По-русски

Evgeny Novosadyuk: “Without triggers that will make you overcome something, you may never make it to the next level”

We talked to Evgeny Novosadyuk to find out how to go from an art school graduate to a partner of Studio 44. Spoiler: you will have to work a lot, miss sleep, and be in love with your city.

Alyona Kuznetsova

Interviewed by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

07 September 2022
Interview
mainImg
Archi.ru: Evgeny, how old are you?

Evgeny Novosadyuk: I am 34.

Can you please share about the time before Studio 44? Where did you study, where did you work, who were your teachers?

At some point, my parents asked me what I was going to be. I wanted to be neither a lawyer like my dad nor a veterinarian like my mom. One of the options was going to the Lyceum of the Academy of Fine Arts, and they had an architectural class there. And, after a certain hiatus, I did enter the Lyceum – back in junior high school, I did a lot of drawing, but later on I was more into sports, and I even got to the candidate for the master of sports in fencing.

At the same time, architecture was never far away: I really enjoyed walking downtown or visiting a museum. In addition, my uncle was an architect, but I only fully realized that after I entered the Lyceum. My subliminal passion for the city environment turned into a desire to take part in its creation.

Even now, having visited many architectural capitals of the world, a come back home from a business trip or a vacation, from Paris or from Rome, and I come to the five-corner building, see the embankments, and the avenues and think again and again – what a beautiful city we got!

Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”
Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8


What was your way from studying at the Academy of Fine Arts to landing a contract with Studio 44?

In the Academy, the students are immersed in an environment consisting of sturdy professionals, who define the mood and the trends of the architecture of St. Petersburg.

During the first year, the students are exposed to the basics of the profession, they study architectural graphics, wash drawing, and basic architectural elements. This is a classical school, and it’s great that it is preserved. By your second year, you need to choose a studio where you will study further, and you already know, with which of the professors you want to work, and with whom you expect the most interesting and the best results. By the end of your second year, you are quite at home with the material, and you communicate with older guys – this is a time-honored tradition in the Academy: since personal communication still matters a lot, the younger students are attached to doing purely technical tasks, and during the process of helping older guys they start thinking differently – a mutually beneficial experience.

I was able to continue my education in Vladimir Popov studio that had some of the best consultants in the Academy, and they are still in the public eye now: Yuri Zemtsov, Anatoly Stolyarchuk, Sergey Padalko, and, of course, Nikita Yavein. To get shortlisted for the studio, you need to have not so much good grades as interesting projects – if the professor sees your potential in them, you stand a better chance.

I started working for the studio at the end of my fourth year. A girl called me, whom I had helped a little with her diploma work in the Academy, and she said that technical help was needed in the project of an Almazov housing complex. Back then, I was interested in all kinds of things (well, so I am now, in fact) – and I agreed. But that was a bit of a challenge because, you know, a novice always has a hard time doing routine work. All these calculations – now they are made automatically, using special software, and back then it was done manually, and it was a nightmare. But you had to go through it – it was a valuable experience too.

Treatment and rehabilitation facility "Federal Center for Heart, Blood, and Endocrinology Research named after Vladimir Almazov". Construction, 2015 © Studio 44
Copyright: © Studio 44


There was also a time when I was periodically invited to help with competition projects – and I remember happy sleepless nights when we were preparing applications for the Astana railway station contest, and the Kazakhstan History Museum. These were significant milestones, after which the older guys in the Academy started to look differently upon you.

Architectural concept of the Museum of History of Kazakhstan
Copyright: © Studio 44


Astana Railway Station
Copyright: © Studio 44


How did your career with the company develop? When and how did you become a partner?

Well, it was a sine wave. If you’re talking years, this is one figure – I became a partner in ten years, although in total I have worked for them for 12 years. If you’re talking about projects, this is a different figure and different scales, ranging from “paper” competition projects to actual working documentation. Perhaps, this is what I owe my success to – because I was able to accumulate the experience at different project stages.

A very important milestone for me was the project of Tuchkov Buyan, where I was the head of the group from the Russian side. It was then that my attitude towards what I was doing changed because I realized that the result directly depended on how much effort I invest in the project, and how I can organize myself and the guys from the group, and channel our energy to ultimately deliver a high-quality product no matter the circumstances. There was a challenge of mental character there as well: for a week and a half, we worked at the West 8 office – that was quite a shakeup, because we had to leave our comfort zone and work in someone else’s office with totally different design principles. And it was also important not to get lost in it, and stand our own ground. We ultimately won, surpassing Bjarke Ingels and Herzog & de Meuron – which is quite a result by any standards. The very situation made us grow up quickly. Without triggers that will make you overcome something, you may never make it to the next level.

