square will include cafes and shops, and on New Year’s Eve it will host the Christmas tree; the Harmony Square will host the sports infrastructure; the Beauty Square will host beauty salons and spas; the Fine Arts Square – places for creative activities of adults and children; the Fair Square – a farmers market, so fashionable these days. The sections will be from three to twelve stories high. It is planned that the complex will have several kindergartens; also, the residents will be able to enjoy a developed infrastructure of the surrounding area. The bottom floors are public ones. As for the apartments, they will be of many different types: from studios to a penthouse with a terrace, two-level, loft-type, ones with a bathroom window, and so on. This architecture is the classic “Filippov” signature type.

Context 1: mass construction. Beginning of the age of beauty

Before we start sharing about Mikhail Filippov’s numerous inventions, it is worth mentioning just how amazed we are to live in an epoch when mass housing can look like this. I really think that sociologists and urbanists should invest a fair amount of their time into studying this phenomenon. The fact that the concrete panel buildings are on the way out is a sure sign of the end of the industrial epoch that they manifested – the new creative economies of today are much better suited with versatile and humane architecture that is all about the city with a capital “C”. Just a while ago it seemed that there were no serious alternatives to prefabricated panel construction but over the last seven years some architects and enlightened developers have been able to come up with a concept of housing that, on the one hand, is affordable enough, and, on the other hand, is not devoid of the humane imagery of the traditional architecture – in Russia this happened for the first time since the memorial decree on architectural excesses issued by Nikita Khrushchev back in 1955. This context definitely includes the Maxim Atayants cities built around Moscow, as well as the city of Val-de-Marne near Paris designed by Pier Carlo Bontempi (though of a smaller scale). In the same way were designed the traditional New Urbanist cities, such as Poundbury in Great Britain or Celebration in Florida, USA – but these are smaller in height and closer to a village in their typology.

Context 2: other residential areas and cities designed by Mikhail Filippov

“Rimsky” is yet another classic Filippov town. Starting with his manifesto of 1984, when Filippov presented a series of watercolor paintings in which a panel residential area was gradually giving way to traditional architecture (still later on, these paintings brought Filippov a victory in the Japanese contest “Style 2001”) the architect has consistently developed and implemented this idea. The 2000’s saw the “Roman House” in Moscow’s Kazachy Alley, the “Italian Quarter” on Moscow’s Dolgorukovskaya Street, the housing complex “Marshal” on Moscow’s Oktyabrskoe Pole, and the Gorky Gorod in Sochi built specially for the 2014 Olympics. Now yet another Roman town will soon appear right next to Moscow.

Filippov has always thought about his architecture as the heir of the neoclassicism of the Silver Age, bypassing the Soviet Stalin-era classicism that he considers a compromise. The typology of many of his works can be traced down to a “quarter-house” of the Silver Age like the Benoit House on Saint Petersburg’s Kamennoostrovsky Avenue. Neoclassical architects of the Silver Age considered the street-side façade to be the main or “grand” one, while the practice of adorning the building’s yard side with a colonnade was rather an exception than a rule, most of the yards performing purely utilitarian functions. As for Filippov, however, all of his yards are in fact of the “grand” kind, with elaborated façades and a system of colonnades and arcades. This is the way it is done in “Italian Quarter” and in “Marshal”. The same principle is to be seen in “Rimsky” housing complex, the only difference being that the “quarter-house” grew up to the size of a town. However, the most important thing about “Rimsky” is not its typology.

Context 3: a historical city

The phenomenon of a historical city that, judging by the tourist flows, most people seem to like, is rather difficult to describe and still more difficult to structurally comprehend and reproduce without copying. Filippov, however, has been doing this his whole life – studying the city through drawing watercolor paintings. The method that he used, among other projects, in Gorky Gorod, and now in “Rimsky”, consists in the following. The beauty of historical cities – Paris, for example – can be explained, according to Filippov, by the superimposition of two different coordinate systems: the “starburst” radial layout and the Hippodamus planning pattern. This superimposition gives birth to picturesque crossroads with interesting viewing points that fill one’s walk around the city with an abundance of visual pleasure. Filippov reproduced this superimposition in Sochi’s Gorky Gorod which resulted in a multitude of amazing views opening up to its visitors. The same principle is applied in “Rimsky”. The streets that run in a starburst fashion from the main city square cross with a rectangular coordinate system, these streets crossing with yet another grid, and so on.

