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.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

09 June 2023

Contest Results

The competition for the reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater named after Khvorostovsky was conducted in early 2023. The prize fund was 3 million rubles: 1.5 million for first place, 1 million for the second, and 500 thousand rubles for third. The results were announced in April; the winner was the Wowhaus project, second place went to Studio 44, and third place went to a consortium of Krasnoyarsk bureau A2 and Moscow NVP. However, a working group is being formed, which should summarize the ideas of “not only the winning company, but also other participants in the competition”. The projects are published on the website of the contest and on the website of its operator, the Institute of Urban Development in Krasnoyarsk. We plan to showcase the winning projects one by one because it was a major competition for a significant public building in the city center, and moreover, providing for the reconstruction of a modernist theater.

The theater was built in 1966-1978 upon the project by Ivan Mikhalev, and, curiously, he designed it specifically as a music theater before it was ever completed, it was turned into an “opera and ballet theater”, which, according to its current director Svetlana Guziy, presupposes a staff twice as large. This effectively means that the troupe would have found themselves in close quarters by default. Over the recent decades, as the requirements for the theatrical art grew stricter, the space became even more cramped. Accordingly, the reconstruction, designed and supported by the Nornickel company, provides for a considerable expansion, but the brief specifically stipulated the necessity for keeping up the image of the old theater and the square in front of it: “The theater square must come to our descendants in the state it was devised 45 years ago”.

zooming — Concept of reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovsky

Copyright: © WOWHAUS

The concept by Wowhaus includes demolition and new construction: on the plan, the building is expanded 11 meters length-wise and 10 meters width-wise. The height remains the same, but the building gets underground floors – below the zero elevation, the architects are placing a restaurant, a foyer, and a museum, about which – the authors emphasize – the theater has long since dreamed. The new theater building will have a total of 8 levels, which will make it possible to include everything you need, including dressing rooms on all the three floors, rehearsal halls, a duplicate stage for dress rehearsals and small-stage performances, and a hall for the children’s theater studio.

Despite the fact that the new building is built from scratch [UPD 21.06.223: in the project, the architects retain the grand auditorium, the stage, and its pockets], the architects liken it to the old one as part of the image retention. For example, in the project the volume is also composed of two parallelepipeds with the upper projection of the columns; the architects reproduce the star-cross-shaped “cosmic” pattern of the concrete lattice of the stained glass window, the horseshoe-shaped volume of the hall, sculpturally protruding from outside, and even the colonnades on the sides – only with increasing scale the columns lose their solidity and turn into a series of thin supports; the pauses between them and the center increase. Even the inscription on the frieze is similar, although, obeying the new scale, it too has become smaller and thinner. Everything is similar, but different, and, executed in modern materials, looks recognizably unrecognizable. Maybe this approach even better embodies the idea, which was in the 1960s limited by the material base, even though you never can tell. A similar experiment to turn a 1950s building into a larger one was carried out by UNK architects in their work on the Palace of Water Sports, which replaced the Luzhniki swimming pool. What we are seeing is an enlarged paraphrase, but not a copy.

The architects save – in the original material – two sculptural groups of the “Muses”, carrying them over from the central location to the sides of the main entrance, i.e. to the side ends of the galleries.

Concept of reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovsky. The identity

Copyright: © WOWHAUS
Concept of reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovsky. The basic principles

Copyright: © WOWHAUS

Concept of reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovsky

Copyright: © WOWHAUS
Concept of reconstruction of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater named after D.A. Khvorostovsky

Copyright: © WOWHAUS

It’s a rather curious experience watching how one turns into the other. In the new project, the following happens: the entrance group disappears or becomes all but invisible (how does it look on the 3D renders, I wonder?); and this entrance group cuts significantly into the starry stained-glass window of the original building. [UPD 21.06.2023: according to the architects, the entrance group was rebuilt many times, and the one that exists now does not refer to the original project]. At the same time, what appears behind the glass is a whirl of the spectator area and balconies, from which one will be able to get to different stage levels – looks a bit like Wright’s Guggenheim – it continues the “horseshoe” volume of the amphitheater, situated higher up: now, the parallelepiped has not just one volume inserted into it, but two.

