Frontier Worlds

A search for unconventional approaches to urban housing densification, new ideas for background architecture and addressing the issues of a space with a negative aura – all of this is to be found in the new housing project designed by OSA for a land site that, among other things, contains an abandoned monument of architecture.

Written by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

05 February 2019

Object

Architect:

Firm:

OSAArchitects http://www.osa-group.com

In the north suburb of the historical part of Ekaterinburg, next to the Bolshakov Park, on the 8 Marta Street, stands one of the city’s best-known derelict buildings – the emergency aid clinic that has the status of a monument of architecture of regional importance. The clinic was built in 1932; its architecture is interesting for the combination of avant-garde and neoclassical techniques. An arcade of thermal windows that crowns compound five-story buildings, columns, plasterwork, and the greenery of the nearby park make this building look more like a health resort rather than a hospital. In the 2000’s, the clinic was dispersed, and the building fell into decay. It stands open to this day, unguarded and unprotected in any other way. It has survived more than a hundred fires, and become the subject of numerous urban legends about there being a room where time stood still forever or a whole number of secret underground floors.

zooming — Green Coppice House © OSAArchitects

In the nearest future, the building and the land site will be again put up for sale but this time around there are parties that are interested in buying it: developers are preparing pre-project proposals for the auction, one of them being the concept proposed by OSA.

The architects were faced with a task of turning the land site with a derelict clinic into a residential complex, which was a task fraught with a number of difficulties. First, the client had a request for 75 000 square meters of housing floor space, and squeezing that amount into the confines of the land site was quite a tall order because the monument of architecture is situated in the middle of the site, sprouting numerous auxiliary buildings.

Second, the architects had a self-imposed condition of making sure that they kept the moderate scale of the architectural monument and did not obscure it with modern architecture. And, finally, this part of the city misses the infrastructure that is generally expected for a residential neighborhood – schools, kindergartens, adequate driveways, and so on. Instead, the future complex will neighbor on medical institutions, maintenance buildings, and a dull fence, which will be built by the Novotikhvinsky Monastery once it buys out a few buildings in the neighborhood. The architects confess that they are not 100% sure themselves if the city can handle such a “housing” injection in this area. However, they are still proposing an integrated and motivated solution for all of the problems outlined above.

The Monument

Essentially, what remained of the monument is only its façades, which are to be preserved – everything else on the inside has been destroyed. Therefore, the floor plans will be changed completely, and the architects will adapt the contours of the building for the housing function. OSA was searching for every opportunity for densification, and at some point they even planned to add a few annexes to the old building – of the same scale but with neutral “background” façades. However, because the façades were to remain intact, there was only one loophole left: in the northern part of the building, there is an annex that was built in the 1990’s, which has no architectural value, and which is clearly seen on the birds-eye view photograph. By getting rid of the annex, the architects could quite righteously “augment” the architectural monument with a new building. This would not only yield some extra floor space but will also make it possible to complete the composition of the building, giving the architects a system of cozy little yards.

The New Architecture

In addition to the historical building adjusted to perform a new function, the site will get two types of new residential buildings – high-rise towers and something that the architects call “urban villas”.

The towers take most of the load of the technical and economic performance, allowing the architects to keep the historically correct scale on the rest of the site. Because of that, the high-rises will be placed in the northwest corner, which is the furthest from the park and the closest to the roads and city’s other high-rises. Considering the volumetric and planning options, the architects came to a cluster of three adherent sections consisting of large “slab” blocks with rather large spaces preserved between them.

The five lower floors, whose height matches that of the buildings of the clinic, are decorated with light-colored stone. Everything above that mark strives be lightweight to the point of dissolving in the air. This effect is created by the “strings” of the lamellas that cover end-to-end glazing, as well as by slits with inverted arches that can host terraces or winter gardens. The same arches connect the new building with the historical one, echoing the dramatic rows of thermal windows, and, in addition, these arches endow the building with a fair bit of metaphorical meaning – what comes to mind is the Heaven’s Gate, portals of the gothic temples, arcs of the harp, and Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical insights. They keep up the aura of mystery, which is something that the clinic building definitely has, not only as a derelict place but also as a place where back in the day life would meet death. The most intriguing element of all is the arch of an impressive height that marks the point where new building joins the old one and where the entrance to the inner little yards is situated.

The third type of housing are the urban villas four to seven stories high, which on the one side overlook the Bolshakov Park, and on the other – the new pedestrian street and part of the historical building. For the urban villas, the architects came up with two façade design options: they can either be completely decorated with light-colored stone, which will enhance the high status of this housing segment, or they can be decorated with the same lamellas as used in the towers, which will give the buildings a likeness to the park pavilions. In both cases, the architects proceeded from the old building of the clinic as the topmost priority – the new architecture must not “steal the show”.

For the same purpose of showing the monument of architecture to the best advantage, the architects made spaces between the urban villas – the intermediate floors, which run on the level of the second floor and create yard spaces separated from the pedestrian street, are sometimes covered with a roof and sometimes aren’t, having additional entrances from the corridors on the second floors. The architects designed the “glades” with the circular square in mind – they used it as the main axis, from which the most picturesque views of the clinic building can be seen, and from which one can get to the pedestrian street.

he bottom floors of the buildings will host local businesses; one of the urban villas will host a kindergarten.

