A Brilliant Ex-Court

The space between the Expocentr, the Moscow City, the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, and the Krasnaya Presnya Park arguably bears a cult status: Sergey Skuratov shares that back in the day lots of his friends would come here to play tennis on the weekends. Luckily, the new owners of the land site decided to retain this function and they asked the architect to design here a modern tennis court and a... premium-class high-rise residential complex.

The plan of the development company Capital Group made perfect sense: this location is central as it is, while the nearby complex of “Moscow City” is definitely in need of fully-fledged housing. At their first presentation, the architects showcased 20 versions of the future high-rise – a result of their survey about what could be basically built on this spot in terms of shape-making. “What we wanted to do was distance our building as much as possible from the Moscow City – Sergey Skuratov reminisces – First of all, we wanted to build it in a completely different style. Second, we wanted to chiefly orient it to the park and embankment. And, third, checking all the vantage points for insolation conditions, we found a certain angle, at which the building must be turned in respect to the business center of Moscow City. It turned out that this angle is very similar to the one at which the Third Transport Ring crosses the Moskva River. Thus, what we ultimately get in the center is a large and almost equilateral triangle”.

zooming — Housing complex with an underground parking garage on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment © Sergey Skuratov Architects

The list of versions produced at that point, with a height limit of 200 meters, included such exotic things as “frames”, “staircases”, and “hedgehogs”. The version that Skuratov proposed to take as the main one was essentially a slab with super-high-tech façades – textured, voluminous and “rippled”, with a sophisticated system of internal connections. All this diversity scared the client just as much as it impressed him. It scared the client because the first impression that one got looking at the project was that a thing like that would never get all the appropriate approvals, let alone be built. However, it also impressed the client with the profundity of the architect’s approach, the magnitude of his ideas, and a storm of creative thinking.

The shape search continued, and a single slab was replaced by three ones – still more slender and elegant because the architects were able to “stretch” their height from 200 to 267 meters: the resulting “thickness” of one such building was 21 meters which is really little by skyscraper standards.

“Superslim” towers are generally a fashionable trend of today: currently, such things are being built on Manhattan. This seemingly unnatural “thinness” is in fact their main distinctive feature: as if man challenges nature by living in a building that looks as if it is about to collapse. This is like balancing on the edge of an abyss – an exquisite pleasure of the rich and powerful. One of such skyscrapers is being designed in New York by Russia’s Meganom Architects for Five Points Development.

But then again, it must be noted that in Skuratov’s version this slimness is far from extreme and is rather on the comfortable side. Placed on a green podium that ties in together all the public spaces of the complex, the towers overlook the park, while their narrow side façades overlook the river. The towers do not argue among themselves and, and do not obscure one another. Their mutual positions could even look deceptively trivial, if they had not been precisely calculated from the viewing, compositional, and insolation standpoints. “The first tower stands on the axis of the first line of Moscow City, the second – on the axis of the street that separates the first line and the “Afimall”, and the farthest tower stands on the “Afimall” axis” – Sergey explains.

The positioning of the towers partially defined the direction of the façades’ dynamics: as is always the case with Skuratov, the matters that he handles are a lot more subtle and deeper than they appear to be. As one moves his gaze upwards or in the direction of the water, the high-tech glass surfaces (which have the valves of the positive pressure ventilation installed in them, as well as sunlight and heat protection elements) grow thinner and virtually dissolve in the air. The effect looks particularly realistic thanks to the use of special lightened glass (“My skyscrapers will be the lightest thing around!” – the architect claims). As one moves inside, however, the façades take on an ever-increasing “material” quality thanks to the aluminum lamellae that boldly stand out and cover the ventilation grills.

The plastique of the façade volumes demonstrates yet another interesting feature – the M-shaped cutaways of the sidewalls that are turned to the river. And, while the cantilevered cutaway of the tower closest to the water was made there deliberately in order to avoid blocking the view of the Moscow City to those strolling down the waterfront, the other “cutaways” have no functional reason. Skuratov himself meditates on the image of the “compressed” façade that takes on the pressure of the void created by the Moskva River. Some might see here allusions to the Kremlin wall as a hint at the “Moscow” character of these objects – and this will also be not too far from the truth.

