По-русски

​An Outgoing Introvert

Designing and building in Moscow area’s Lyublino a fitness club called La Salute (which translates as “health” from the Italian), ASADOV architects did make the life of this area healthier by bringing designer architecture and new useful functions into the standard environment. The dramatic tectonics of the building empathize its sporty intentions.

Lara Kopylova

Written by:
Lara Kopylova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

30 September 2019
News
mainImg

The Mission

“The fitness club La Salute is not our first joint project with Andrew and Alexander Asadovs – shares the commissioner of La Salute, Larisa Khanokhova – We already built together a bilingual kindergarten in the Maly Poluyaroslavsky Alley, the best kindergarten in Moscow, in my opinion. It was designed as a magic theater, and it’s also unique from the point of view of children’s education. We have been doing educational projects for quite a while now. Also, together with ASADOV architects, we are expanding the “School of Cooperation” on Taganka. As far as this fitness center is concerned, Lublino consists basically of bleak architecture consisting of rank-and-file prefabricated houses. Therefore, in addition to the business task, I had this idea of lifting up the status of this area with a new infrastructure project – a world-class fitness center. At the same time, it is quite accessible to the local residents price-wise”.

Extrovert / Introvert

The volume of the fitness center is rather simple: the U-shaped plan is turned with its “back” to the residential houses, facing the park, the right wing two stories high, left three stories high. On the lintel, appears a ledge of transition from two stories to three, the taller left part ending in a large cantilevered structure that takes on the role of a marquee because the main entrance is situated underneath it.

Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    1 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    2 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street. THe master plan
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    3 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    4 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street. Plan of the 1st floor
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    5 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    6 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    7 / 7
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street. Section view
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects


Basically, what we are seeing here is a clearly readable composition, motivated by the function and the specifics of the land site. However, the architects, strengthening some of the features, enhanced the building’s imagery – they made it look like a lizard that curled into a ball and is basking in the sun, straining its neck to peek into the garden. The role of the tail is played by the fence on the side of the park: its triangular silhouette starts from the ground opposite the entrance, and then grows up to the roof of the right wing, the tilted pylons growing denser as they approach the building, sparser in the beginning. The tail, this way, is not exactly a volume, which is right too – because a lizard can shed its tail. The further likeness is determined by the design solution of the façade – the diagonal pattern, set by the fence, continues on the whole building’s body: the metallic panels of a glittering brownish hue alternate with white ones; the windows, long and slanted, are also inserted into the dynamic pattern of tiled strokes, this all sheds a glitter, like a lizard’s skin, while the diagonal creates a feeling of a latent motion within this creature of a building. This same effect is also supported by the rounded corners: all the three outer ones and the curvilinear glass of the entrance underneath the cantilever. And the fact that the building is “curled into a ball” around the yard is enhanced by the large meander in the paving pattern.

  • zooming
    1 / 4
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    2 / 4
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    3 / 4
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    4 / 4
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects


Meanwhile, our lizard is also a little bit of a chameleon: “the façade material is going through various transformations and is used with different frequencies” – Andrey Asadov stresses. Indeed, the eastern wall, the one that faces the Belorechenskaya Street, is not brown but terra cotta orange, and the panels become ceramic – which, first of all, makes the building more noticeable, because the fitness center must not be “lost” against the backdrop of the existing construction, at least in order to attract the clients. On the other hand, this “reddish” warmth also works towards creating a “creature” image, and one can even wonder at this point what kind of animal curled up into a ball – a lizard or maybe a fox. But then again, it’s not really important which animal that is. What is important is the fact that the glass “head” of the cantilever with a ground-bound chamfer is facing the park and the Church of Tatyana of Rome, reflecting it. The two unconventional-looking nonresidential buildings, standing against the background of rather dull prefabricated houses, get involved in a dialogue, which makes perfect sense for two public buildings, however different, in this sleeping belt neighborhood.

Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
Copyright: © ASADOV architects


The fact that this beast of ours – be that a fox, a lizard, or even a snail with a striped shell – is turning away from the residential houses, lying almost precisely with its back to them, also makes absolutely perfect sense. People come to train here in order to divert themselves from the stress of the hard day’s work, and the monotonous windows of the prefabricated houses are not exactly the kind of landscape that is highly conducive to emotional rest. However, the trees of the park and the church, a building that’s unique to at least some extent, are a different matter. Thus, the fitness center is open to greenery, especially its glass cantilever above the entrance; the main gym that it contains is well lit and opened to daylight and a positive natural view. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Andrey Asadov describes the building of the fitness center on the Belorechenskaya Street as both introvert and extrovert: wherever it’s needed, it coils into a ball, opening up when such an opportunity arises.

Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
Copyright: © ASADOV architects


Decorating the rounded corners became a challenge for the manufacturers of terra cotta and metallic cassettes: it was required of them to produce totally nonstandard elements, and slanting ones, too. All the ceramic tiles have been chiseled by complex guages: the overall curve was one and the same, but it was the tilted stroke pattern that added to the complexity of the task. The metallic composite cassettes have double curvilinearity. The joints between them are also very neat. Their size is more than 5 meters high, and this makes the building look more compact than it really is.

