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Sunshine, Air, and Water

The construction of the “Solnechny” (“Sunny”) summer camp, designed by ARENA project institute, has been completed, the largest summer camp within the legendary Artek seaside resort for children. It was conceived still in Soviet time, but it was not implemented. The modern version surprises you with sophisticated engineering solutions that are combined with a clear-cut structure: together, they generate Asher-esque spaces.

18 January 2023
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The perfect world, so young and fair,
The perfect world without a care,
We’ll miss you so when you’re not there…
The “Artek” song

Artek began in 1925 as a small tent camp for children, and in 2016 it welcomed the 1.5Mth guest. After 2014, the camp was “reset”: its entire program changed, and now Artek is developed as a year-round “innovative venue for general and supplementary education, combined with fitness and recreation”; in accordance with the program, they also began renovating the buildings.

Over the years of its existence, Artek has grown to the size of five camps: Pribrezhny (“Seaside”), consisting of “Forest”, “Field”, “River”, and “Lake” divisions, Gorny (“Mountain”), consisting of “Diamond”, “Crystal”, “Amber”, “Sea”, “Cypress”, and “Azure” divisions. Quite soon, the new and the largest camp will appear, capable of housing up to a 1000 children per shift – “Solnechny”. It will become the first camp since 1995 to be built from scratch.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp


The author of the master plan of the entire Artek and most of its buildings was the Soviet architect Anatoly Polyansky. The construction of this “pioneer camp”, cascading down to the sea in terraces, was something that he conceived still in the 1960’s in the southern part of the Artek grounds. However, they were unable to implement the master plan in its entirety back then. In the post-Soviet time, the Artek territory shrank in its southern part, giving way to private construction, a park, and a beach. As for the seaside fragment between “Cypress” and “Azure”, right across from the Adalar rocks, it lay undeveloped for half a century because of complex terrain, risk of landslides, and the absence of access roads.

In the 2000s, developing the program for developing Artek for the next decades, the leadership of the camp turned to the idea of developing the vacant land site lying between “Cypress” and “Azure”, which, among other things, would make it possible to make the territory more coherent from the Ayu-Dag of mountain in the north to the settlement of Gurzuf in the south. To achieve these tasks, they invited the project institute ARENA, which already took a significant part in the development of the camp: the architects worked on reconstructing and designing new buildings for the “Seaside” camp, designed “Artek Arena” on the site of the former Bonfire Square, as well as the educational center for the future “Sunny”.

The configuration of “Sunny”, and the principles of volumetric organization, recreate Polyansky’s ideas in the new location.

In order to neutralize the impact of soils, a cascade of retaining walls made of drilled piles was installed before construction.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp


They definitely had a task of inscribing the building in the terrain, at the same time making it proportional to the surroundings and providing for the movement (sometimes Brownian) of pedestrian streams. One of the things that came in particularly handy for the institute was probably its experience in designing stadiums – no matter how you look at it, one thousand kids in one place is quite a figure.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


The City of the Sun

The more you examine the building, the more you think of utopian towns: possibly, it is the name of “Sunny” that brings such associations, or maybe the idea of a camp regimen, or in the architectural solutions that ultimately create a contained space. As we all know, “summer is a small life”, which is just enough to house a small utopia.

“Sunny” consists of four separately standing units built in accordance with the same principle: three levels two floors in each are arranged in a terraced fashion in such a way that the roof of the lower tiers is the terrace of the upper ones. The result is 12 blocks, which corresponds to 12 companies; this same figure lent itself for using the names of months for identifying and designing each of the blocks – they differ in colors and facade design. The top tier of the side buildings is almost half the width of the central ones, and thanks to this the terrace-like character is seen when you view the complex from the sea.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


Each room is a cell, a “little brick” in the overall volume of the building, which relates it to the specimens of Soviet architecture, and first of all to Yalta’s Druzhba resort. You can see here the same recognizable “scallops” of the rooms, which, on the other hand, are more of a plastique technique than a functional necessity: since the building is linear, and stands almost on the shoreline, the sea is already perfectly visible from each of its windows.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


Still, the architects try to make as much sea as possible: the south wall of each room is 100% glass, and has an exit to a small balcony, protected from the sunlight by an awning of colored polycarbonate. You can also shut yourself off from noisy neighbors on the balcony with a thick curtain. The “prongs” alternate with “Finnish” little balconies – a technique that makes it possible to diversify the buildings even more. The fragile crystalline volumes of stained glass are augmented by natural stone that allows the building to naturally fit in with the rocky slope.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


Asher-esque Landscaping

The four buildings are interconnected by “membranes” – a sophisticated system of staircases and overpasses that serves as both vertical and horizontal communication core, as well as a place for events and recreation. This solution turns the building into an “island of diverging paths”: you can get from any point to any other by numerous paths, and the intertwined staircases and overpasses look like a labyrinth.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


In each of the “membranes”, the staircase takes you from the topmost tier to the seaside boulevard and the beach. At the level of the entrance groups, the staircases grow to the size of amphitheaters that are protected from the sunlight by “sails” resembling hovering birds. This way, each of the buildings gets its own venue for joint lineups, while the function of small yards is performed by green terraces.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


The upper level of the roof offers rather large venues for mass events, and it also has an educational function: the technical blocks are covered by bright-colored cylinders with lamellas, through which the kids can take a sneak peek at the engineering communications. The cylinders on the roof are probably also a reference to the “Friendship” restaurant.

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    The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
    Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute
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    The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
    Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute
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    The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
    Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute
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    The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
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    The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
    Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


Thus, “Sunny” as a whole, as well as each of its blocks, turn out to be self-sufficient. The territory of this “little city” provides enough space for everything: bedrooms, indoor and outdoor event venues, quiet corners for individual work and practice, as well as the sea splashing literally outside your door. The building itself becomes the object of research and cognition: ascending and descending the staircases every day, and going out to the balconies and terraces, one cannot but delve into its sophisticated architectural and engineering organization.

The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


The self-contained character of the building, however, does not limit the kids in getting diverse impressions because they have the whole enormous territory of Artek at their disposal. “Sunny” itself for example, will have a landmark of its own: the remains of the Christian basilica church of the VI century that were discovered and then buried again still in Soviet time. At the new stage of construction, these remains were cleared and conserved; they are planned to be integrated in the complex later on. The basilica will adorn the territory of the educational center that will complement “Sunny” and will be situated a little bit higher up the mountain. It will also include a cafeteria – once it is complete, the camp will be able to welcome new guests.
The international children′s center Artek. The Solnechny (Sunny) camp
Copyright: © ARENA Project Institute


18 January 2023

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
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The Blooming Mechanics of a Glass Forest
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Grace and Unity
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Daring Brilliance
In this article, we are exploring “New Vision”, the first school built in the past 25 years in Moscow’s Khamovniki. The building has three main features: it is designed in accordance with the universal principles of modern education, fostering learning through interaction and more; second, the façades combine structural molded glass and metallic glazed ceramics – expensive and technologically advanced materials. Third, this is the school of Garden Quarters, the latest addition to Moscow’s iconic Khamovniki district. Both a costly and, in its way, audacious acquisition, it carries a youthful boldness in its statement. Let’s explore how the school is designed and where the contrasts lie.
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
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The IT Town
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The Heart Lies Within
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Magnetic Forces
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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”
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Exposed Concrete
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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
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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
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A City Block Isoline
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Competition: The Price of Creativity?
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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!