It is rather obvious that this project developed from a variating and saturated one to a slim and probably the only possible solution coming down to taking away the excess. The nearest context of the towers consists of the group of the Moscow City skyscrapers, so one could not possibly be mistaken here – Sergey Skuratov shares that for a long time he was dubious about whether this place needed skyscrapers at all... However, one way or another, the proximity of a “skyscraper forest” poses some serious requirements to the newly born “tree”: you need to live up to your position, be as good as, or, preferably, better than the rest. This is why the architect chose to use the lightened glass, steel, modern building materials, and at the same time light and simple form.

But then again, one can hardly call these towers “simple” – just like any other 200-meter-high building, they are very complex from the engineering standpoint because of their sheer height, slimness, and the necessity to fight the wind resistance – these issues are handled in the architectural firm by Mikhail Kelman. In addition, a unique heating and ventilation system was developed: it utilizes narrow slits that are there on the apartments before the façades and allows for individual settings for each apartment – this system was developed by Alexander Kolubkov.

The complexity of the task was also conditioned by the building’s mixed function: in addition to the fact that the towers rest on a five-level underground parking garage and the podium includes a two-level public retail space, the towers themselves combine a residential and an office function. One of them, the farthest away from the river, is completely residential, in another the offices occupy the bottom part, and in the third one they occupy the upper part – all the offices are equipped with individual entrances, lobbies and elevators, including high-speed ones.

The second, just as important, constituent part of the project’s genius loci is defined by the proximity of the park and the memories of the old tennis courts that are inherited, as we remember, by the complex’s semi-underground tennis part with a highly developed space narrative. The courts occupy the east part of the territory – the triangle next to the edge of the Krasnopresnensky Park, separated from the towers by a driveway; construction was prohibited here but placing a flat tennis court infrastructure covered by a green roof was OK. One of the courts – the open-air one – occupies the lawn located from the side of the transparent entrance pavilion. It opens up the access to a large community center with a fitness club, a swimming pool, a supermarket, a cafe, a restaurant, and a five-level underground parking garage. Raising the height of the land site by a little over 4 meters, the green roof of the pavilion becomes a platform for an amphitheater with a picturesque waterfront view.

Most of the courts, however, are hidden underground – 7 gyms are separated from one another with soundproof glass partitions and are grouped around a central space that yawns as a triangular cutaway in the green “roof”. Through it, almost the entire inside space of the courts is viewable. And from the courts, in turn, the greenery and the hill are seen. In the summertime the upper stained glasses of the partitions can be opened in order to let in not only the sunlight but also the air. Sergey Skuratov is arguably a pioneer in designing such tennis courts, sunken 16 meters underground.

In addition to the amphitheater and the “tennis window”, the comfortable green yard on the roof of the pavilion will be adorned by a man made creek and a children’s playground. Another thing that this place will get will be a hanging restaurant suspended on cantilevered structures and commanding beautiful views.

The main architectural centerpiece, however (apart from the “dissolving” towers), will be a pedestrian bridge thrown over the road between the waterfront and the Krasnogvardeisky Drive and connecting the residential buildings to a sightseeing platform hovering above the park. This “bridge to nowhere” leads in fact to the epicenter of cultural life: it is planned that it will be additionally glazed, then heated, and ultimately turned into a spacious art gallery (suffice it to say that the bridge is 4 meters wide and 100 meters long).

Construction of the complex has already begun, and is expected to be completed in 2020. Still much earlier this land site will see the sales office designed by Skuratov Architects. This will be a mini-version of one of the towers – a six-story glass volume. Inside, the building will showcase six versions of interior design and decoration that are now being developed by Antonio Citterio. He handles all the apartments and penthouses, and as for the tall 20-meter lobbies, these will be done by Sergey Skuratov and the Italian designer together. It will be interesting to check out how the stylish simplicity of the former will be contrasted by the ostentatiously bourgeois style of the latter.

But then again, what will meet the eye will be the high-rises themselves – and this, according to Sergey Skuratov, constitutes the main challenge of any skyscraper construction: the building is viewable from all sides, and all of your mistakes and miscalculations are laid bare for the world to see. This is a huge responsibility before the city, and, just like with any grand-scale projects, it will not be without problems here.

But, as everyone knows, Sergey Skuratov is not to be scared easily. He receives the serve.

09 October 2017

Written by:

Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

Headlines now

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.

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.

A Brilliant Ex-Court

Located on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment and known to all Moscow tennis fans, these tennis courts were designed by Skuratov Architects as hidden inside a picturesque park and surrounded by the slabs of residential high-rises.