Walking on Water

In the nearest future, the Marc Chagall Embankment will be turned into Moscow’s largest riverside park with green promenades, cycling and jogging trails, a spa center on water, a water garden, and sculptural pavilions designed in the spirit of the Russian avant-garde artists of the 1920, and, first of all, Chagall himself. In this issue, we are covering the second-stage project.

Written by:
Alla Pavlikova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

16 December 2020

Object

For a second year, the territory of the ZIL Plant is witnessing the reconstruction of the riverside area of the Moskva River. The concept of development of the northwest part of the plant’s territory, just as the master plan of the waterfront, was developed by “Project Meganom”; this company also built the first stage that adjoins the ZILART area. The further development of the Marc Chagall Embankment was done by the General Plan Institute of Moscow in collaboration with ASADOV architects. The project was commissioned by Moscow City Architecture Committee.

We will remind you here that still back in 2011 Moscow City Architecture Committee initiated two large-scale projects of municipal importance, one of them being renovation of industrial parks, the other being development of the territories lying along the Moskva River. The reconstruction of the Marc Chagall Embankment refers to both narratives because ZIL is Moscow’s largest industrial park standing on the river. Improving this territory, and, further, taking these river banks to a new level plays an important part in this project.

zooming — The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow / provided by the press service of Moscow City Architecture Committee

As the Moscow City Architecture Committee website reports, in the next five years all the waterfronts in the ZIL area will be reconstructed – from the Novospassky Bridge to the Nagatinskaya Poima. This is almost 15 kilometers of riverbank land. More than half of them – 7.5 kilometers – is the Marc Chagall Embankment. It starts from the Third Transport Ring, and, describing a loop in the Novinka Backwater, which is essentially a fragment of the old riverbed of the Moskva River, finally stops at the Andropova Avenue.

The first stage

The first fragment of the embankment one kilometer long has already been completed. Here, on the fragment of the Likhacheva Avenue up to the Danilovsky Bridge, adjoining ZILART, appeared new jogging and cycling trails, pavilions looking like green hills, playgrounds and sports fields, as well as a moor with an amphitheater made of weathering steel, designed by Meganom.

What comes next is the rest of the riverbank strip of the Moskva River and the rest of the land around the Novinka backwater.

The second stage: a large embankment

Connected to the city

When the automotive plant was still functioning, the access to the water on its grounds was closed. Therefore, the architects saw their main task in returning the river to the city by means of creating an open and transparent space and restoring the lost visual and pedestrian connections. The web of new routes will form a single framework that will connect the riverside park to the construction of the new area and its infrastructure.

The park area is separated from the in-construction city blocks by a wide automobile road. However, thanks to a network of overpasses and underpasses, and the construction of a new road junction, the streets and boulevards of ZILART will literally flow into the park, continuing in pedestrian promenades and park trails. It is expected that the two banks of the old riverbed of the Moskva River will be connected by two pedestrian bridges and one automobile one, which will allow the motorists to drive through without having to circle the backwater area.

Along the contour of the Novinka, the park stretches in a narrow strip.

Vitaliy Luts, head of the agency for perspective projects of the Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow:
“The construction, which also includes service infrastructure projects, comes close to the water in such a way that the landscaped embankment will be best described as not so much a “park” as an “active urban space” that comes in close contact with water. In this respect, we drew inspiration from Hamburg’s Hafencity backwater, as well as the best practices of the North American cities – by Moscow standards, this approach is quite new.”

The routes

Originally, the concept of developing the riverside lands, developed by the team of Yuri Grigoryan, interpreted them as a multilevel compound space consisting of four “layers”, each one with a scenario and a unique name of its own. “Magnets”, the centers of attraction for the visitors: restaurants, cafes, and event venues. “Sport”, cycling and jogging trails. “Recreation”, promenades, gardens, and relaxation areas. “The promenade” – a long pedestrian route running at the water’s edge. The already landscaped fragment of the Marc Chagall Embankment vividly demonstrates how this concept can be implemented.