The theater now:

Now in the existing building the columns line the sides of the eastern volume of the foyer, while the western “stage” volume is designed laconically, like a crate. In the project, the foyer’s colonnades become, as we remember, more delicate and thin, and in the western part they also receive a continuation – in the form of tie rods inserted into the ledges of large grooves; the wall receives a meaningful relief, which was not present in the original building, it brings a note of Art Deco in the context of its basically modernist project (which quite suddenly echoes the Palace of Water Sports, where, however, the Art Deco component is original). At the junction of the two volumes evacuation stairs are situated – here there is a narrow transverse “layer”, sandwiched between the walls.

The sidewall now:

The new scale, the new fragility and thinness of the building, which inherits the ideas of the modernist theater, but not its proportions, receives a contrasting response in the image of the main hall: it is clearly inspired by the memory of one of the main landmarks of the region, the extinct volcano “Black Mountain” – the audience, figuratively of course, but judging by the pictures, still quite tangibly, is placed “inside” a black volcano with a rounded, rough and dark wall surface: the image rhymes well with the acoustic panels. The glowing circle of the main chandelier is likened to the vent of the volcano, at which we are looking, therefore, from within. On the whole, it is obvious that the blackness of the new hall, convenient for performances, becomes a contrast to the light whiteness of the facades and foyer.

The minor hall and the duplicating halls will be designed in a slightly simpler way because you can’t peddle the idea of the “core” everywhere, and the rehearsal halls will be even lighter.

The main stage is equipped with mechanisms and is designed to be transformed. It is planned in a cross shape, like an Egyptian “Ankh” symbol, with the auditorium “loop” at the base. In the center; there are 35 sliding cubic podiums; from the rear stage at the top of the cross, the turntable can be moved out, and when it moves out it creates the possibility to build an additional “rear” amphitheater behind the rear stage, seating the audience on both sides of the stage. Several more mobile platforms are parked in the side wings, and the orchestra pit can be elevated to three different levels.

An additional stage is located in the northern part, to the right, and occupies the -1 and -2 floors. Its rectangular space is transformable thanks to a collapsible amphitheater. The other multi-purpose hall is semi-circular, situated directly under the main stage; here the multi-functionality is ensured by different variants of furniture arrangement.

One of the important features of the project is the highly developed system of public spaces, both around the theater and on the roof of the auditorium. Additional performances and film screenings are also possible on the roof, and in front of the entrance to the foyer under a large canopy.

The architects completely revise the square in front of the theater: it is already big as it is, 140 meters long; it has three fountains on it, a sculpture of Apollo, a couple of lions at the entrance, a certain quantity of trees on the perimeter, but otherwise the square is empty.

This square gets a lot of attention in the project. The square is multilevel: first, already now in its southern part, to the left and closer to the Yenisei river, where the height difference is from 4 to 5 meters, there is a four-level cascading staircase – the architects use it, preserving the fountain in the middle. Second, the area in front of the entrance is deepened and is accessed by a green city amphitheater with a zigzag-shaped ramp – Wowhaus already designed and built a similar one at the eastern entrance to Moscow’s Gorky Park; as a matter of fact, the amphitheater will make it possible to organize open-air performances.

Finally, on the sides of the square closer to Weinbaum Street, the architects propose two pavilions with terraced roofs, which also descend by steps toward the theater – so it turns out that all the surfaces consistently build up toward the city and descend to the entrance of the theater.

In addition, quite a lot of water is provided, a dry fountain, a cascade, ponds, as well as a winter scenario of using the square as an ice rink.

The pavilions are united with a canopy on thin metal supports – this peculiar standing portico marks the border of the square and somewhat levels the protrusions of the ends; besides, it reminds of the same entrance to Gorky Park from Leninsky Prospekt in Moscow.

As we can see, the project has the trademark Wowhaus style, and it is made according to the rules of modern theater buildings: grand-scale, transformable, and multifunctional. The task of turning the space around the theater and inside of it into a point of attraction for the urban community has been solved here at different levels and with the expectation for different audiences.

Some doubt is caused by the fact that the building becomes an elegant but still replica of the former theater, that is, it sort of freezes halfway, provoking the question: what do you ultimately need, the old building or the new one?