The Flight and the Balance

The dynamics of the volumes of this building is truly sporty because the fitness center (forgive me the sports and dancing terminology!) is there in the foreground. The building is focused on the park. The main terra cotta façade emphasizes that particularly vividly because it’s not solid, unlike the metallic one, but a long segment of its two bottom floors is made of glass, and it is just one terra cotta “leg” that remains, the whole building “leaping” forward with its park-bound cantilever. At the same time, the complex grows more transparent as it gets closer to the park. Meaning – its gravity center remains within the thick terra cotta part, i.e. in the “leg”. Also interesting is the fact that in the first floor the architects added a narrow window – the massiveness of the wall comes in increments, and thus gets lighter. The cantilever gazing at the park rests on a V-shaped support.

zooming


Andrey Asadov:

“Together with the chief architect of the project, Tatiana Konovalova, we spent quite a long time working with designers in order to zero in on the crisp and simple solution. Ultimately, we came up with this elegant V-shaped support. Behind the glass, there is only a continuation of the slanted pillars, the rest being the overhanging cantilevered structures. We were able to achieve that because the floor and the ceiling of the cantilevered part are made from pretension concrete”.

Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
Copyright: © ASADOV architects


V-shaped columns make a very dramatic image in all senses. Construction-wise, they support the pretension concrete, while visually they look like muscles and tendons of an athlete. These tensed up “muscles” and stretched “strings” artistically express real forces that are in play within this construction. The tilting angles of the columns and “ribbon” windows on the façade do not match. In the enhanced tilt of the columns one can see something like athlete’s plunge at the start, something like extra acceleration. The V-shaped support is viewable on several floors in the interior, and from the outside through the glass. In addition, however trivial this may sound, V may stand for “victory”, which is appropriate in any sports center.

Show in Wonderland

From the yard, which is due to be later on organized for open air sports, one can gaze either at the park or at the glass walls of the atrium. They form some kind of curious offline screens, upon which beautiful people in beautiful clothes move freely. The glass wall of the swimming pool also overlooks the yard.

The athletes behind the glass also enjoy the transparency: they can watch the would go by, and expose themselves to the world as well. This transparency is like the main luxury here. This sporty “theater” also has a commercial meaning: one can see at once what is situated where, and one see which new sports he wants to try.

Cylinders Inspired by Le Corbusier

The interior design is based on a combination of white, orange, and wine red. The theme of tilted V-shaped supports is continued in the interior by bronze columns, also tilted. Passing through the main entrance, the visitor gets into a spacious double-height reception area that also includes a bar, sofas, and tables for the visitors. This area opens access to the locker rooms and gyms with panoramic views. From the public area, once can also see through the glass walls what is going on inside the gyms and the other way around. The principle of total transparency, important for the architects, applies at all levels. In addition to the gyms, La Salute also has saunas and steam baths in it, a swimming pool with sea water, and even a Cardio Theater. The latter was proposed by the commissioner, Larisa Khanukhova: she took an active part in doing the interior design.

  • zooming
    1 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    2 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    3 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    4 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    5 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    6 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    7 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    8 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects
  • zooming
    9 / 9
    Fitness center La Salute on the Belorechenskaya Street
    Copyright: © ASADOV architects


“The building of the club is outwardly dynamic, and we tried to keep this character on the inside as well, trying to make it look chic by finding some bright dramatic detail – Larisa Khanukhova is saying – This is how we came up with the idea of colorful lights: this cylindrical shape with a chamfered opening can be seen in Le Corbusier’s church in Firmini. From the functional standpoint, our club offers not just fitness, but an opportunity to relax as well. The Italian name La Salute translates as “health”. We tried to create a matching visual image by means of art and design: we placed art objects there, and decorated the Cardio Theater in the vein of the amphitheater in the city of Lucci”.

The theme of a sportive theater, as we can see, pops up here more than once. The same purpose is served by the green roofs of the building, which are not operated – yet – but the architects already designed an exit to them and provided for the low-maintenance “sportive” coating material. Doing sports on the roof will be quite a sight to see for the locals, and a great promotion for the club, too. This club, offering fitness and yoga, will be quite a big deal for this sleeping-belt neighborhood.

