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Sergey Trukhanov: “Our main direction is multidirectional”

About the benefits of multitasking, flexibility, and exploration of areas lying beyond architectural design, such as BigData and marketing – and about how such projects can be useful for society as a trend in architecture and town planning.

Interviewed by:

Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

17 June 2019
Interview
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Sergey, over this year, your company has already been able to land a few contracts for designing large-scale housing projects in the regions, even though you used to place your bets on commercial interior design and redevelopment. Has your company changed its profile?

Housing projects have always been a part of our portfolio, although, yes, you are right, they haven’t been a priority. Today you could say that construction industry is driven by the housing market because it generates new projects much more frequently than any other sector. And we already have enough expertise and resources to undertake even massive scale projects. For the time being, though, we are placing our bets on business class housing because this is an area where the developer competes not so much with the price and location as with conceptually interesting and relevant offer for the market.

Back in the day, we designed the loft apartments Studio #8, which, thanks to the interesting design concept and a great marketing campaign, were sold out still at the initial stage. This is a vivid example of a metropolitan housing project where we were able to successfully combine the esthetic and financial parts, and ultimately it all worked out even better than we had expected.



Can you name popular trends on today’s housing market?

I would divide these into two groups: ones that are relevant for Moscow, and ones that are relevant for regions. The metropolitan housing market has become highly competitive, and there is struggling going on at every level – location, price per square meter, architectural design, apartment floor plans, landscaping, and infrastructure. This is serious integrated work, and you cannot say that this or that branch is the main one. Therefore, you could say that the general trend is all about creating a comfortable living environment.

In the regions, however, the situation is different. The construction pace can be somewhat slower but the range of tasks is even wider – there are opportunities for creating new landmarks, keep up the existing fabric of this or that area or come up with a new kind of your own, think beyond just designing an individual house in itself but make sure it makes a positive difference to the city environment. However, so far the developers only pose local tasks: budget, architecture: budget, architecture, floor plans, landscaping, and so on. In this case, it is crucially important to change your vector for integrative evaluation of the projects that address all of these factors. In the housing projects that we designed for Ekaterinburg and Ufa, we specifically took care to provide an all-round analysis of the project, including the construction budgets and the marketing costs.



What requirements are posed by today’s clients?

In most cases, we get to work with people who know how to count their money. And this is the key question in terms of building up your further relationship. The lucrative years, when architecture was solely about aesthetics, are gone. They gave way to a harshly pragmatic approach when budgets were cut and construction was simplified all over the place. And now the market has moved to a whole new level – the architecture becomes the cornerstone for aesthetics and popularity of the project, as well as the role that it will play in its environment. Furthermore, it helps to shape up the unique commercial proposal.

We came to a new understanding of the process – and we try to combine the aesthetic function of architecture together with the public and market ones. While still briefing the project with our clients, we try to come up with proposals that are potentially financially successful under the stipulated conditions. And this is a whole different level of communicating with your client. This is how it was with “Melnitsa Shmidta” in Saratov, where we proposed seven functional scenarios in order to ultimately choose the one that worked best for our client. For the developer, it’s a serious asset in implementing his project. And our expertise allows us to come up with the best solutions.



That is, you make a fair bit of research about the construction sites, prices, and such like? Isn’t all this supposed to lie in the area of the client’s responsibility?

Yes, it is. When our client has an extensive expertise in this field, we simply get these analytical data as the “givens” of the project. However, when the client is unable to provide us with such information we help him with it. And such projects make much more sense because you don’t have to cut costs when you are halfway into the project, and go a few steps back to make major revisions to the concept when you are already designing the details. We also account for risks and many other factors.

Furthermore, architecture no longer lives an isolated independent life. Today, when different fields of human activity transform and mutually penetrate into one another, you cannot just ignore this process thinking that it has nothing to do with you. For example, when they were doing a redevelopment project of London’s Docklands waterfront area, the leading roles were played by economists and urbanists, with architects coming into play later on down the line. And this determined to a large extent the appearance and the success of this area. Such method is equally applicable to a whole number of human activities.



Your portfolio includes completely different projects scattered all across the country. How do you explain such multiple vectors of development?

