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​Buyan and the Court Quarter

The news about cancellation of the Tuchkov Buyan park has been stirring the minds of people of St. Petersburg for a week already. In the absence of any verified specific information, we discussed the situation with the architects of the park and the Court Quarter: Nikita Yavein and Evgeny Gerasimov.

18 January 2022
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On the first working day of the year, the news came out that the St. Petersburg city council changed their minds about building the Tuchkov Buyan park and decided to pull up the idea of building the “Court Quarter” on Vatny Island. Later on, Smolny specified that the park will still be built, but, judging from the official wording, not in the form that was designed by Studio 44 and West 8, whose joint concept won in the international competition. The commentary on combining both functions was given by Dmitry Peskov, while the vice-governor of St. Petersburg Boris Piotrovsky said that the construction of Boris Eifman Dance Palace was still in progress. The local preservation activists already made a stand against building on the land site where the park was promised. 

We asked the architects to comment on the situation.

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Copyright: Source: park-spb.ru


Evgeny Gerasimov:

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“This construction that has been going on on Dobrolyubova forever is something that everybody is seriously tired of, and I think that finishing it would be great news for St. Petersburg.

A year ago I proposed a compromise. Due to the fact that the design of the Court Quarter was 100% ready, including the interiors, it would make sense to continue the construction of the department and “relocate” the building of the Supreme Court to the spot of the former housing project, finding accommodation for the judges at another site – for example, the nearby Petrovsky Island, thus vacating the area for the park. This makes perfect sense from the town-planning standpoint: we make sure that the Boris Eifman theater does not look like a splinter, and the three neoclassical buildings stand up in a row forming the front of Speranskogo Street, without getting in the park’s way – by analogy with the Russian Museum or the Tavrichesky Palace.

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    Evgeny Gerasimov′s new proposal for Tuchkov Buyan: reduction combined with preservation of the Court Quarter on Vatny Island
    Copyright: © Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners
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    The draft of the Judicial Quarter, relevant for the spring of 2019
    Copyright: © Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners
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    The project of the Judicial Quarter, as of spring 2019
    Copyright: © Evgeny Gerasimov & Partners
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    Scheme: the possibility of “huddling together” the buildings of the Court Quarter and vacating space for the park
    Copyright: © Evgeny Gerasimov and Partners


The area of the entire site is 9.9 hectares, including the theater. Without the theater, it is 8.7 hectares, half of which is occupied by already-complete underground floors. My proposal was that we leave 6 hectares to the park, and 2.7 hectares to the Supreme Court and the Department. This will save a whole lot of people’s money and will spare us the necessity to look for a new land site. Instead of killing an already existing real park with high-rise trees – the Neva Garden (to which the former chief architect of St. Petersburg Vladimir Grigoriev proposed to transfer the court buildings) – and building a new park on building foundations that are already there, we could save billions of rubles, lots of land, and years of hard work.

Whether or not the buildings or the Court Quarter will be constructed in accordance with our proposal is a question that should not be addressed to me – but I hope that they will. We will redesign them quickly, all the more so because the construction blueprints of the residential quarter and the Supreme Court are virtually identical.”

Nikita Yavein, Studio 44:

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“For the whole year after the competition for the Tuchkov Buyan park was over, Evgeny Gerasimov went out of his way to prove to everyone that, save for this site, the court buildings will not fit anywhere else. No other land site but this one, no alternative. He did a lot of work, and, as we can see, he did succeed, which makes perfect sense: court buildings are a priority.

It’s too bad that the project that won in the competition will not be implemented. This would be a very architectural and spatial project – multilevel, with bridges, end-to-end views, and multiple scenarios of usage and perception.

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    The master plan and the explication. The competition proposal of the romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan” in Saint Petersburg
    Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8
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    Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”. The green amphitheater, the central lawn
    Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8
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    Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”. Construction and engineering solutions
    Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8
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    Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”. The lighting
    Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8


And now the situation looks like this: the construction front along the Malaya Neva is formed by some sort of a “Turkish Empire Style”, looking like the most expensive hotel in Antalya – with full-fledged stone facades and sculptures. The difference is that in Turkey it is all done with a slightly ironic flavor, and here we are building such things like we really mean it! And in the main panorama of St. Petersburg this will stand on the right of Thomas de Thomon…

As far as I can see, the city people are shocked. They feel insulted, they feel deceived, and they collect signatures under petitions. This will hardly improve things in any way. But the aftertaste will remain in any event.”

Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”
Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8
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The Tuchkov Buyan park is not at all the first project that did not come to fruition on Vatny Island. As early as in 1945, Nikolai Baranov proposed to make in this part of the Petrograd Side a large continuous green zone, but by 1960 the site was occupied by the buildings of the State Institute of Applied Chemistry.

The next phase was the competition named “Naberezhnaya Evropy” (“Waterfront of Europe”) for the residential construction held in 2009, which was won by the consortium of Evgeny Gerasimov and nps tchoban voss with an idea of city blocks designed by different European architects. This project already included the Boris Eifman Dance Palace, but there was a separate competition held for it.



After the Chemistry Institute was removed from the site, and the “project” stage was developed, the decision to make the Supreme Court complex ensued. The new 2013 competition was won by Maxim Atayants, Maxim Atayants but in the end, the Presidential Administration, which still manages the site, outsourced the design to Evgeny Gerasimov Studio.



They already started to build the Court Quarter but in 2019 the situation changed again: as is known, the future governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov proposed to build a park, and the president of Russia Vladimir Putin supported this idea. The large-scale international competition was won by the concept proposed by Studio 44 and West 8, but already in May 2021 Nikita Yavein shared that the park project was frozen. 



The detailed chronicle of decisions made on Vatny Island is published in the Sobaka Magazine. On Arch.ru, you can get acquainted with the concept of the park, recall the experts’ opinions on the possibility of creating something like St. Petersburg’s Zaryadye, and read an interview with Evgeny Gerasimov about how competitions and designers came and went.


