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​Binary Opposition

In this article, we are examining a rather rare and interesting case – two projects by Evgeny Gerasimov situated on one street and completed with a five years’ difference, presenting the perfect example of example for analyzing the overall trends and approaches practiced by the architectural company.

Alyona Kuznetsova

Written by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

22 March 2021
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The Tverskaya Street, which connects the Tavrichesky Garden and the Smolny Garden, was one of the first, with which Evgeny Gerasimov bureau started to work: the pencil sketches for this place appeared still back in 1991, in the year the company was founded. Curiously, at first the architects saw here a building in the style a-la Russ, the dream of which they were able to implement much later. Gradually, however, during the conferences with the client, who owned not just one but two sites on this street, the concept changed. First, in 2004 they built a modernist house on Tverskaya 6, and exactly five years later right across from it appeared its neighbor designed in the style of Northern Art Nouveau. Comparing them reveals some regularities in the work of the company.

The residential house at Tverskaya, 6
Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
Courage to make a statement
 
The two houses on Tverskaya Street present two answers to the question about how you build in a historical center. One way is to look clearly modern and oppose the surrounding context with new forms and materials. The other is to try and learn to speak the language of your predecessors, reconsidering their legacy. Both approaches are known to have their advocates and critics.
 
The Tverskaya Street is a good place for architectural experiments because this area is incredibly rich in architectural styles: within a five-hundred-meter radius, you may find baroque, classicism, eclectics, Northern Art-Nouveau, as well as representatives of Soviet architecture from every decade. Closing two lacunae in this post-perestroika city collage, the architects tried various approaches, pushing the limits of the possible.
 
However, in spite of the fact that the two houses look obviously different, there are things that they do have in common. 

Evgeny Gerasimov, «Evgeniy Gerasimov & partners»

What these two houses have in common is the uncompromising drawing on the chosen subject. They are not at all shy of themselves. The mimicry effect is just not the case here. They declare: I am made this way, if you like me – thank you, but if you do not like me – please go on your way. We can say that these houses are competing for your attention. Like in Dostoevsky’s White Nights, remember?

 
We will remind you, just in case: 
 
“I know the houses too. As I walk along they seem to run forward in the streets to look out at me from every window, and almost to say: “Good morning! How do you do? I am quite well, thank God, and I am to have a new story in May,” or, “How are you? I am being redecorated tomorrow;” or, “I was almost burnt down and had such a fright,” and so on.
 
Meaning, both houses, which is also quite applicable for other projects by this company, with all due respect for their predecessors, look nothing like the overly “tolerant” background construction, do not dissolve in the context, but with a feeling of dignity show their own unique personality.
 
Now we shall examine each one in more detail. 
 
The junction and the merger 
 
The house at Tverskaya 6 is a recognizable monument to its time, but, instead of high-tech – Evgeny Gerasimov categorically refuses to recognize the term “Caprom” because he says its meaning is too vague – this place could have gotten “a corner of Russian antiquity”. The first sketch with “stone-white” walls and romantic turrets was most likely inspired by the vicinity of the Old Believer Church of the Sign of the Mother of Christ. However, as it seems now, an a-la Russ house does not seem to be such a good marketing idea, as the “Russian House” that appeared 15 years later. In addition, the site from the courtyard side borders on the Archive of Historical and Political Documents and the Archive of Film and Photo Documents, and combining late-Soviet architecture with Old Russian motives would have been quite prudent, to say the least. Therefore, the client and the architects opted for brutal forms, glass and metal.

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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 6. A sketch
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 6. A sketch
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners


Before the company came to the land site, it had lain vacant for quite a long time, save for a small wooden house. Nevertheless, the composition of Tverskaya 6 is made in such a way, as if the architects were recreating the structure of the streets and building up some “lost” house above the new volumes. This technique of “building up” traditional architecture with modern forms is quite recognizable, and in the 2000’s when the design and construction of this house were done, was still widely spread.

The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
It may seem that if you remove the glass volumes, you will be left with a house that could well have been designed today: a shopping gallery, six floors, a three-part build, and a fold quite in the spirit of early Art Nouveau and a noble cladding material – an ideal example of those “70/30” about which Sergei Tchoban often speaks. However, strange as it may seem, the impression from the photographs is deceptive – standing on the Tverskaya, you will not see anything accidental or imposed in this house – just the perfect balance of forms, masses, and materials.

The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
Such a merger technique – a merger between a more traditional in its scale and structure part of the building and more modernist shapes – was used by Evgeny Gerasimov a few more times: in the “New Star” on the Pesochnaya Embankment, and in “Le Grand” house at Nevsky Prospect, 152. However, already by the end of the 2000’s this technique exhausted itself and became irrelevant, which you cannot say about historicism.

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    Le Grand housing complex
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    “New Star” housing complex
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners. Photograph: K.Smirnov

 
Multilayered historicism 
 
Tverskaya, 1 is a reconsideration of Northern Art Nouveau, the path of historicism, which is closer to and more understood by the St. Petersburg architects today, yesterday, and, possibly, for generations to come. This trend is something that the company has been exploring and perfecting for decades. 
 