It is not enough, however, just to put together a picturesque plan – you also need façades that must be rather articulate and interesting to look at, and in “Rimsky” the houses are dissected into sections with façades 20-30 meters long (just like they should be in a historical city), Filippov’s façade design always being no less than perfect; you also need streets that are not too broad and buildings that are not too high – and in “Rimsky” the houses of different height create a picturesque view of pitched roofs; you need city architectural views that open up in the alleys that puncture the façade line – and “Rimsky” has plenty of those, asking to be made a watercolor painting of. As Filippov himself put it, “the form of the symphony has yet to be filled with melodic content”. Taking this analogy still further, we can safely say that he’s got plenty of “melodic talent”. In Gorky Gorod, for example, the pattern of façades is particularly good, down to the last window sash, and there are rather exquisite colors of stucco, stone and brick (here we are, of course, referring to the buildings that luckily remained unspoiled by the construction companies). In “Rimsky” (specifically, in the buildings of the first construction), the basic principle is slightly different: it is not the classic massive wall with windows of right Alberti architecture proportions but large modern glass windows, in fact, glass screens with orderly decoration that was first in the Silver Age, for example, in the trading house on the Nevsky Prospect. A combination of glass and architectural order is a very promising path for taking the classics to a whole new level.

If the aesthetic arguments do not seem to convince you, there are economic ones as well. The eye-walking level, as urbanists explained to us (see the interview with Aleksey Novikov) is extremely important. Because, if on the eye-walking level a person sees beautiful façades of exquisite materials, inviting doors and see-through windows that display life going on behind them, that person will want to walk there, the businesses will flourish, and the people will get diverse necessary functions within a walking distance.

Context 4: Rome

As for Rome, Mikhail Filippov has a soft spot for it. In his works he constantly holds a dialogue with the great architecture of the Eternal City. The colonnade of the Saint Peter’s Cathedral got reflected in the wings that embrace the round yard of the house in the Kazachy, and the Theatre of Marcellus, built up in the ensuing centuries – in the form of “Italian Quarter” on the Dolgorukovskaya. Roman motifs are also to be found in “Marshal” (the slanted ruined wall) and in Gorky Gorod. In “Rimsky”, however, this is more than just individual buildings. I will try to explain the difference.

Here is the thing – Rome is something like “avant-garde before avant-garde”. It has a very avant-garde form of city planning: this city stands on hills, these forms creating vertical “modes” of architecture. Lifting your gaze, you see that above the building that you’re looking at there is yet another building, and then still another one, towering up into the sky. And then in your mind’s eye you start hopping up these tiers. I even think that Filippov’s signature “stairway to heaven” technique can be traced back to that. At the same time, this is by no means a Mediterranean terraced “seaside town on the slope” because the upward movement is so unpredictable here. Add to this the already-mentioned superimposition of the starburst and Hippodamus patterns. It does not stop Rome (or any other historical city, for that matter) from having a clear-cut structure of streets and squares. But the most interesting thing is that when the line of Roman façades gets punctured, the opening shows not a yard of a regular shape (as one would expect) but a house standing at an angle or some other sort of angular composition. This “wedge” is to be seen rather often here. It adds so much to the dynamics of the project that the avant-garde “red wedge” seems minor in comparison to that. In “Rimsky”, Filippov literally reproduces this technique, just as the usual-for-Rome inclusions of antique arches or walls carved into walls but 200 years old.

The nineteenth century covers up the second one sticking from underneath it. An irregularly shaped piece of ancient wall or arch stands out from the regular classical façade, and this technique is something that Filippov actively uses as well. In a word, Rome is an architectural shape of an incredible power. Plus – the richness of the classical harmony, strength and beauty, power and complexity. Against this background, modernist architecture starts looking pale and weak, and, because of that, it looks so out of place in Rome. It is strange that none of the architects has ever noticed this avant-garde quality that’s inherent to the classic Rome. And Filippov not only did but made it his life’s work. The superimposition of logics and epochs plus beauty is something that a city of today should be about, and this is what Filippov’s architecture is about.

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven is Filippov’s signature technique that travels from project to project. In “Rimsky”, it is embodied in two forms: it is either a stairway of arcades (porticos) on the façade or a terraced composition of several houses. The metaphysical meaning of this is anyone’s guess: from the Led Zeppelin song to a Ziggurat. The “stepping” arrangement of arcades is also to be seen in the historical Rome. It looks approximately like this: next to the main building, there is a later-on addition, and its arcade is situated a little bit lower than the one on the main building – but these two are proportionately connected. Filippov is the perfect master of this technique, and it is to be seen in all of his projects. In “Rimsky”, the façades of Section 5, for example, are decorated with such step-like arcades. What it ends up looking is that on the one side the building has a clear-cut lower tier of arcades – and, generally speaking, the house has a bottom, a middle tier, and a decorated top, which is really important for human perception: one’s eye gets tired of monotonous façades. On the other side, these façades alternate in their height and produce an interesting “moving” effect. If the architect makes a stairway of porticos, he by no means violates their proportions. Developing the classical canon, he leaves the essential things intact, and this is what makes him different from postmodernists.

“Rimsky” presents yet another variation of the stairway – the Leonardo da Vinci double spiral staircase of Chambor castle (see interview with Mikhail Filippov). These staircases are to be found in several houses in the towers that connect the residential sections. Ascending one spiral, you can get to the right-hand section, ascending the other – to the left. The staircase towers with their huge windows are pierced through by the sun rays from top to bottom. On top of them, there will be sightseeing platforms. The project also provided for the Chambor staircases connecting the round squares of the upper and lower towns (the first and the second part of “Rimsky”, yet unbuilt) but it’s still unclear if these plans will come to pass.