Romantic park “Tuchkov Buyan”
Copyright: © Studio 44, West 8


Also, our leader, Nikita Yavein, organizes work in such a way that you now and then have no other choice than to grow professionally. And he provides opportunities for that by posing unconventional tasks that at some point give you full carte blanche. You think you’re not ready yet, but the task has already been set. If you cope with it, this means that you justified his trust, and if you don’t… frankly, I cannot remember such an occasion.

Why do you think Nikita Yavein took you on as a partner?

Probably, one of the big factors was that, despite the complexity of the tasks he would set for me, I never said “no, I think I’m pass” – rather, it was a “do or die” thing. Each next challenge makes you psychologically stronger, and you no longer have that inner tremor, or fear of doing something new, challenging, and complex. What is important, however, is not to think of yourself as a seasoned pro and loosen control – because there is an urban myth of high-altitude construction workers who tend to fall to their death from third or fourth floors – simply because they know how to handle much greater heights.

What changed after you received the partner statues, besides the volume of work? Does it make you feel different?

The partner status is not some kind of honorable medal, really. Rather, it is an advance, and a bar that you need to set higher and higher. And this adds to your responsibility for the end result. Besides, in addition to the professional tasks, you also start performing representative functions, such as interviews, lectures, and conferences.

What is your vision of the further development of your career? What would you want to be doing in 5/10/20 years from now? Do you have plans to start, perhaps, your own company?

I don’t look that far. I am totally engrossed in our current projects – they are exciting for me, and we have a great team. And I have quite enough of independence within the framework of Studio 44. And I see that I still have a lot to say at this stage, there is still room for the next step, and for further development – this is what matters the most to me.

What projects can you specifically mention since you became a partner?

The Tuchkov Buyan project proved that Studio 44 does have potential for working with landscape. After that, there were two park projects – a linear one in the “Galaktika” housing project, and a contest project in Murmansk. Park projects now lie within the area of our interests. Another interesting project for us was the Rosatom one – the National Center for Physics and Mathematics in the city of Sarov. Currently, we are doing a mountain resort not far away from Sochi.

Studio 44 intensively promotes and develops BIM-design, and creates its own software. This allows us to work on projects with complex terrain and non–standard source data – we can simulate the situation and adequately calculate costs.

Competitive concept of the development of the territory of the Victory Park in Murmansk
Copyright: © Studio 44


zooming
National Center for Physics and Mathematics
Copyright: © Studio 44


Are there projects that you do outside your main area of work? 

When I first came to work for Studio 44, George Snezhkin was still working here. Once we decided to go to an architectural festival, not even really knowing each other – George Snezhkin, Andrey Voronov, Kesha Padalko, and Sasha Berzing. We all hopped in Kesha’s car and went to that festival in Latvia, where we did a project of a floating stage, and where we ultimately won. At the award ceremony, they jokingly called us “Lesosplav” (“Timber Rafting”) – the name stuck and existed for about 3 or 4 years. Back then, there were a lot of festivals, and we did various competition projects, one of them being a temple made from hay, like a giant haystack, for which we received the “Echo Leonidova” award, and another one, which was a “Rocket Hostel”. The studio was OK with letting us go on such creative “escapades”, and they gave me an outlet beyond routine work. I would wish such an auto-training to everyone.

zooming
THE TEMPLE IN ANTAH. Tula region, Zaoksky district, “ArchFarm”. XIII architectural festival “Cities”
Copyright: © Lesosplav team. Architects: Andrey Voronov, Alexander Berzing, Zhenya Novosadyuk, Georgy Snezhkin, Innokenty Padalko, Dmitry Bogachev


“Rocket” Hostel
Copyright: © Lesosplav team


Today, despite my being insanely busy, I sometimes do find time to independently participate in a competition. More often than not I have to refrain from it, but sometimes I just can’t walk past. For example, when the “Resurs Periferii” (“Periphery Resources”) competition attracted me with an opportunity to make a positive difference to the sleeping-belt areas, and propose a model that could be duplicated by other cities. Taking part in such serious events is all about team work – you don’t do large competitions single-handed, you need a team of like-minded people.