Across from it, there are two Art Nouveau houses at once, the gray one on the corner being the first project by Aleksey Buber, whose works inspired many modern architects, while the terra cotta house was designed by Dmitry Ustrugov. Still another corner house, the closest neighbor of Tverskaya-1, is a combination of eclecticism and, again, Art Nouveau – it is known for the fact that one of the most famous literary and art salons of its time was held in its tower in the apartment of Vyacheslav Ivanov: Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Nikolai Gumilyov visited this place; on summer nights, readings could even be held on the roof. The new house picks up the mood of this part of the street and presents an impregnable romantic facade capable of withstanding any St. Petersburg blizzard.

The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
We gave a detailed discussion of the prototypes and references to the Northern Art Nouveau in this article. We will only repeat that, working in historical styles, Yevgeny Gerasimov does not remain within the framework of one direction, and, like in a good book, one more layer can be found in his facades behind the main storyline. In this case, having looked at the rough “fur coat” of rock-face surface and the trapezium of windows with a fine glazing pattern, we will notice that the tectonic logic is reversed and corresponds more to modernism, while the lines of bay windows gravitate towards constructivism, and the “headdresses” above the windows of the topmost-but-one floor convey something Egyptian to the building’s image.
 
The tactile details
 
Yet another fundamental that the company sticks to, and which is something that the two houses have in common is the expressive and tactile details. Evgeny Gerasimov many times said that he strives to ensure that people want to not only look closer at his buildings, but also touch them. On Tverskaya, the contrast in this regard works for the general benefit: if one house is rough and matte, the second one looks even smoother against its background, more glossy and polished. For Tverskaya, 1, the architects used Ukrainian Pokostovsky granite, which was hewn by hand – the rare case when there are no two identical stones on the modern facade. The contrast of materials and expressive texture, which is emphasized by the sun and evening illumination, in this case are successfully replaced by decorative elements.

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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
A mirror or a frame
 
As was already mentioned, one of the most important “characters” of the Tverskaya Street is the old believers Znamenskaya Church, authored by Dmitry Kryzhanovsky, which was restored during about the same period as the new houses were built. Tverskaya, 6, responds to the church with a large reflective “screen” – a large elliptic curve with recessed balconies.

The residential house at Tverskaya, 6
Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners

 
In subsequent years, the architectural company worked with other areas where the tone was set by the church – like a pearl that needs a frame just as beautiful. So, the house in Kovensky lane politely recedes from the walls of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, thereby forming a piazzetta and opening the western facade of the temple. Reflective surfaces, by the way, are to be seen there as well. In the “Tsarskaya Stolitsa” complex, the Feodorovsky Cathedral also determines the overall layout – its central position is marked by a semicircular square and beams of streets that open up a perspective of the temple from distant vantage points.
 
In the case of Tverskaya, the interaction with the church is more active and assertive, which is primarily due to the specifics of the site: the house is actually a corner one, and the volumes of the church complex are growing in the opposite direction from it.

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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 6
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house in the Kovensky Lane
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house in the Kovensky Lane
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    “Tsarskaya Stolitsa” housing complex. A drone photo
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    “Tsarskaya Stolitsa” housing complex
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners


Other couples

In conclusion, we will note that similar pairs of houses, located close to each other, but representing completely different approaches, were built by the company in other parts of the city as well. The most vivid example is the house in the Kovensky Lane and the “Russian House”; with a little stretch, we can also name the houses on St. Petersburg’s Nevsky 137 and 152. Which, in fact, once again testifies to the company’s versatility, confirming the words by Evgeny Gerasimov himself: “I would die of boredom if somebody told me that I would draw only pilasters my whole life”.
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 1
    Copyright: Photograph © A. Naroditsky / Provided by Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners
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    The residential house at Tverskaya, 6
    Copyright: © Evgeniy Gerasimov & Partners


22 March 2021

Alyona Kuznetsova

Written by:

Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
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.
Reconciliation
The restoration of the Salt Warehouse for the Zvenigorod Museum, on the one hand, was quite accurately implemented according to the design of the People’s Architect, and, on the other hand, it was not without some extra research and adjustments, which, in this case, was quite beneficial for the project. The architects discovered the original paint color, details of the facades, and studied the history of rebuilds of this building. As a result, the imposing character of the empire building, the oldest one in the city, and the differences of later additions were accurately revealed. Most importantly, however, the city got a new cultural and public space, which is already “working” in full swing.
From Moscow to Khabarovsk
This year, the works submitted by the students of the Genplan Institute of Moscow included a proposal for revitalizing Moscow’s “Pravda” complex with its structures designed by Ilia Golosov, landscaping an East Siberian town, located a 12-hour drive away from the nearest big city, and three versions of turning a derelict “pioneer camp” into an educational hub, similar to “Sirius”. Two sites out of three have an interested client, so chances are that the students’ works will be ultimately implemented.