Antique theater

Filippov has many times said that he was fascinated by the grandiose ruin – an antique amphitheater, built up in the ensuing century very much like the Theatre of Marcellus. In this theme, the architect saw modern dynamics combined with life-affirming meaning, and he tested it in “Italian Quarter” in other places. In “Rimsky”, this is more than an amphitheater – it is a full-circle theater situated in the right-hand two-level part of the complex near the five squares ensemble. An antique theater very much like a coliseum surrounds the central square. The number of floors in the houses decreases as they near the square. This is like a play of giant substructures of the Roman Coliseum, and at the same time it is a dynamic modern shape that unites many different buildings with different façades.

Materials

For “Rimsky”, Filippov came up with a few know-how’s in terms of construction materials (see the interview). The problem of high-quality craft work is really acute for the classical architecture. The craft industry was destroyed in 1955, there are no educational institutions that provide training for craft workers but this does not mean that they are nonexistent or that they will not learn their trade again if one just gets down to it. For example, Berlin’s Schlüter Palace was restored with a superb quality of craft work. Currently, the situation in the field of classic decor is improving.

Underground Town and Heavenly City

The idea of two-level space, just as the idea of Chambor staircase, was inspired by the works of Leonardo da Vinci. “Rimsky” has become one of Russia’s first mini-cities in which the architect was able to realize a two-level concept that consists in complete separation of the upper pedestrian and residential zone from the lower zone that includes infrastructure projects, cafes and restaurants, where vehicle traffic is allowed and where there is a parking garage underneath. In this project, the lower level is a full-fledged city with active public life and even a system of squares of its own. As for the upper level subjugated to the current principle of “vehicle-free city”, it is safe and quiet, full of parks and recreation; it becomes an Arcadia of sorts, a Heavenly City. If everything is built to plan, this UP-quarter stands every chance of becoming a high-profile landmark not only in terms of neoclassicism imagery but in terms of modern urban planning as well.

30 August 2017

Headlines now

Object

The Altai Ornament

The architectural company Empate has developed the concept for an eco-settlement located on a remote site in Altai. The master plan, which resembles a traditional ornament or even a utopian city, forms a clear system of public and private spaces. The architects also designed six types of houses for the settlement, drawing inspiration from the region’s culture, folklore, and vernacular building practices.

Object

Pro Forma

Photos have emerged of the newly completed whisky distillery in Chernyakhovsk, designed by TOTEMENT / PAPER – a continuation of their earlier work on the nearby Cognac Museum. From what is, in essence, a merely technical and utilitarian volume and space, the architects have created a fully-fledged theatre of impressions. Let’s take a closer look. We highly recommend a visit to what may look like a factory, but is in fact an experiment in theatricalizing the process of strong spirit production – and not only that, but also of “pure art”, capable of evolving anywhere.

Object

The Arch and the Triangle

The new Stone Mnevniki business center by Kleinewelt Architekten – designed for the same client as their projects in Khodynka – bears certain similarities to those earlier developments, but not entirely. In Mnevniki, there are more angular elements, and the architects themselves describe the project as being built on contrast. Indeed, while the first phase contains subtle references to classical architecture – light touches like arches, both upright and inverted, evoking the spirit of the 1980s – the second phase draws more distantly on the modernism of the 1970s. What unites them is a boldly expressive public space design, a kaleidoscope of rays and triangles.

Object

Health Factory

While working on a wellness and tourist complex on the banks of the Yenisei River, the architects at Vissarionov Studio set out to create healing spaces that would amplify the benefits of nature and medical treatments for both body and soul. The spatial solutions are designed to encourage interaction between the guests and the landscape, as well as each other.

Object

The Blooming Mechanics of a Glass Forest

The Savvinskaya 27 apartment complex built by Level Group, currently nearing completion on an elongated riverfront site next to the Novodevichy Convent, boasts a form that’s daring even by modern Moscow standards. Visually, it resembles the collaborative creation of a glassblower and a sculptor: a kind of glass-and-concrete jungle, rhythmically structured yet growing energetically and vividly. Bringing such an idea to life was by no means an easy task. In this article, we discuss the concept by ODA and the methods used by APEX architects to implement it, along with a look at the building’s main units and detailing.

Object

Grace and Unity

Villa “Grace”, designed by Roman Leonidov’s studio and built in the Moscow suburbs, strikes a balance between elegant minimalism and the expansive gestures of the Russian soul. The main house is conceived as a sequence of four self-contained volumes – each could exist independently, yet it chooses to be part of a whole. Unity is achieved through color and a system of shared spaces, while the rich plasticity of the forms – refined throughout the construction process – compensates for the near-total absence of decorative elements.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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”.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Interview

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Interview

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.

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.