A Tectonic Shift

For several years now, Futura Architects have been working with the “New Peter” residential area in the south of St. Petersburg. In this article, we are covering their most recent project – a house, in which the architects’ architectural ideas peacefully coexist with the limitations of comfort-class housing, producing a “multilayered” effect that looks very attractive for this typology.

Written by:
Alyona Kuznetsova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

14 October 2022

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The “New Peter” area is a grand-scale project by the development company “Stroitelny Trest “ (“Construction Trust”) located in the settlement of Novoselie: in total, it is expected to contain about 40 houses standing on 87 hectares of former farmland, about a third of which has already been developed. The residential blocks will stretch the whole length of the local Krasnoselskoe Highway, east of which new roads are currently being built – names have already been assigned to Pitersky Avenue and Nevskaya Street. From the north, New Peter is pushed by the St. Petersburg Ring Road, whose junction partially makes up for the remote location of Novoselye, hinted at by the very name of this place (literally “New Settlement”) – behind it, the multistory buildings stop short, giving way to forestland interspersed with country homes.

zooming — The master plan of New Peter residential area

Copyright: © Photo courtesy by Construction Trust

The project has been developing since 2014, and, for its time and location, and even for St. Petersburg, it has a whole number of innovative solutions. For example, all the houses have brick external walls, and there are no studios in them – the area of the apartments starts from 35 square meters, the height of the buildings does not exceed 12 floors, and the master plan, developed by the architectural studio M4, in addition to schools and kindergartens, has public life facilities in it – a linear park several kilometers long, a business center, and a sports and fitness complex. The first houses were also built by M4 projects, and in the more recent stages the developer went even further – they divided the land sites into lots and began inviting different architects to design them.

The commission to design Lot 12 was scored by Futura Architects, which was preceded by a rather lengthy story. The architects began working with New Peter still in 2014 from the White Nights Boulevard – a linear park that will run through all the segments of the complex. A part of the boulevard has already been built, and its beginning is marked by an abstract figure of an abstract sign – the already recognized “signature” of Futura Architects. In 2017, the boulevard received the Silver Sign award at Zodchestvo festival, after which the architects received an order for a fitness center and a business center – both are at different stages of completion.

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The entrance sign at the White Nights boulevard

Copyright: © FUTURA-Architects
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The White Nights Boulevard

Copyright: © FUTURA-Architects
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The business center. New Peter residential area

Copyright: © FUTURA-Architects
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The fitness center. New Peter residential area

Copyright: © FUTURA-Architects

In 2019, Futura Architects made for the “Manifesto” exhibition, which took place within the framework of the St. Petersburg Architectural Biennale, an installation that impressed the developer and became the basis of the future house.

Lot 12 occupies an important place in the structure of this area – it is situated at the crossing of Nevskaya Street and White Nights Boulevard; it is clearly viewable from the main square and remote vantage points of the boulevard park. This inspired the architects to design this house as a landmark. However, since the input parameters and the measurements of all the houses were identical, this task had to be solved by color and plastique means.

Oleg manov, creative leader of Futura-Architects

The idea to make “the most brick” building on the block was something that the client liked at once. The terra cotta color, clear-cut and simple shapes of the bay windows, clad in brick, and the random pattern of white bricks on the façade that look like falling snowflakes – all of this let us tear the project from the context and make it even more colorful and daring.

The plastique solutions were based on that same installation from the Manifesto exhibition. Yes, one must recognize that the similarity between this installation and the house is not really obvious, yet upon a closer look everything is readable quite clearly. The combination of a slender tower and a cantilever, which looks like a horizontal skyscraper, transformed into a contrast between the squatting brick masonry and the soaring white cascades of bay windows and recessed balconies. The cells of the apartments, so diverse in the installation, became more uniformed to a certain degree but they still show through in the cascades that stand out from the volume at different depths.

Comparing the installation and the actual house tempts one to make jokes in the spirit of “expectation vs reality”, like, this is what happens to the architect’s dreams when they hit the heartless market. This joke, however, will be pretty shallow because the project and its subsequent implementation were not done by chance, naivety or lack of experience. When faced with the task of designing comfort class housing in Novoselie, the architect made a reality something that they had been inwardly longing for. In architecture, just as in theater, there must not be “small” roles – you have to put a piece of your soul in every project.

The absence of accidental solutions is clearly seen if you compare the 3D render and the ready house. One can see that the things that are gone are the “dancing” shift of the bay windows and the “cell-like” quality of the bay windows; one can also see the struggle for the cascades that could have easily been arrayed in one plane – but on the whole the pictures are similar.

On the plan, the building is essentially a courtyard that opens up southward – in the direction of the future kindergarten. The volumes of the bay windows and recessed balconies, as well as the recessions and the increase of one of the sections from eight to nine floors make all the three street facades “working” and slightly different in their structure. The side wall from the side of the White Nights Boulevard could have been interpreted as a firewall in other circumstances, but here it turned into a textured “fracture” that makes one remember the concept of metabolism – its openness to the outside world will inevitably start a dialogue with the neighboring building.

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New Peter residential area

Copyright: Photograph © Dmitry Tsyrenshchikov / provided FUTURA-ARCHITECTS
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New Peter residential area

Copyright: Photograph © Dmitry Tsyrenshchikov / provided FUTURA-ARCHITECTS
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New Peter residential area

Copyright: Photograph © Dmitry Tsyrenshchikov / provided FUTURA-ARCHITECTS
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New Peter residential area

Copyright: Photograph © Dmitry Tsyrenshchikov / provided FUTURA-ARCHITECTS

When you examine the viewing angles created and the materials used, you see the architects’ adherence to the “old school” fundamentals: the building must look attractive from 200, 20, and 2 meters away. From the remote perspectives, the house attracts the observer with its colors, a cascades silhouette, and a mass that was able to avoid being fractured by horizontal details – and this is what makes it different from the surroundings. From the square next to Nevskaya street, the house opens up with its entire length and intrigues the observer with its bay windows and recessed balconies; inclusions of white brick become visible that echo the paving pattern.

Crossing the street, the observer will see an intricate pattern of terra cotta brick: it has a curious logic of its own, not Bavarian, not bonder, and not all-stretcher.

Oleg manov, creative leader of Futura-Architects

The masons were given detailed technological maps for laying red bricks, yet at the same time we allowed a possibility of moving away from these charts now and then. Thus, each new floor and each new section took on a unique character of their own. In the masonry, you can notice a horizontal stretching of the pattern, or, conversely, a very frequent change of color – sometimes, it is even an ancient Celtic pattern with rhombuses and crosses. Someone may see symbols in these drawings, someone may see a reflection of wildlife, but one thing is for sure – it is impossible to build another such building. The pattern is as diverse as our society is. Thus, the builders took a full part in the formation of a truly authentic project.

The “laying bare” of the white color in the body of the building gives it a second layer – not material but rather of a conceptual nature. While the brick is perceived as the “skin” or the “shell” of the building, the white stucco is perceived in different ways depending on the viewing angle: from the outside – as from the outside – as the exit of ancient geological rocks to the surface or as living tissues ready to grow further, from the inside – as pulp or as a lining.

The yards in “New Peter” are closed-door and they differ from one another – according to the developer’s plan, this must encourage the residents to meet and then visit one another more often. A special feature of Lot 12 is a small Zen garden with sun loungers, a gazebo, and a communal table under a canopy. The ground floor apartments facing the courtyard have quite spacious terraces. Outside, the outline of the building is occupied by commercial premises. From the second to the ninth floors there are 1-3 room apartments ranging from 35 to 82 square meters.

14 October 2022

Headlines now

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.