We have been through several stages of development, and we never wanted to stick to one single branch. Generally speaking, geography does not matter for us either. This is how it turned out to be in the course of our work, though: one of our first large-scale projects was renovating the territory and reconstructing the buildings in Orenburg into a project named Merchant Zaryvny’s Windmill Loft. At that moment, there was just a handful of architectural firms that were ready to undertake such a complex project, and we were among the first. Our successful concepts and implemented projects became the basis for our solid reputation, and more and more clients started coming in. We take an active part in competitions, both Moscow and regional, preparing concepts for different fields – not only for housing or commercial developments but also for landscaping public territories, for example.

Which one of your directions can be considered as the main one?

I would say that our main direction is multidirectional. Unlike large architectural companies that either do solely housing projects or commercial buildings, we from the very start tried to go beyond what was offered. And we are actively developing these directions – these are housing and apartment complexes, office buildings and interior design projects, redevelopment projects, hotels and recreation, landscaping, health resorts, and many other projects. Such an approach gives us an opportunity to learn and grow, not to get stale, and be constantly able to respond to new challenges. Today we have in our portfolio more than 400 competition proposals and concepts, out of which more than a hundred either grew into a project or were actually built, or are being built right now in different stages of construction.



Don’t you think that bring such an all-purpose company is not the most effective way of working nowadays? Isn’t it better to be real pros in some specific area than to try to have all of them covered?

Cannot agree with that. It all comes down to your fundamentals and to the way you approach your work. Our company has a lot of branches in it where real professionals work. And, bonus, they can flow from one department to another if they want to master a new specialty. At the same time, we will never take on a project that we are not sure we are capable of handling. In our case, we place our bets on high quality and customer-specific approach. Standardized solution for mass construction are definitely not our thing. We are ready to make a turnkey project from beginning to end, not limiting ourselves to architecture but also making an accent on the adjacent areas. Plus – we have a fresh take on things. When you start working on a market that is new for you, you inevitably evaluate your project from all sides – as a designer and as the end consumer. Therefore, be that a concept of a restaurant, such as “7th Heaven” in Ostankino, renovation of an old train depot near the Kurskaya metro station, or a club housing project – we are always ready to propose original solutions that will be appropriate for this particular project.



But the competition is still tough, isn’t it? How do you handle it and coexist with larger architectural companies, including international ones?

We are more flexible and mobile. Each of our employees is an autonomous unit, an independent professional with a broad horizon. Yes, there are specifics out there but people are constantly learning and try their hand at different tasks. Sharing the expertise among the departments is an important part of our operations. And this is what gives us the opportunity to summon up our resources for some grand-scale project or to efficiently distribute different tasks among our people when we have many minor projects to work upon.

Yet another issue of large architectural offices is mass production, in all ways. When you work with a million square meters, you will hardly have the time for unique customized solutions. You will have a properly functioning failsafe machine but it draws a lot of resources. And if a company signs up for such a tender it must be absolutely clear about all the pros and cons. Because no company will ever cut its jobs in order to keep up its identity and flexibility. Quite the opposite – one large-scale project will be followed by another. And you have ever less room for creativity and ever more for duplication and unification. We are not after landing such contracts – yes, we do want to work with large volumes but in such a way that will not have to sacrifice the concept and the quality of execution for the sake of deadlines and sheer scale of construction. This is what makes us different from the other companies, and we work equally successfully with large projects/clients and with small ones. A vivid example of such approach is our reconstruction of a building into a Sberbank office or the project of “Contour Park” IT cluster on the one side, and the project of reconstructing the depot on the other. All of these projects require an equally meticulous approach because each of then implements unique and project solutions tailored specifically to fit the client’s needs: a hanging meeting room, a uniting gallery 700 meters long, conservation of historical buildings and so on. 

Photo Contour Park / Depot



Let’s get back to the topic of the market. Does it make any sense speaking about some global trend in today’s architecture?