18 January 2022

Headlines now
The Colorful City
While working on a large-scale project in Moscow’s Kuntsevo district – one that has yet to be given a name – Kleinewelt Architekten proposed not only a diverse array of tower silhouettes in “Empire-style” hues and a thoughtful mix of building heights, creating a six-story “neo-urbanist” city with a block-based layout at ground level, but also rooted their design in historical and contextual reasoning. The project includes the reconstruction of several Stalin-era residential buildings that remain from the postwar town of Kuntsevo, as well as the reconstruction of a 1953 railway station that was demolished in 2017.
In Orbit of Moscow City
The Orbital business center is both simple and complex. Simple in its minimalist form and optimal office layout solution: a central core, a light-filled façade, plenty of glass; and from the unusual side – a technical floor cleverly placed at the building’s side ends. Complex – well, if only because it resembles a celestial body hovering on metallic legs near Magistralnaya Street. Why this specific shape, what it consists of, and what makes this “boutique” office building (purchased immediately after its completion) so unique – all of this and more is covered in our story.
The Altai Ornament
The architectural company Empate has developed the concept for an eco-settlement located on a remote site in Altai. The master plan, which resembles a traditional ornament or even a utopian city, forms a clear system of public and private spaces. The architects also designed six types of houses for the settlement, drawing inspiration from the region’s culture, folklore, and vernacular building practices.
Pro Forma
Photos have emerged of the newly completed whisky distillery in Chernyakhovsk, designed by TOTEMENT / PAPER – a continuation of their earlier work on the nearby Cognac Museum. From what is, in essence, a merely technical and utilitarian volume and space, the architects have created a fully-fledged theatre of impressions. Let’s take a closer look. We highly recommend a visit to what may look like a factory, but is in fact an experiment in theatricalizing the process of strong spirit production – and not only that, but also of “pure art”, capable of evolving anywhere.
The Arch and the Triangle
The new Stone Mnevniki business center by Kleinewelt Architekten – designed for the same client as their projects in Khodynka – bears certain similarities to those earlier developments, but not entirely. In Mnevniki, there are more angular elements, and the architects themselves describe the project as being built on contrast. Indeed, while the first phase contains subtle references to classical architecture – light touches like arches, both upright and inverted, evoking the spirit of the 1980s – the second phase draws more distantly on the modernism of the 1970s. What unites them is a boldly expressive public space design, a kaleidoscope of rays and triangles.
Health Factory
While working on a wellness and tourist complex on the banks of the Yenisei River, the architects at Vissarionov Studio set out to create healing spaces that would amplify the benefits of nature and medical treatments for both body and soul. The spatial solutions are designed to encourage interaction between the guests and the landscape, as well as each other.
The Blooming Mechanics of a Glass Forest
The Savvinskaya 27 apartment complex built by Level Group, currently nearing completion on an elongated riverfront site next to the Novodevichy Convent, boasts a form that’s daring even by modern Moscow standards. Visually, it resembles the collaborative creation of a glassblower and a sculptor: a kind of glass-and-concrete jungle, rhythmically structured yet growing energetically and vividly. Bringing such an idea to life was by no means an easy task. In this article, we discuss the concept by ODA and the methods used by APEX architects to implement it, along with a look at the building’s main units and detailing.
Grace and Unity
Villa “Grace”, designed by Roman Leonidov’s studio and built in the Moscow suburbs, strikes a balance between elegant minimalism and the expansive gestures of the Russian soul. The main house is conceived as a sequence of four self-contained volumes – each could exist independently, yet it chooses to be part of a whole. Unity is achieved through color and a system of shared spaces, while the rich plasticity of the forms – refined throughout the construction process – compensates for the near-total absence of decorative elements.
Daring Brilliance
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A Twist of the Core
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The Sculpting of Spring Forest Matter
We’ve been observing this building for a couple of years now: seemingly simple, perhaps even unassuming, it fits in remarkably well with the micro-district context shaped by the Moscow MCD road junctions. This building sticks in the memory of everyone who drives along the highway, even occasionally. In our opinion, Sergey Nikeshkin, by blending popular architectural techniques and approaches of the 2010s, managed to turn a seemingly simple structure into a statement “on the theme of a house as such”. Let’s figure out how this happened.
Water and Wind Whet the Stone
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Elevation 5642
The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a comprehensive development project for three ski resorts in the Caucasus, which have been designated as special economic zones of the tourism and recreation type. The first of these zones is Elbrus. The project includes the construction of new ski runs, cable cars, and hotels, as well as the modernization of stations and improvements to the Azau tourist meadow. To expand the audience and enhance year-round appeal, a network of eco-trails is also being developed. In this article, we provide a detailed breakdown of each stage.
The IT Town
Taking the example of the first completed phase of the “U” district, we examine how the new neighborhood in Innopolis will be organized. T+T Architects and HADAA formed a well-balanced and ingenious master plan with different types of housing, a green artery, a system of squares, and a park in the town’s central part.
The Heart Lies Within
The second-phase building of the Evgeny Primakov School already won multiple awards while still in the design stage. Now that it’s completed, some unfinished nuances remain – most notably, the exposed ceiling structures, which ideally should have been concealed. However, given the priority placed on the building’s volumetric composition, this does not seem critical. What matters more is the “Wow!” effect created by the space itself.
Magnetic Forces
“Krylatskaya 33” is the first large-scale residential complex to appear amidst the 1980s “micro-districts” that harmoniously coexist with the forests, the river, the slopes, and the sports infrastructure. Despite its imposing scale, the architects of Ostozhenka managed to turn the complex into something that can be best described as a “graceful dominant”. First, they designed the complex with consideration for the style and height of the surrounding micro-districts. Second, by introducing a pause in its tallest section, they created compositional tension – right along the urban planning axis of the area.
Orion’s Belt