The project of the second stage is based on a slightly different approach, but the basic underlying idea is the same, and the four layers are also there. Andrey Asadov shared that the new land site will be designed in accordance with the common design code and the principles that constituted the original concept.

Andrey Asadov

We tried to develop the ideas proposed by Yuri Grigoryan, and embellish on them, drawing inspiration from the avant-garde artists. This is how we got the red bridge and sculptural compositions in the spirit of Russian avant-garde.

Many of Marc Chagall paintings are dominated by red and green. It was these paintings that the architects used as the basis for their project: the green riverside strip with gardens and promenades and the red stitch of the jogging trail, together with the red bridge. This is the fixed element of the concept, the central route that runs through the embankment from end to end. Sometimes it goes up, covering the park pavilions, and sometimes it goes down to the ground level, snaking and branching amidst the trees. The bridge will create a feeling of a multilayered space with “active” terrain. Some of its parts are designed as sightseeing platforms that command views of the river, part of the designed embankment, and the opposite bank. The bright color will be created by using special rubber coating.

The sports agenda will be completed by bicycle trails, isolated from the pedestrians by special shrubbery. These will become a part of the city’s overall infrastructure, and a continuation of the bicycle route that stretches along the Moskva River for kilometers. Also, the embankment will get playgrounds, sports facilities, and sports gear rental points.

The promenade designed for long and meditative walks runs immediately alongside the river. Already now one can imagine what the whole thing will look like: a river on one side and trees on the other, giving plenty of shade on a warm day, and comfortable benches commanding river views in their shadows. The best thing, though, is the opportunity to get right down to the water. For this, the architects designed a network of boardwalks made virtually on a level with the water, which blurs the border between the land and the water.

The “recreational” route will be designed as a park alley between landscape composition and sculptural pavilions. The elongated space of the park is divided into a multitude of theme zones – these are playgrounds, expo areas, small shops, and restaurants. All of them, light and neutral, will be integrated with the landscape.

The plaza and the moor

Each “layer”, like a band, is entwined in the park space. The nucleus of the composition, however, is the central plaza with a stage and a restaurant. The architects are planning to build it in the widest place on the bank, where the river makes a bend. The plaza, circular on the plan, is outlined by a large open-air amphitheater facing the water and the moor. The amphitheater is expected to host up to 4 thousand people. During the non-concert time, its visitors, sitting on the stairs, will be able to admire the panorama of the Moskva River and the opposite bank, as well as watching the river boats sailing away from the moor.

The moor will become a part of the nation’s capital infrastructure. It is expected that alongside with the improvement of the embankments the city will also liven up the river as one of its full-fledged transportation thoroughfares. The routes and the schedule of the river craft are currently being developed.

The river

The “river” expansion is not limited to building a moor and pontoons floating alongside the broad promenade. One must note that Asadov Architects has the experience of designing on water. Still in 2009, when the landscaping of the embankments seemed to be no more than a vague prospect, the company took part in the competition for floating structures on the Moskva River. Back then, the architects came up with the project named “Plav-Bulvar” (“Floating Boulevard”). It consisted of a few pontoons, each one of them having a name of its own – plav-club, plav-garage, plav-spa, expo-plav. Ten years later, they proposed something similar for the Marc Chagall Embankment – this time without the floating garage, but with a spa center and water garden.

The backwater is particularly actively developed. It is planned that the spa center will be built on the water next to its left bank. The whole construction with saunas, locker rooms, and swimming pools will be mounted on a large pontoon. The swimming pool will be an open-air one – so that from the bank it would look as though the visitors were swimming in the fenced part of the river. The water in the pool, however, will be kept clean and heated.