The global trend is the new approach towards town planning and construction. While what used to matter was the financial benefits and the output of square meters, today a lot of attention is paid to the significance of this or that project for the city. This is not to say that we no longer want to be our projects financially successful – rather, what we are trying to say is that it must be valuable not only to the developer and the end buyer but to the other city people as well. All these questions lie not only in the field of a specific volume but rather in the field of the quality of urban environment and the building’s role in it. You can build a pinpoint housing project but, better yet, you can build it with high quality landscape design, and developed social and commercial infrastructure. And – more importantly – open to the general public. In handling such tasks, we use all the tools that are accessible to us, including BigData, in order to determine people’s needs on this or that specific location – whether or not they need children development centers or, maybe they need more retail stores instead.

Does this refer chiefly to redevelopment projects?

Not only to them. We started from doing redevelopment projects, this is a tremendous layer of work that will remain relevant in this country for decades to come. There are lots of industrial parks within the city limits not only in Moscow but also in other major Russian cities – and they’ve got a huge potential. Furthermore, now and then you stumble across unique architectural solutions in those old industrial buildings. We, of course, always try to preserve such things, come up with a new function for them, and adapt them for modern use.

However, not only redevelopment alone is capable of giving new living space and new landmarks to the city. The housing construction also forms the architectural environment, and it can become a highlight of this or that area or become its logical continuation. In this case it is important to keep up the balance between the aesthetic part and the usefulness for people, and if you manage to do that, you’ve got a successful project.

What projects are you currently working on?

We have several projects going – these are housing complexes and mixed-use developments too. In the city of Ufa, we devised a concept for a housing project to be built in the Oktyabrsky district. This is a territory of 4.7 hectares, surrounded by densely packed construction environment, most of which is infrastructure. We placed 8 buildings of different height there in order to get the best insolation results. We also proposed to place the commercial infrastructure inside the podium, as well as an underground parking garage and mechanical rooms. There is an inner yard on top of the podium, and we added a lot of vegetation to it, designing a dedicated terrace next to each of the high-rises.



Our next development is the housing project “Alexandrovsky Garden” in the Leninsky District of Ekaterinburg. The surrounding construction is quite chaotic, and is characterized by the neighboring manor houses of the XIX century, office buildings of the XX century, and modern offices as well. On the land site, there will appear a complex consisting of three separately standing buildings of various numbers of floors. When we were forming the architectural image, we had a task to create a complex that would become a logic compositional addition to the historically valuable part of the city, to keep up the existing scale of the street, and to create an adequate background for the perception of the historical buildings. We tried to address all of the requirements and ultimately came up with what later on was recognized as the best concept.



Yet another project that we are doing for Ekaterinburg is “Contour Park” IT cluster. It is a grand-scale mixed-use development with an area of 200 square meters, which includes the construction of office buildings, an R&D and production facility, a residential complex, and all the necessary commercial and social infrastructure.

We are also working on a project of a club house and a hotel complex in Grozny. The hotel will be situated in the very heart of the city next to the mosque. Our multifunctional complex will be clearly seen from the windows of the Grozny-City business center, the main highways, and the central Akhmat Kadyrov Square. This will be a unique project for this city both in terms of technical performance and aesthetic properties.



Do you plan to continue placing your bets on housing projects?

We don’t want to set any limits for ourselves. If there are interesting housing projects, to which we will be invited, we will happily get down to them. But that doesn’t mean that we will refrain from designing office interiors, hotels and mixed-use developments. This is equally applicable for Moscow and regions. We are always excited to take on interesting projects that give us an opportunity to develop high-quality architecture and urban planning, as well as ones that foster fresh ideas and solutions.

Do you have any kind of a global goal for the next few years?