The Stone Khodynka 2 office complex, designed by Kleinewelt Architekten for the company Stone, is built with an ergonomic layout following “healthy building” principles: natural light, ventilation, and all the necessary features for an efficient office environment. On the outside, it resembles – like many contemporary buildings – an iPhone: sleek, glowing, glass-and-metal, edges elegantly rounded. Yet, it responds sensitively to the Khodynka context, where the main theme is the contrast between vertical and horizontal lines. The key intrigue lies in the design of the “stylobate” as a suspended passage, leaving the space beneath it open for free pedestrian movement.
Grigory Revzin: “It Was a Bold Statement Made on the Sly. Something Won”
In this article, we discuss the debates surrounding the circus competition and the demolition of the CMEA building with the most renowned architectural critic of our time. A paradox emerges in the process: while nostalgia for the Brezhnev era seems to be in vogue in Russia, a landmark building – the “axis” of the Warsaw Pact – has been sentenced to demolition. Isn’t that strange? We also find out that wow-architecture has made a comeback as a post-COVID trend. However, to make a truly powerful statement, professionals still remain indispensable.
Exposed Concrete
One of the stages of improving a small square in the town of Lermontov was the construction of a skatepark. Entrusting this part of the project to the XSA team, the city gained a 250-meter trick track whose features resemble those of land art objects – unparalleled in Russia in both scale and design. Here’s a look at how the experimental snake run in the foothills of the Caucasus was built.
One Step Closer To the Dream
The challenges of getting all the mandatory approvals, an insufficient budget, and construction site difficulties did not prevent ASADOV Bureau from achieving its main goal in the realization of the school project in the town of Troitsk – taking another step away from outdated notions of educational spaces toward creating a fundamentally new academic environment.
Chalet on the Rock
An Accor hotel in Arkhyz, designed by A.Len, will be situated at the gateway to the resort’s main tourist hubs. The architects reinterpreted the widely popular chalet style while adding an unexpected twist – an unfinished structure preserved on the site. The design team transformed this remnant into an exciting space featuring an open-air pool and a restaurant with panoramic views of the region’s highest mountain ridges.
Sergey Skuratov: “By and large, the project has been realized in line with the original ideas”
In this issue, we talk to the chief architect of Garden Quarters, looking back at the history and key moments of a project that took 18 years to develop and has now finally been completed. What interests us most are the transformations that the project underwent during construction, and the way the “necessary void” of public space was formed, which turned this remarkable complex into a fragment of a whole new type of urban fabric – not just at the horizontal “street” level but in its vertical structure as well.
A Unique Representative
The recently concluded year 2024 can be considered the year of completion for the “Garden Quarters” residential complex in Moscow’s Khamovniki. This project is well-known and, in many ways, iconic. Rarely does one manage to preserve such a number of original ideas, achieving in the end a kind of urban planning Gesamtkunstwerk. Here is a subjective view from an architecture journalist, with an interview with Sergey Skuratov soon to follow.
Field of Life
The new project by the architectural company PNKB (an acronym for “Design, Research, and Advisory Bureau”), led by Sergey Gnedovsky and Anton Lyubimkin, for the Kulikovo Field Museum is dedicated to the field as a concept in its own right. The field has long been a focus of the museum’s thorough and successful research. Accordingly, the exterior of the new museum building is gentler than that of its predecessor, which was also designed by PNKB and dedicated specifically to the historic battle. Inside, however, the building confidently guides the visitor from a luminous atrium along a spiral path to the field – interpreted here as a field of life.
A Paper Clip above the River
In this article, we talk with Vitaly Lutz from the Genplan Institute of Moscow about the design and unique features of the pedestrian bridge that now links the two banks of the Yauza River in the new cluster of Bauman Moscow State Technical University (MSTU). The bridge’s form and functionality – particularly the inclusion of an amphitheater suspended over the river – were conceived during the planning phase of the territory’s development. Typically, this approach is not standard practice, but the architects advocate for it, referring to this intermediate project phase as the “pre-AGR” stage (AGR stands for Architectural and Urban Planning Approval). Such a practice, they argue, helps define key parameters of future projects and bridge the gap between urban planning and architectural design.
Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making
Do architects design houses for themselves? You bet! In this article, we are examining a new book by TATLIN publishing house. This book – unprecedented for Russia – features 52 private homes designed and built by contemporary architects for themselves. It includes houses that are famous, even iconic, as well as lesser-known ones; large and small, stylish and eccentric. To some extent, the book reflects the history of Russian architecture over the past 30 years.
A City Block Isoline
Another competition project for a residential complex on the banks of the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod has been prepared by Studio 44. A team of architects led by Ivan Kozhin concluded that using a regular block layout in such a location would be inappropriate and developed a “custom design” approach: a chain of parceled multi-section buildings stretching along the entire embankment. Let’s explore the features and advantages of this unconventional method.
Competition: The Price of Creativity?
Any day now, we’re expecting the results of a competition held by the “Samolet” development group for a plot in Kommunarka. In the meantime, we share the impressions of Editor-in-Chief Julia Tarabarina, who managed to conduct a public talk. Though technically focused on the interaction between developers and architects, the public talk turned into a discussion about the pros and cons of architectural competitions.
Terraced Design
The “River Park” residential complex has confidently and securely shaped the Nagatinsky Backwater shoreline. Featuring a public embankment, elevated courtyards connected by pedestrian bridges, and brick façades, the development invites exploration of its nuanced response to the surrounding context, as well as hints of the architects’ megalithic design thinking.
A Kremlin’s Core and Meteorite Fragments
We continue our coverage of the competition projects for the residential district that the development company GloraX plans to build along the embankment of the Rowing Channel in Nizhny Novgorod. ASADOV Architects approached the concept through a deep dive into local identity, using storytelling to pinpoint a central idea for the design: the master plan and composition are imagined as if a meteorite had struck a “proto-Kremlin”. Sounds weird? Find more details below!