At the Edge of Avant-Garde and Post-Constructivism

The project of reconstructing the building of the automatic telephone station at the Zubovskaya Square, which includes preserving some of its original façades.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

10 October 2018

Object

The first building of the telephone station appeared on the Zubovskaya Square back in the 1930, and it was quite small at that time. Then a larger seven-story building overlooking the Garden Ring was built upon the project by Kasyan Solomonov in 1939. The array of pylons in the center of the façade helps the building to “hold together” the square and makes it look like anything but a telephone station because there is a fair amount of windows in between the triangular pylons, which, again, exist since the 1930’s. The pylons also set the dominance of the verticals and accentuate the fact that the façades designed by the architect Solomonov belong to the so-called post-constructivism. On the other hand, the square-shaped recessions that flank the array of pylons, which also definitely place the building in the architectural period of the 1930’s and bear an extra load, remind us of its more famous neighbor – the Frunze Academy, which was designed by Rudnev and Mutz (1932-1934) – highlighting their proximity in an “ensemble” way, and thus serving as the representative of the architecture of 1939, the time when the area of the Devichiy Park was actively developed along with the mottled buildings of the Garden Ring. The telephone station building on the Zubovskaya Square looks like the “tip” of the “wedge” that consists of early-Stalin buildings and widens in the direction of the Novodevichy Monastery, merging with the construction of the 1920’s and growing from it. Probably, because of that, the building of the telephone station ended up being so abundantly decorated, in spite of its purely technical function.

Taking down such a wonderful building would have been an atrocity, and Pavel Andreev, the architect who had worked on the reconstruction projects of such monuments of architecture as the Moscow Manezh, GUM department store, and Children’s Paradise department store, proposed to keep intact two outside façades of the telephone station, in spite of the fact that it lacked the status of a cultural heritage site. The function of the building, however, changes radically – as is known, this is the fate of many Moscow’s telephone stations, because digital technologies do not require huge boxes, and thus telephone stations are replaced by hotels and housing projects, the narratives of these adjustments being really diverse (tearing down the building / not tearing down the building, examples one and two). In this specific instance, the telephone station itself will be kept within the land site but it will occupy a small building erected in 1930 in the depth of the yard, while the main building will be occupied by a hotel. Therefore, the project requires a replacement of all of the insides of the building, an introduction of an underground parking garage, and an increase in the height of the public floor.

zooming — Reconstruction of the building at the Zubovskaya Square © "GRAN" architects

According to the project, the outside façades of the building that overlooks the Garden Ring will be kept authentic (currently, the building is covered in scaffolding netting but it looks like all the walls behind the wraps are intact), the difference being that, instead of gray, they will take on a slightly more optimistic color that is both in the spirit of Stalin and avant-garde architecture – the main tone is pale blue, with a hint of warm gray, the secondary tone is brick-red, almost crimson: it marks the attic, the outlines of the balconies, and the margins of the square recessions. “Proposing a new color solution and introducing the red color, we wanted, on the one hand, to make the façade more noticeable, and, on the other hand, accentuate its proximity to avant-garde buildings” – Pavel Andreev explains. The windows in between the pylons gradually increase in height, while the pylons themselves, highlighted by a light shade of color, visually stands out and starts looking more like a portico. On top, the building gets a small-height floor of mechanical rooms, related to its new function.

The ground floor, whose height is increased up to 5.25 meters, will keep its zigzagged outline of the 1930’s, which traces the triangular contours of the pylon ribs, but it will get, while retaining the building structures, stone coating with large frameless windows, more appropriate for a hotel. About two thirds of the ground floor will be occupied by a restaurant, while the remaining third – by the hotel lobby. On the ground floor, the zigzag of the historical wall gives the inside spaces an extra advantage for placing tables in the resulting bay windows; the plan of the minus first floor clearly shows that the foundation of the historical part is not included in the bearing structure, the framework and the walls of the new content of the hotel drawing inwards. The same stylistic device is repeated on the upper floors – the outside historic wall is not loaded – on the contrary, the supports of the framework, which are placed along the contour of the walls, stretch relief beams to it.