30 September 2019

Lara Kopylova

Written by:

Lara Kopylova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
New “Flight”
Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.
The Yauza Towers
In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.
Architecture and Leisure Park
For the suburban hotel complex, which envisages various formats of leisure, the architectural company T+T Architects proposed several types of accommodation, ranging from the classic “standard” in a common building to a “cave in the hill” and a “house in a tree”. An additional challenge consisted in integrating a few classic-style residences already existing on this territory into the “architectural forest park”.
The U-House
The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.
Black and White
In this article, we specifically discuss the interiors of the ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh. Interior design is a crucial component of the overall concept in this case, and precision and meticulous execution were highly important for the architects. Julia Tryaskina, head of UNK interiors, shares some of the developments.
The “Snake” Mountain
The competition project for the seaside resort complex “Serpentine” combines several typologies: apartments of different classes, villas, and hotel rooms. For each of these typologies, the KPLN architects employ one of the images that are drawn from the natural environment – a serpentine road, a mountain stream, and rolling waves.
Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring
The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.
Feed ’Em All
A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.
The Ensemble at the Mosque
OSA prepared a master plan for a district in the southern part of Derbent. The main task of the master plan is to initiate the formation of a modern comfortable environment in this city. The organization of residential areas is subordinated to the city’s spiritual center: depending on the location relative to the cathedral mosque, the houses are distinguished by façade and plastique solutions. The program also includes a “hospitality center”, administrative buildings, an educational cluster, and even an air bridge.
Pargolovo Protestantism
A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.
The Shape of the Inconceivable
The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.
​Rays of the Desert
A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.
The Dairy Theme
The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.
The Road to the Temple
Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.
​Towers Leaning Towards the Sun
The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.
In the spirit of ROSTA posters
The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.
The Northern Thebaid
The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.
Brilliant Production
The architects from London-based MOST Architecture have designed the space for the high-tech production of Charge Cars, a high-performance production facility for high-speed electric cars that are assembled in the shell of legendary Ford Mustangs. The founders of both the company and the car assembly startup are Russians who were educated in their home country.
Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor
The so-called “Mytny Dvor” area lying just behind Moscow Railway Station – the market rows with a complex history – will be transformed into a premium residential complex by Studio 44. The project consists of three parts: the restoration of historical buildings, the reconstruction of the lost part of the historical contour, and new houses. All of them are harmonized with each other and with the city; axes and “beams of light” were found, cozy corners and scenic viewpoints were carefully thought out. We had a chat with the authors of the historical buildings’ restoration project, and we are telling you about all the different tasks that have been solved here.
The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement
In 2022, Ostozhenka Architects won a competition, and in 2023, they developed and received all the necessary approvals for a master plan for the development of Chernigovskaya Street for the developer GloraX. The project takes into account a 10-year history of previous developments; it was done in collaboration with architects from Nizhny Novgorod, and it continues to evolve now. We carefully examined it, talked to everyone, and learned a lot of interesting things.
A Single-Industry Town
Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.
A New Age Portico
At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.
A New Starting Point
We’ve been wanting to examine the RuArts Foundation space, designed by ATRIUM for quite a long time, and we finally got round to it. This building looks appropriate and impressive; it amazingly combines tradition – represented in our case by galleries – and innovation. In this article, we delve into details and study the building’s historical background as well.
Molding Perspectives
Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.
An Educational Experiment for the North
City-Arch continues to work on the projects that can be termed as “experimental public preschools”: private kindergartens and schools can envy such facilities in many respects. This time around, the project is done for the city of Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. A diverse educational and play environment, including a winter garden, awaits future students, while the teachers will have abundant opportunities to implement new practices.
Alexandra Kuzmina: “Working is easy when the rules are the same for everyone”
The subject matter of Moscow Region’s booth and presentations at Zodchestvo Festival was the concept of “Integrated Land Development”, and for a good reason: this task is very challenging, very relevant, and Moscow Region has already accumulated quite a formidable experience in this regard. In this article, we are speaking to the main architect of the region: about master plans and who makes them, about where you obtain resources for creating a comfortable environment, about her favorite projects, about why there are so few good architects, and what we should do with the bad ones.
The Cemetery: Inside and Outside
The workshop organized by the Genplan Institute of Moscow scored one of the two first places at the “Open City” festival. Its subject is reorganization of municipal cemeteries. Two action plans were proposed, diametrically opposite: one for the downtown and one for the suburbs.
Our Everything
Who is Alexey Shchusev? In the last couple of weeks, since the architect’s 150th birthday, different individuals have answered this question differently. The most detailed, illustrated, and elegantly presented response is an exhibition held in two buildings of the Museum of Architecture on Vozdvizhenka. Four curators, a year and a half of work performed by the entire museum, and exhibition design by Sergey Tchoban and Alexandra Sheiner – in this article, we take you on a tour of the exhibition and show what’s what in it.
For Mental Reboot
At the architectural competition held in 2023 in Novosibirsk, the project by GORA Architects – a pedestrian bridge leading to the town of Bor – was awarded the “Golden Capital” prize. In this country, more than a hundred pedestrian bridges are constructed each year. What makes the Bor bridge different?
Gold Embroidery
A five-story housing complex designed by Stepan Liphart in Kazan, responds to the stylistically diverse context with its form, both integral and agile, and as for the vicinity of the “Ekiyat” movie theater, the complex responds to it with a semblance of theater curtain folds, and active plastique of its balconies, that bear some resemblance to theater boxes. Even if excessively pompous a little bit, the complex does look fresh and modern. One will have a hard time finding Art Deco elements in it, even though the spirit of the 1930s, run through the filter of neo-modernism, is still clearly felt, just as a twist of the Occident.