One of the particularly interesting proposals in this project is the water garden. It will be organized in the very heart of the old riverbed of the Moskva. And, if everything goes to plan, this will become one of the most beautiful places of the nation’s capital: the bodies of water, flowing into one another, overgrown with water lilies and other decorative water and swamp plants; walking trails streaming between them, and cozy places for recreation and drinking fountains, where you could sit down and admire the beauty of the garden.

We must note that there is already one such implemented project in the Moscow metropolitan area. This is the park of water plants in the Pushkino district, which has been up and running for years, serving as a living proof that breeding water plants in the Moscow region is quite possible.

Memories of Avant-Garde

The whole concept of renovating the embankment refers to avant-garde art, and, first of all, following the name of the embankment, to Marc Chagall paintings. The ZIL area has strong ties with constructivism and avant-garde; today, streets here are named after master artists of this style.

Anna Ivanova, the head of the design studio of the city environment of the Master Plan of Moscow:

“The Marc Chagall images and motifs were used by us when we were developing the brand of the embankment, and when we were developing the single style of designing the objects and minor architectural forms.”

These are a series of sculptural pavilions or art installations that will appear across the entire Terri of the park. It is expected that modern artists will also be invited to take part in creating them, who will propose their own vision of recognizable images of Russian avant-garde, such as the hovering figures from Chagall canvases.

Although small on the inside (from 10 to 50 sqm), yet still heated, the pavilions will be used as multipurpose expo spaces displaying the works by avant-garde masters.

The Park

It is expected that almost half of the former ZIL territory will be made completely green. East of the ZILART apartments, there is already a large landscape park “Tyufeleva Roshcha, designed by Gerry van Eijk. Tyufeleva Roshcha accounts for 10 hectares of parkland. The waterfront will add to it another 33 hectares of landscaped green territory.

On the waterfront, they are already planting trees and shrubs of various heights and shapes, which, alternating, will produce an effect of “waves of green”. The plants for the waterfront park are selected in such a way as to make sure that it stays lush all year round. Therefore, there will be a lot of spruce and evergreen plants. Looking to maximize the impressions from the proximity of different plants, the authors specially select trees whose leaves turn different colors depending on the season.

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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow
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The Marc Chagall Embankment

Copyright: © ASADOV Architects, Institute of the Master Plan of Moscow

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The project of the Marc Chagall Embankment is waiting to be implemented. Currently, the architects are working on the details of the project; the traffic infrastructure is being further developed, as well as the landscape elements. However, the sheer scale and thoroughness of the project already show that the riverside park at the bend is standing every chance of becoming the new center of attraction, possibly capable of rivaling the Zaryadye Park in the heart of the nation’s capital.

16 December 2020

Headlines now

The Paradox of the Temporary

The concept of the Russian pavilion for EXPO 2025 in Osaka, proposed by the Wowhaus architects, is the last of the six projects we gathered from the 2022 competition. It is again worth noting that the results of this competition were not finalized due to the cancellation of Russia’s participation in World Expo 2025. It should be mentioned that Wowhaus created three versions for this competition, but only one is being presented, and it can’t be said that this version is thoroughly developed – rather, it is done in the spirit of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, the project is interesting in its paradoxical nature: the architects emphasized the temporary character of the pavilion, and in its bubble-like forms sought to reflect the paradoxes of space and time.

The Forum of Time

The competition project for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka designed by Aleksey Orlov and Arena Project Institute consists of cones and conical funnels connected into a non-trivial composition, where one can feel the hand of architects who have worked extensively with stadiums and other sports facilities. It’s very interesting to delve into its logic, structurally built on the theme of clocks, hourglasses and even sundials. Additionally, the architects have turned the exhibition pavilion into a series of interconnected amphitheaters, which is also highly relevant for world exhibitions. We are reminding you that the competition results were never announced.