Almost all of our goals can be considered global to some extent. We are actively developing business-grounded design, use geo marketing tools in our work, develop the technological line, yet at the same time we do not forget about the aesthetic function, which is still paramount with us. I think that the future of architecture lies in the field of harmonious combination of technologies, new materials, creative work, and marketing. The cumulative effect will show through not only in commercial projects but also in public spaces. And the earlier the market accepts this as a standard, the better.
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    Dolgorukovskaya club housing complex
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    Concept for developing the territory limited by the streets of 50th anniversary of the UUR, Klavdii Abramovoi, and the Salavata Yulaeva Avenue
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of "Saratov Muka" Factory © T+T Architects
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of “Saratov Muka” Factory © T+T Architects
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of “Saratov Muka” Factory
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of “Saratov Muka” Factory
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of “Saratov Muka” Factory
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of “Saratov Muka” Factory
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    Architectural and town-planning concept of reconstruction and renovation of the territory of "Saratov Muka" Factory © T+T Architects
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    Yamskoe Pole
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    Azimut Hotel Smolenskaya
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    Azimut Hotel Smolenskaya
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    Azimut Hotel Smolenskaya
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    The concept of landscaping the waterfront of the Nagatinsky Creek “River Park”. Contest project, 2015
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    The concept of landscaping the waterfront of the Nagatinsky Creek “River Park”. Contest project, 2015
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    The concept of landscaping the waterfront of the Nagatinsky Creek “River Park”. Contest project, 2015
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    The concept of landscaping the waterfront of the Nagatinsky Creek “River Park”. Contest project, 2015
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    A complex of buildings at the 12th driveway of Maryina Roshcha. Project, 2014
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    A complex of buildings at the 12th driveway of Maryina Roshcha. Project, 2014
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    A complex of buildings at the 12th driveway of Maryina Roshcha. Project, 2014
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    Renovation of a former industrial territory into the loft block Studio #8
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    Housing complex and hotel in Grozny
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    Housing complex and hotel in Grozny
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    Т+Т Architects office at “Red October”
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    Т+Т Architects office at “Red October”
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    Erkafarm office. Photograph
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    Erkafarm office. Photograph
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view of the sidewall of Building 1
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view of the main entrance of Building 1
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view of the square from the new building
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot
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    “7th Heaven” restaurant
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    “7th Heaven” restaurant
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    “7th Heaven” restaurant
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    “7th Heaven” restaurant
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    Multifunctional residential complex in Ekaterinburg. Project, 2016 © T+T Architects
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    Multifunctional housing complex in Ekaterinburg. Project, 2016 © T+T Architects
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    Kontur-Park © T+T Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view of the new building
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view from the Kazakova Street
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    A concept for overhauling a former train depot. Perspective view of the new building
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Concept for developing the territory limited by the streets of 50th anniversary of the UUR, Klavdii Abramovoi, and the Salavata Yulaeva Avenue
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    Concept for developing the territory limited by the streets of 50th anniversary of the UUR, Klavdii Abramovoi, and the Salavata Yulaeva Avenue
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    “Aleksandrovsky Garden” housing complex
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Kontur Park, Ekaterinburg © Т+Т Architects
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    Housing complex and hotel in Grozny
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    “7th Heaven” restaurant
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17 June 2019

Interviewed by:


Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
​Streamline for City Canyons
Stepan Liphart has designed two houses for two small land sites situated in the area surrounding the Varshavsky Railway Station, which is being intensively developed now. The sites are situated close but not next to each other, and they are different, yet similar: the theme is the same but it is interpreted in different ways. In this issue, we are examining and comparing both projects.
​The Eastern Frontier
“The Eastern Arc” is one of the main land resources of Kazan’s development, concentrated in the hands of a single owner. The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a concept for the integrated development of this territory based on an analytical transport model that will create a comfortable living environment, new centers of attraction, and new workplaces as well.
A School of Our Time
On the eve of the presentation of the new book by ATRIUM, dedicated to the design of schools and other educational facilities, based on the architects’ considerable experience, as well as expert judgments, we are examining the Quantum STEM school building, constructed according to their project in Astana. Furthermore, this building is planned to be the first one to start a new chain. The architects designed it in full accordance with modern standards but sometimes they did break away from them – only to confirm the general development rules. For example, there are two amphitheaters in the atrium, and there is an artificial hill in the yard that is meant to make the flat terrain of the Kazakhstan steppe more eventful.
The Fluffy Space
Designing the passenger terminal of the Orenburg airport, ASADOV architects continue to explore the space theme that they first introduced in Saratov and Kemerovo airports. At the same time, the architects again combine the global and the local, reflecting topics inspired by the local conceptual context. In this case, the building is “covered” by an Orenburg downy shawl – an analogy that is recognizable enough, yet not literal; some will see the reference and some won’t.
The White Fitness Center
The white health and fitness center, designed by Futura Architects at the entrance to St. Petersburg’s New Piter residential complex, provides the developing area not only with functional but also with sculptural diversity, livening up the rows of the brick city blocks with the whiteness of its seamless facades, cantilevered structures, and dynamic inclined lines.
The New Dawn
In their project of a technology park to be built on the grounds of “Integrated Home-Building Factory 500” in Tyumen Oblast – the biggest in Russia – the HADAA architects preserve not just the industrial function of the giant hangar built in the late 1980s and 90% of its structures, but also respond to its imagery. They also propose a “gradient” approach to developing the available areas: from open public ones to staff-only professional spaces. The goal of this approach is to turn the technology park into the driver for developing the business function between the industrial zones and the future residential area in accordance with the Integrated Land Development program.
​Tame Hills for New Residents
T+T Architects have reported that they have completed the landscaping project for the yard of the first stage of Alexandrovsky Garden housing complex in Ekaterinburg – the landscape complements the contextual architecture, tailored for the buyers’ preferences and downtown standards, with bold neo modernist master strokes and lush and diverse vegetation.
The Crystal of the City Block
The typology and plastique of large housing complexes move with the times, and you can sometimes find new subtleties in the scope of seemingly familiar solutions. The Sky Garden complex combines two well-known themes, forming a giant residential area consisting of tall slender towers, placed at the perimeter of a large yard, in which a crossroads of two pedestrian promenades is “dissolved”.
Sunshine, Air, and Water
The construction of the “Solnechny” (“Sunny”) summer camp, designed by ARENA project institute, has been completed, the largest summer camp within the legendary Artek seaside resort for children. It was conceived still in Soviet time, but it was not implemented. The modern version surprises you with sophisticated engineering solutions that are combined with a clear-cut structure: together, they generate Asher-esque spaces.
​Art Deco at the Edge of Space
The competition project by Stepan Liphart – a high-end residential complex executed in a reserved classicist style in close proximity to the Kaluga Space Museum – responds equally well to the context and to the client’s brief. It is moderately respectable, moderately mobile and transparent, and it even digs a little into the ground to comply with strict height restrictions, without losing proportions and scale.
Going, Going, Gone!
The housing complex “Composers’ Residences” has been built in accordance with the project by Sergey Skuratov, who won the international competition back in 2011. It all began from the image search and “cutting off all spare”, and then implementing the recognizable Skuratov architecture. It all ended, however, in tearing down the buildings of the Schlichterman factory, whose conservation was stipulated by all the appropriate agencies prior to approving Skuratov’s project. This story seems to be educational and important for understanding the history of all the eleven years, during which the complex was designed and built.
The Life of Iron
The building of the Vyksa Metallurgy Museum, designed by Nikita Yavein and Sergey Padalko, provides for the natural aging of metal – it is planned that the iron will gradually rust – at the same time utilizing the advanced type of construction, based on metal’s ability to stretch. The building will be constructed from pipes and rolled steel supplied by OMK company, as well as from recycled bricks.
​And the Brook is Flowing