The first underground floor is occupied by the mechanical rooms of the restaurant and the hotel, while a small parking garage is situated down below. The low-rise building that stands alongside the Dashkov Lane contains a fitness center and just one apartment, not really large, 83 square meters. Incidentally, the lateral wings are reconstructed more radically – the western one is due to be taken apart and then restored in the same parameters, while the small eastern one will be also built anew, yet with modern façades – and this will be the only place where the façades will truly “face” the city.

The same modern style is applied in the design of the façades of the inside yard: thin horizontal RAL ceramic strips of a light-beige color. The new single-story volume with large stained glass windows, which continues the hotel lobby inside the yard, is also covered with ceramics but its bands are broad, vertical and dark-crimson – this way, the modern parts echo the proposed historically accurate colors of the façades, adding a new interpretation of them. The two colors of the ceramics are added by insets that imitate wooden panels.

Originally, it was planned that the hotel would be part of the Mariott chain; then a decision was made to hand it to AccorHotels. The 1191-room hotel, for the rare exception of an odd single room, with an overall area of 750 square meters, chiefly boasts large apartments on the top seventh floor, which overlook the Garden Ring.

The authors of the project – and this was also a first experience for them in that area – proposed an image concept for the interior design of the hotel in the spirit of avant-garde artistic works: the reception area, inspired by the things that Lubov Popova designed, a restaurant and bar in the spirit of Varvara Stepanova, rooms and corridors in the vein of Malevich and Rodchenko – all of these works of art had an influence on literally everything, including not only the bedsheets and the carpet on the floor but also the staff uniform and the cutlery. Not to mention the photographs of the athletes of the 1920’s in the gym and the swimming pool.

The energy of the Russian avant-garde art of the 1920’s, known for its urge to master all of the areas of human lives, lends itself to the art of design. The huge amount of artistic material allows the architects to easily immerse the guests of the hotel into the atmosphere and culture of that epoch.

But then again, it is worth mentioning in passing that the building was actually completed in 1939, which is a decade later than the Russian avant-garde epoch, and it resembles (in its scale, volume, and symmetry) the “Moscow” hotel.

And, although what is characteristic of the 1930’s is rather plastered bas-reliefs on the ceiling and bronze chandeliers, it makes still more interesting the idea of the authors of the project to “get back to one’s roots”, breaking the historical accuracy, highlighting the proximity of the avant-garde art. Generally speaking, this “liberty taking” and violation of the historical correctitude (for us, people who know with absolute certainty that constructivism and post-constructivism are rather antagonists than otherwise) contains a different kind of historical lookout: oftentimes, we tend to forget that the super-eventful 1920’s and 1930’s are but two decades; today, an equal amount of time has elapsed since 1998. And, while some of the masters of the avant-garde art really could not accept the “post” reality, the others did accept it – besides, it often happened that both were done by the same people, even though the icons of these two trends were completely different.

In addition, the building of an “automatic telephone station”, a purely technical structure that by definition is unfit to perform the housing function and requires for its renovation not only some thought-out engineering measures but also some “imagery” rationale, can quite possibly allow of such a possibility. In other words, at the end of the day, it hardly makes much difference in which of the two possible way you will renovate the historical legacy building: by turning the former telephone station into an early-Stalin micro-palace or by immersing it into the extravaganza of an earlier period – either of the two will be an approximation because the original function is lost any way, and restoring it is out of the realm of possibility.

The image concept got the client inspired, the project was accepted and it got all the necessary approvals, but, as is often the case, at this point the communication between the parties stopped, and currently the project is living a life of its own without the participation of its authors. The tasks of drawing the working documents, doing interior design projects, and construction supervision – all of this was handed over to companies that had nothing to do with the creation of the original project. In the situation where copyright and author control is neglected in such a manner, all we can do is hope that the project will be treated carefully and the end result will not be a disappointment. This is the center of the nation’s capital, after all.

10 October 2018

Headlines now

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

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”.

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.