“Peripheral Resource” competition. First place
Copyright: © Evgeny Novosadyuk (leader). Evgeny Zaitsev, Anna Kuznetsova. Image provided by KGA


“Peripheral Resource” competition. First place
Copyright: © Evgeny Novosadyuk (leader). Evgeny Zaitsev, Anna Kuznetsova. Image provided by KGA


There are less obliging stories as well. For example, there was a “brick” competition conducted by the “Project Baltia” magazine, which gave me an opportunity to speak my mind about the trucks with decorations that I see every time walking down Rubinstein Street.

The “brick” competition of the “Project Baltia” magazine
Copyright: © Evgeny Novosadyuk, Anna Kuznetsova


I also teach in the Academy of Fine Arts, and consult in Nikita Yavein’s studio. Finding myself in the Academy was a very exciting experience for me. 

Still recently, you were a student, and now you are a respected teacher, as if it wasn’t you running around red-eyed with your papers a while back. For now, in the studio I play the part of an interpreter or an adaptor. Nikita Yavein reads his course with unbelievable enthusiasm, but sometimes he speaks from the height of his experience in a language that is rather profession-specific, and hard to understand for the novices. If I see that the students do not understand this or that specific term, I pull them aside and explain it. They will feel more comfortable asking naive questions to me than to the big man. And my help delivers results because the guys grow from project to project – a great moment for the teacher that proves that my work was not in vain. 

What are your interests outside of architecture?

My dad shared with me that he did a lot of mountaineering and yachting. And I wondered where he found the time. And now I like snowboarding, and I have a yacht driving license. My son and daughter are almost grown-ups now, they clearly formulate their thoughts, and I have fun being around them. I usually spend my free time with a book – it’s either specialized literature or classics. I try to stop the lacunae in my education, but, like they say, the more you know the more you realize that you don’t know anything”.

07 September 2022

Alyona Kuznetsova

Interviewed by:

Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov
Headlines now
The Chinese Symphony
The construction of the Chinese center “Huaming Park” has been a long story that came to fruition relatively recently. The building is adjacent to a traditional Chinese garden, but it is very modern, laconic and technological, and the simple-in-form, yet spectacular, white lamellae promise to someday be incorporated as a media facade. This complex is also truly multifunctional: it contains different types of living spaces, offices, a large fitness center, conference halls and restaurants – all wrapped in one volume. You can comfortably hold international forums in it, having everything you may possibly need at your fingertips, and going outside only to take a walk. In this article, we are examining this complex in detail.
Ensemble of Individualities
Construction of the first phase of the INDY Towers multifunctional complex on Kuusinen Street, designed by Ostozhenka, has started. The project opens new angles of similarity between the column and the skyscraper, and we examine the nuances and parallels.
Black and Red
Kazakov Grand Loft received its name for a reason: responding to the client’s brief and proceeding from the historical industrial architecture of its immediate surroundings, Valery Kanyashin and Ostozhenka architects proposed a new version of a modern house designed in the fashionable “loft” style. What makes this building different is the fact that the bricks here are dark gray, and the facades of the romantic “fortress” towers blossom with magnificent glazing of the windows in the upper part. The main highlight of the complex, however, is the multiple open air terraces situated on different levels.
Icy Hospitality
Mezonproject has won the national architectural and town planning competition for designing a hotel and a water recreation center in the city of Irkutsk. The architects chose hummocks of Baikal ice as a visual image.
The Mastery of Counterpoint
In the sculpture of Classical Greece, counterpoint was first invented: the ability to position the human body as if it were about to take a step, imbuing it with a hint of the energy of future movement, and with hidden dynamics. For architecture, especially in the 20th century and now, this is also one of the main techniques, and the ATRIUM architects implement it diligently, consistently – and always slightly differently. The new residential complex “Richard” is a good example of such exploration, based on the understanding of contrasts in the urban environment, which was fused into the semblance of a living being.
Countryside Avant-Garde
The project of the museum of Aleksey Gastev, the ideologist of scientific organization of work, located in his hometown of Suzdal, is inscribed in multiple contexts: the contest of a small town, the context of avant-garde design, the context of “lean production”, and the context of the creative quest of Nikolai Lyzlov’s minimalist architecture – and it seems to us that this project even reveals a distant memory of the fact that Aleksey Gastev learned his craft in France.
On the Hills
In the project by Studio 44, the “distributed” IT campus of Nizhny Novgorod is based on well-balanced contracts. Sometimes it is hovering, sometimes undulating, sometimes towering over a rock. For every task, the architects found appropriate form and logic: the hotels are based on a square module, the academic buildings are based on a “flying” one, and so on. Modernist prototypes, specifically, Convent Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, stand next to references to the antique Forum and the tower of a medieval university – as well as next to contextual allusions that help inscribe the buildings of the future campus into the landscape of the city hills with their dominants, high slopes, breathtaking river views, the historical city center, and the Nizhny Novgorod University.
The Magic Carpet
The anniversary exhibition of Totan Kuzembaev’s drawings named “Event Horizons” shows both very old drawings made by the architect in the formative 1980’s, and now extracted from the Museum of Architecture, as well as quite a few pictures from the “Weightlessness” series that Totan Kuzembaev drew specifically for this exhibition in 2023. It seemed to us that the architect represented reality from the point of view of someone levitating in space, and sometimes even upside down, like a magic carpet with multiple layers.
​A Copper Step
Block 5, designed by ASADOV architects as part of the “Ostrov” (“Island”) housing complex, is at the same time grand-scale, conspicuous thanks to its central location – and contextual. It does not “outshout” the solutions used in the neighboring buildings, but rather gives a very balanced implementation of the design code: combining brick and metal in light and dark shades and large copper surfaces, orthogonal geometry on the outside and flexible lines in the courtyard.
The Light for the Island
For the first time around, we are examining a lighting project designed for a housing complex; but then again, the authors of the nighttime lighting of the Ostrov housing complex, UNK lighting, proudly admit that this project is not just the largest in their portfolio, but also the largest in this country. They describe their approach as a European one, its chief principles being smoothness of transitions, comfort to the eye, and the concentration of most of the light at the “bottom” level – meaning, it “works” first of all for pedestrians.
Spots of Light
A new housing complex in Tyumen designed by Aukett Swanke is a very eye-pleasing example of mid-rise construction: using simple means of architectural expression, such as stucco, pitched roofs, and height changes, the architects achieve a “human-friendly” environment, which becomes a significant addition to the nearby park and forest.
Ledges and Swirls
The housing complex “Novaya Zarya” (“New Dawn”) designed by ASADOV Architects will become one of the examples of integrated land development in Vladivostok. The residential area will be characterized by various typologies of its housing sections, and a multitude of functions – in addition to the social infrastructure, the complex will include pedestrian promenades, shopping malls, office buildings, and recreational facilities. The complex is “inscribed” in a relief with a whopping 40-meter height difference, and overlooks the Amur Bay.
Agglomeration on an Island
Recently, an approval came for the master plan of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk agglomeration, which was developed by a consortium headed by the Genplan Institute of Moscow. The document provides for the creation of 12 clusters, the totality of which will give the region a qualitative leap in development and make the island more self-sufficient, more accessible, and less dependent on the mainland. We are inviting you to examine the details.
Ivan Grekov: “A client that wants to make a building that is “about architecture” is...
In this article, we are talking to Ivan Grekov, the leader of the architectural company KAMEN (translates as “stone”), the author of many high-profile projects that have been built in Moscow in the recent years, about the history of his company, about different approaches to form making, about different meanings of volume and facade, and about “layers” in working with the environment – at the example of two projects by Osnova Group. These are the MIRAPOLIS complex on the Mira Avenue in Rostokino, whose construction began at the end of last year, and the multifunctional complex in the 2nd Silikatny Proezd on the Zvenigorodsky Highway; recently, it received all the required approvals.