ASADOV Architects have designed a master plan for developing a residential area at the outskirts of Kaliningrad: a regular grid of housing blocks is enriched by large-scale public facilities, the main “artery” of the new area being the fortification channel that regains its original function.
Off We Go!
The new terminal of the Tomsk airport is being designed by ASADOV bureau. The architects keep on developing its identity, building the imagery upon the inventions of Nikolai Kamov, whose name the airport bears. The result is laconic, light, and, as always, levitating.
Maximum Flexibility
The Multispace Dinamo, which recently opened within the Arena business center, is an example of a project that is entirely based upon cutting-edge approaches and technologies. It is managed via a mobile application, special software was created for it, and the spaces are not just multifunctional but carefully mixed up, like some kind of jigsaw puzzle that allows the office workers to mix their working routine for better efficiency.
A Factory’s Path
Last week, the new center for constructivist studies “Zotov” hosted its first exhibition named “1922. Constructivism. The Inception”. The idea of creating this center belongs to Sergey Tchoban, while the project of the nearest houses and adjusting the building of the bread factory for the new museum function was done by the architect in collaboration with his colleagues from SPEECH. We decided that such a complex project should be examined in its entirety – and this is how we came up with this long-read about constructivism on Presnya, conservation, innovation, multilayered approach, and hope.
The Savelovsky Axis
The business center, situated right in the middle of a large city junction next to the Savelovsky Railway Station takes on the role of a spatial axis, upon which the entire place hinges: it spins like a spiral, alternating perfect glass of the tiers and deep recessions of inter-tier floors that conceal little windows invented by the architects. It is sculptural, and it claims the role of a new city landmark, in spite of its relatively small height of nine floors.
Parametric Waves
In the housing complex Sydney City, which FSK Group is building in the area of Shelepikhinskaya Embankment, Genpro designed the central city block, combining parametric facades and modular technology within its architecture.
The Multitone
The new interior of the Action Development headquarters can be regarded as an attempt to design the perfect “home” for the company – not just comfortable but broadcasting the values of modern development. It responds to the context, yet it is built on contrast, it is fresh but cozy, it is dynamic, yet it invites you to relax – everything of this coexists here quite harmoniously, probably because the architects found an appropriate place for each of the themes.
Refinement No Longer Relevant
A few days ago journalists were shown the building of Bread Factory #5, renovated upon the project by Sergey Tchoban. In this issue, we are publishing Grigory Revzin’s thoughts about this project.
The Comb of Strelna
In this issue, we are taking a close look at the project that won the “Crystal Daedalus” award – the “Veren Village” housing complex in Strelna, designed by Ostozhenka. Its low-rise format became a trigger for typological and morphological experiments – seemingly, we are seeing recognizable trends, yet at the same time there are a multitude of subtleties that are a pleasure to go into. Having studied this project in detail, we think that the award is well-deserved.
A Tectonic Shift
For several years now, Futura Architects have been working with the “New Peter” residential area in the south of St. Petersburg. In this article, we are covering their most recent project – a house, in which the architects’ architectural ideas peacefully coexist with the limitations of comfort-class housing, producing a “multilayered” effect that looks very attractive for this typology.
Three “Green” Stories
In this issue, we are examining three environmental urban projects showcased by the Genplan Institute of Moscow at the Zodchestvo festival. The scale of the projects is really diverse: from gathering information and suggestions from the residents on a city scale to growing meadow grass between houses to paintings, which, as it turned out, possess power to cure trees, healing their wounded bark. + a list of kinds of plants natural for Moscow to help the developer.
​The Slabs of Bagration
The construction of a new skyscraper designed by SPEECH within the complex of Moscow City has been announced. A keen observer may see in it: Moscow high-rises, Chicago architecture, Malevich architecton, and an attempt of deconstruction of the integral image of the Moscow skyscraper – a technique that has been actively employed by the architects in their recent works.
​Preserving the History of Clean Ponds
How do you make a comfortable high-end residential complex that meets the modern requirements for expensive downtown housing, and keep as much of the original 1915 building as possible? Ilia Utkin, together with Sminex, solved this charade for Potapovsky Lane, 5 – here is how.
​Living in a Forest
The apartment complex in Roshchino, designed by GAFA architects, looks very much like a glamping: the residents enjoy the untouched nature of the Karelian isthmus, while having urban amenities and opportunities for social life.
A Laboratory for Life
The building of the Laboratory of Oncomorphology and Molecular Genetics, designed by the author team headed by Ilya Mashkov (Mezonproject) uses the benefits of the natural context and offers space for cutting-edge research, both doctor- and patient-friendly.
The Logic of Life
The light installation, designed by Andrey Perlach in the atrium of Moscow's Federation Tower, balances on the edge between a mathematical order of construction and the diversity of perception when viewed from different angles.
An Architect in a Metaverse
In this interview, we talked to the participants of the festival of creative industries G8 about why metaverses are our tomorrow’s everyday routine, and how architects can already influence it today.