Mirrors Everywhere

The project by Sergey Nebotov, Anastasia Gritskova, and the architectural company “Novoe” was created for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025, but within the framework of another competition, which, as we learned, took place even earlier, in 2021. At that time, the competition theme was “digital twins”, and there was minimal time for work, so the project, according to the architect himself, was more of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, this project is interesting for its plan bordering on similarity with Baroque projects and the emblem of the exhibition, as well as its diverse and comprehensive reflectiveness.

Report

The Steppe Is Full of Beauty and Freedom

The goal of the exhibition “Dikoe Pole” (“Wild Field”) at the State Historical Museum was to move away from the archaeological listing of valuable items and to create an image of the steppe and nomads that was multidirectional and emotional – in other words, artistic. To achieve this goal, it was important to include works of contemporary art. One such work is the scenography of the exhibition space developed by CHART studio.

The Snowstorm Fish

The next project from the unfinished competition for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025, which will be held in Osaka, Japan, is by Dashi Namdakov and Parsec Architects. The pavilion describes itself as an “architectural/sculptural” one, with its shape clearly reminiscent of abstract sculpture of the 1970s. It complements its program with a meditative hall named “Mendeleev’s Dreams”, and offers its visitors to slide from its roof at the end of the tour.

The Mirror of Your Soul

We continue to publish projects from the competition for the design of the Russian Pavilion at EXPO in Osaka 2025. We are reminding you that the results of the competition have not been announced, and hardly will ever be. The pavilion designed by ASADOV Architects combines a forest log cabin, the image of a hyper transition, and sculptures made of glowing threads – it focuses primarily on the scenography of the exhibition, which the pavilion builds sequentially like a string of impressions, dedicating it to the paradoxes of the Russian soul.

Part of the Ideal

In 2025, another World Expo will take place in Osaka, Japan, in which Russia will not participate. However, a competition for the Russian pavilion was indeed held, with six projects participating. The results were never announced as Russia’s participation was canceled; the competition has no winners. Nevertheless, Expo pavilion projects are typically designed for a bold and interesting architectural statement, so we’ve gathered all the six projects and will be publishing articles about them in random order. The first one is the project by Vladimir Plotkin and Reserve Union, which is distinguished by the clarity of its stereometric shape, the boldness of its structure, and the multiplicity of possible interpretations.

Object

The Fortress by the River

ASADOV Architects have developed a concept for a new residential district in the center of Kemerovo. To combat the harsh climate and monotonous everyday life, the architects proposed a block type of development with dominant towers, good insolation, facades detailed at eye level, and event programming.

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In the Rhombus Grid

Construction has begun on the building of the OMK (United Metallurgical Company) Corporate University in Nizhny Novgorod’s town of Vyksa, designed by Ostozhenka Architects. The most interesting aspect of the project is how the architects immersed it in the context: “extracting” a diagonal motif from the planning grid of Vyksa, they aligned the building, the square, and the park to match it. A truly masterful work with urban planning context on several different levels of perception has long since become the signature technique of Ostozhenka.

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Generational Connection

Another modern estate, designed by Roman Leonidov, is located in the Moscow region and brings together three generations of one family under one roof. To fit on a narrow plot without depriving anyone of personal space, the architects opted for a zigzag plan. The main volume in the house structure is accentuated by mezzanines with a reverse-sloped roof and ceilings featuring exposed beams.

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Three Dimensions of the City

We began to delve into the project by Sergey Skuratov, the residential complex “Depo” in Minsk, located at Victory Square, and it fascinated us completely. The project has at least several dimensions to it: historical – at some point, the developer decided to discontinue further collaboration with Sergey Skuratov Architects, but the concept was approved, and its implementation continues, mostly in accordance with the proposed ideas. The spatial and urban planning dimension – the architects both argue with the city and play along with it, deciphering nuances, and finding axes. And, finally, the tactile dimension – the constructed buildings also have their own intriguing features. Thus, this article also has two parts: it dwells on what has been built and what was conceived

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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.

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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.

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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”.

Overview

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”.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

​Walking on Water

Andrey Asadov

Walking on Water