Grasping and Formulating
The special project “Tezisy” (“Abstracts”), showcased at Arch Moscow exhibition in Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor, brought together eight young “rock stars of architecture”, the headliner being Vladislav Kirpichev, founder of the EDAS school. In this article, we share our impressions of the installations and the perspectives of the new generation of architects.
The White Tulip
Currently, there are two relevant projects for the Great Cathedral Mosque in Kazan, which was transferred to a land site in Admiralteiskaya Sloboda in February. One of them, designed by TsLP, was recently showcased at Arch Moscow. In this article, we are covering another project, which was proposed during the same period for the same land site. Its author is Aleksey Ginzburg, the winner of the 2022 competition, but now the project is completely different. Today, it is a sculptural “flower” dome symbolizing a white tulip.
ATRIUM’s Metaverse
The architectural company ATRIUM opened a gallery of its own in a metaverse. Inside, one can examine the company’s approach and main achievements, as well as get some emotional experience. The gallery is already hosting cyberspace business meetings and corporate events.
​From Darkness to Light
Responding to a lengthy list of limitations and a lengthy – by the standards of a small building – list of functions, Vladimir Plotkin turned the project of the Novodevichy Monastery into a light, yet dynamic statement of modern interpretation of historical context, or, perhaps, even interpretation of light and darkness.
Modernism in Avant-Garde
The contest proposal that Studio 44 made for the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater is bright in all senses, and in many ways even provocative – just like a modern theater performance should be. Being in context with modern culture, it even shocks you in some respects. At first, you are amazed at the red color that is present all around, and then you gradually make sense of the picturesque congregation of volumes that share a multitude of functions. And it’s only later that you realize that this conglomerate conceals a modernist building, most of which the architects save intact.
The Black Mountain
The project of reconstructing the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet theater developed by Wowhaus, which won the competition, proposed a total demolition and new construction, as well as considerable expansion (up to 8 floors) – and transformable multifunctional spaces. The new project, however, does retain the recognizable elements and the image of the old theater. As for the main spectator hall, it is turned – figuratively speaking, of course – into a semblance of a black volcano.
Garage-Garage
Recently, Moscow saw the presentation of a project by Yuri Grigoryan, devoted to turning the truck garage on Novoryazanskaya Street, designed by Konstantin Melnikov, into the Museum of Moscow Transport. The project involves restoring the monument of architecture, adding a new underground floor and a new entrance, as well as a whole park. The implementation is already underway.
Houses by the Lakeside
Approvals came for the project of a housing complex that DNK ag designed in Kazan. The complex is low-rise; its sections are designed as separate volumes united by a common podium. Everything is very much like DNK: delicate and sometimes even lyrical, especially where the yard meets the lakeshore.
Exemplary Adaptation
In Novosibirsk, the construction of a school has been completed, whose project is standing every chance to set a new standard for the nation’s educational institutions. SVESMI Architects and Brusnika company started by developing the brief that would answer the modern teaching practices, and then they proposed the optimum plan, versatile classrooms, and reserved, yet expressive, image in the spirit of this Amsterdam alliance.
Terra Incognita
An 800-room hotel complex, designed by Ginzburg Architects, offers the seaside city of Anapa a fragment of well-organized urban environment that keeps up the cultural spirit of the place. The architects break away from traditional white facades, turning to the antique and even archaic periods of the history of this land, and drawing inspiration in the color of red clay and simple, yet lightweight, shapes.
In Plumage Colors
Working on the facades of a mid-rise residential area in Odintsovsky district, GENPRO architects “adjusted” a number of features of the volumetric composition, which they received without the right to make any changes to, by purely “decorative” means, such as ornamental brickwork, including glazed bricks and the rhythm of the windows. Interestingly, the starting point in the search for the color code was the plumage of birds that are found in the Moscow region.
Julius Borisov: “The “Island” housing complex is a unique project – we took it on with...
One of the largest housing projects of today’s Moscow – the “Ostrov” (“Island”) housing complex built by Donstroy – is now being actively built in the Mnevniky Floodplain. They are planning to build about 1.5M square meters of housing on an area of almost 40 hectares. We are beginning to examine this project– first of all, we are talking to Julius Borisov, the head of the architectural company UNK, which works with most of the residential blocks in this grand-scale project, as well as with the landscaping part; the company even proposed a single design code for the entire territory.
A Balanced Solution
The residential complex “Balance” on Moscow’s Ryazansky Prospekt is one of the large-scale, and relatively economical (again, by Moscow standards) housing projects. Its first phase has already been built and landscaped; the work on the others is in progress. Nevertheless, it has an integral internal logic, which is based on the balance of functions, height, and even image and space composition. The proposed solutions are recognizable and laconic, so that each of them was reduced by the authors to a graphic “logo”. To see everything, you have to flip through the pages and look through to the end.
Horror Vacui
In the city of Omsk, ASADOV architects took on a very challenging task: they are developing a concept of a public and residential complex, which involves reconstructing the city’s first thermal power station standing right next to Omsk’s first fortress. This territory has already seen a lot of projects designed for it, and the residential function of this land site has been the subject of heated debate. In this article, we are examining the project in question, aimed at developing a mid-scale city fabric suited for the historical center. We also examine the above-mentioned debate. Seriously, will this project save this place or will it bring it to ruin?
A Multi-Faced Grotto
This building, seemingly small, unremarkable, semi-ruined, and not even very ancient – the Grotto in the Bauman Garden – was restored by the “People’s Architect” architectural company with all the care applicable to a heritage monument. They preserved the romantic appeal of the ruins, added multimedia content, and explored the cascading fountain, which, as it turned out, was completely preserved. Brace yourself for a long story!