In Between the Architecture

The architects are proposing a few solutions to gracefully introduce the new complex into the city life. From the north side, it will be possible to buy out the neighboring land sites, which are currently occupied by auxiliary buildings. If these buildings are to be demolished, it will be possible to make a square in front of the high-rise cluster and add a roundabout, at the same time improving the driveways because this place is the only link between the complex and the city. Also, in the north the complex borders on the Novotikhvinsky Monastery. It may be possible to make another pedestrian street there commanding a view of the temple architecture, the prospect of which was in fact discussed between OSA and the monastery, the latter still insisting on building a tall fence in order to protect itself from the bustle of the large housing complex.

An important part of the concept is the pedestrian street that will stretch between the urban villas and the former clinic. The architects note that “the facade of the historical building was designed not for the frontal perception but for the glancing gaze of the pedestrian. The street will make it possible to better appreciate the beauty of the building from the best possible angles”.

The street space is rather sophisticated, with a few levels in it: a raised promenade and a few little yards that cascade down to the underground parking garage. The street, just like the parking garage, are accessible to general public, not just to the residents of the complex.

The design of this new fragment of the city space proposed by OSA to Ekaterinburg turned out to be very dense and filled with functions, viewing angles, and meanings. This is a place of the peaceful coexistence of new and old, public and private, elite and democratic, and even underground and overland. A place that – provided the project is implemented, of course – will probably attract people with its interesting polyrhythmic structure that will become part of the new urban space, which will be a case that is rare not only for Ekaterinburg but for this whole country as well.

Architect:

Firm:

OSAArchitects http://www.osa-group.com

05 February 2019

Headlines now

Object

New Aeroflot Office: Lightness, Play, Comfort

Even if you have no plans to fly with Aeroflot anytime soon, their new office at 2A 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street is still worth a visit for its interior design alone.

Object

Centipede Town

The new school campus designed by ATRIUM Architects, located on the shores of a protected lake in the Imeretian Lowland Ornithological Reserve, represents an important and ambitious undertaking for the team: this is not just a school, but a Presidential Lyceum for the comprehensive development of gifted children – 2,500 students from age 3 through high school. At the same time, it is also envisioned as a new civic hub for the entire Sirius territory. In this article, we unpack the structure and architecture of this “lyceum town”.

Object

Warm Black and White

The second phase of “Quarter 31”, designed by KPLN and built in the Moscow suburb town of Pushkino, reveals a multifaceted character. At first glance, the complex appears to be defined by geometry and a monochrome palette. But a closer look reveals a number of “irregular” details: a gradient of glazing and flared window frames, a hierarchy of façades, volumetric brickwork, and even architectural references to natural phenomena. We explore all the rules – and exceptions – that we were able to discover here.

Object

Skylights and Staircase

Photos from March show the nearly completed headquarters of FSK Group on Shenogina Street. The building’s exterior is calm and minimalist; the interior is engaging and multi-layered. The conical skylights of the executive office, cast in raw concrete, and the sweeping spiral staircase leading to it, are particularly striking. In fact, there’s more than one spiral staircase here, and the first two floors effectively form a small shopping center. More below.

Object

The Whale of Future Identity

Or is it a veil? Or a snow-covered plain? Vera Butko, Anton Nadtochy, and the architects of ATRIUM faced a complex and momentous task: to propose a design for the “Russia” National Center. It had to be contemporary, yet firmly rooted in cultural codes. Unique, and yet subtly reminiscent of many things at once. It must be said – the task found the right authors. Let’s explore in detail the image they envisioned.

Object

Greater Altai: A Systemic Development Plan

The master plan for tourism development in Greater Altai encompasses three regions: Kuzbass, the Altai Republic, and Altai Krai. It is one of twelve projects developed as part of the large-scale state program bearing the simple name of “Tourism Development”. The project’s slogan reads: “Greater Altai – a place of strength, health, and spirit in the very heart of Siberia”. What are the proposed growth points, and how will the plan help increase the flow of both domestic and international tourists? Read on to find out.

Object

The Colorful City

While working on a large-scale project in Moscow’s Kuntsevo district – one that has yet to be given a name – Kleinewelt Architekten proposed not only a diverse array of tower silhouettes in “Empire-style” hues and a thoughtful mix of building heights, creating a six-story “neo-urbanist” city with a block-based layout at ground level, but also rooted their design in historical and contextual reasoning. The project includes the reconstruction of several Stalin-era residential buildings that remain from the postwar town of Kuntsevo, as well as the reconstruction of a 1953 railway station that was demolished in 2017.

Object

In Orbit of Moscow City

The Orbital business center is both simple and complex. Simple in its minimalist form and optimal office layout solution: a central core, a light-filled façade, plenty of glass; and from the unusual side – a technical floor cleverly placed at the building’s side ends. Complex – well, if only because it resembles a celestial body hovering on metallic legs near Magistralnaya Street. Why this specific shape, what it consists of, and what makes this “boutique” office building (purchased immediately after its completion) so unique – all of this and more is covered in our story.

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.

​Frontier Worlds

Frontier Worlds