***
The judging panel of the competition:

Konstantin Shumov, Honorary Architect of the Russian Federation, Head of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Urban Planning Control Service; Chief Architect of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, Chairman of the Judging Panel

Arkady Zinov, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Minister of Culture of the Krasnoyarsk region, Deputy Chairman of the Judging Panel

Dmitry Bertman, General Director; Artistic Director of the Moscow Musical Theater Helikon Opera

Andrey Bokov, People’s Architect of the Russian Federation, Honorary President of the Union of Architects of Russia, Vice-President of the International Academy of Architecture, President of the Moscow branch of the International Academy of Architecture, Member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts

Andrey Borisov, Director of the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Musical Theater

Sergey Geraschenko, Honorary Architect of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Department of Urban Planning at the Institute of Architecture and Design of Siberian Federal University

Sergey Gnedovsky, People’s Architect of the Russian Federation, Vice-President of the Union of Architects of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences

Elena Grigorieva, honored architect of the Russian Federation, vice president of the Union of Architects of Russia, member of the International Academy of Architecture, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, editor-in-chief of Project Baikal

Svetlana Guziy, Director of the D.A. Khvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk State Theater of Opera and Ballet

Georgy Isaakyan, Artistic Director of the Natalia Satz Moscow State Academic Children’s Musical Theater, Laureate of the State Prizes of the Russian Federation, Laureate of the President Prize of the Russian Federation, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, Professor

Irina Korobina, professor of the Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy), PhD in architecture, member of the International Academy of Architecture, member of the National Academy of Design, honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts

Vladislav Loginov, Head of Krasnoyarsk

Yuri Oleynikov, Advisor to the Vice President of MMC Norilsk Nickel

Mikhail Rabushko, Minister of Construction of the Krasnoyarsk Territory

09 June 2023

Headlines now

Inverted Fortress

This year, there has been no shortage of intriguing architectural ideas around the Omsk airport. The project developed by the architectural company KPLN appeals to Omsk’s history as a wooden fortress that it was back in the day, but transforms the concept of a fortress beyond recognition: it “shaves off” the conical ends of “wooden logs”, then enlarges them, and then flips them over. The result is a hypostyle – a forest of conical columns on point supports, with skylights on top.

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Transformation of Annenkirche

For Annenkirche (St. Anna Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg), Sergey Kuznetsov and the Kamen bureau have prepared a project that relies on the principles of the Venice Charter: the building is not restored to a specific date, historical layers are preserved, and modern elements do not mimic the authentic ones. Let’s delve into the details of these solutions.

The Paradox of the Temporary

The concept of the Russian pavilion for EXPO 2025 in Osaka, proposed by the Wowhaus architects, is the last of the six projects we gathered from the 2022 competition. It is again worth noting that the results of this competition were not finalized due to the cancellation of Russia’s participation in World Expo 2025. It should be mentioned that Wowhaus created three versions for this competition, but only one is being presented, and it can’t be said that this version is thoroughly developed – rather, it is done in the spirit of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, the project is interesting in its paradoxical nature: the architects emphasized the temporary character of the pavilion, and in its bubble-like forms sought to reflect the paradoxes of space and time.

The Forum of Time

The competition project for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka designed by Aleksey Orlov and Arena Project Institute consists of cones and conical funnels connected into a non-trivial composition, where one can feel the hand of architects who have worked extensively with stadiums and other sports facilities. It’s very interesting to delve into its logic, structurally built on the theme of clocks, hourglasses and even sundials. Additionally, the architects have turned the exhibition pavilion into a series of interconnected amphitheaters, which is also highly relevant for world exhibitions. We are reminding you that the competition results were never announced.

Mirrors Everywhere

The project by Sergey Nebotov, Anastasia Gritskova, and the architectural company “Novoe” was created for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025, but within the framework of another competition, which, as we learned, took place even earlier, in 2021. At that time, the competition theme was “digital twins”, and there was minimal time for work, so the project, according to the architect himself, was more of a “student assignment”. Nevertheless, this project is interesting for its plan bordering on similarity with Baroque projects and the emblem of the exhibition, as well as its diverse and comprehensive reflectiveness.

Report

The Steppe Is Full of Beauty and Freedom

The goal of the exhibition “Dikoe Pole” (“Wild Field”) at the State Historical Museum was to move away from the archaeological listing of valuable items and to create an image of the steppe and nomads that was multidirectional and emotional – in other words, artistic. To achieve this goal, it was important to include works of contemporary art. One such work is the scenography of the exhibition space developed by CHART studio.

The Snowstorm Fish

The next project from the unfinished competition for the Russian Pavilion at EXPO 2025, which will be held in Osaka, Japan, is by Dashi Namdakov and Parsec Architects. The pavilion describes itself as an “architectural/sculptural” one, with its shape clearly reminiscent of abstract sculpture of the 1970s. It complements its program with a meditative hall named “Mendeleev’s Dreams”, and offers its visitors to slide from its roof at the end of the tour.

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.

Object

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.

Object

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.