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.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

20 February 2024

send.project

We caught a glimpse of the office building project on Radio Street on sketch boards at the “Zodchestvo” exhibition in Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor, and at that time, I thought it was merely some sort of architectural fantasy. However, it turned out that the project was quite real and even meticulously developed, although it has not yet received the “architectural and urban planning solution” approval.

zooming — Office building on the Radio Street

Copyright: © Mikhail Dmitriev architectural studio

The building was designed in very strained conditions. The first part of the constraint is created by various immovable communication lines, allowing construction on barely half of the plot, a sanitary setback from the nearby tuberculosis clinic, a height restriction of 22 meters, and even the architect’s self-imposed prohibition to obstruct the transformer booth of the adjacent “Tupolev Plaza-2” center designed by Dmitry Barkhin.

This led to the creation of a cantilever with a projection of 8.5 meters, the execution of which the architect himself mentions with some doubt, yet he seems to be reasonably hopeful – along with an automated parking lot situated in the closed half of the building for its entire height. There are only 5 parking places underground.

Plan of the 1 floor. Office building on the Radio Street

Copyright: © Mikhail Dmitriev architectural studio
Plan of floors 2-5. Office building on the Radio Street

Copyright: © Mikhail Dmitriev architectural studio

Office building on the Radio Street

Copyright: © Mikhail Dmitriev architectural studio
Office building on the Radio Street

Copyright: © Mikhail Dmitriev architectural studio

The second part of the constraint is outlined in the urban development plan of the land plot – besides the height restriction, it dictates designing the building in the style of the surrounding historical houses. Meanwhile, the architects are expected to deliver Class A offices. The project’s author, Mikhail Dmitriev, disagreed with this formulation and, after extensive searches for form, he proposed the boldest contemporary solution among the possible options.

This solution is accompanied by a rationale appealing to the diversity of the surrounding texture of the “German Settlement” and even the innovation inherent to it during the Petrine era. The examination includes Van Der Hulst Chambers, also known as Anna Mons Chambers, a beloved legend of these places, hidden but still alive behind the buildings of the former NIITP plant. Here we can see the mosaic nature of Moscow at its finest, along with the neighboring Central Institute of Aerohydrodynamics and Central Construction Bureau-29, Lilienthal Glider and Zhukovsky Museum, the Church of the Ascension on Gorokhovy Polye (attributed to Matvey Kazakov), standing in the distance along the Radio Street, and the vast, relatively recently reconstructed Investigative Committee building at the beginning of the street.

I want to agree with Mikhail Dmitriev here – Moscow is mosaic, and the German Settlement is particularly so, and Peter I bequeathed us to be bolder.

However, the most accurate statement is that the future business center stands at the intersection of Radio and Bauman streets; this place is a small but important urban “pivot”, and another vague stylization here would be a “blemish”. The proposed solution is definitely not that.

Of course, especially if it does shine as depicted on 3D renders.

In general, it looks like this: slightly convex “bulges” of wooden ceilings almost levitate within the outline of a semi-transparent glass shell, hanging in the air, resembling some kind of exploded view drawing, together forming a simple but mysteriously flickering shape.

It will be very interesting to see how this project will be executed. However, the architect promises to test the coating on mock-ups, and the warm tone is supported by the color of the suspended ceiling made of curved veneered sheets. Moreover, the aquarium effect with subtle glass joints running not only vertically but also between floors is captivating. According to the architect, all the joints have already been calculated, and engineering solutions have been thought out.

We thought out every detail of the design of the office building on Radio Street, since after the approval of the “architectural and urban planning solution”, adjustments to nodes and technical and economic indicators often lead to revision of fundamental design solutions.

The unique historical significance of the site and the diversity of the surrounding architectural context dictated a striking architectural gesture made nonetheless on a modest scale – much like the First Movement of Vivaldi’s “Winter”.

Our class “A” office building is located on a small plot of only 1100 m2, in the southern and eastern part of which the heating mains, electrical cables, water supply and sewerage systems run. The lighting requirements for the premises of the tuberculosis clinic and the need to reveal the classic facades of Dmitry Barkhin’s Tupolev Plaza further restrict the building spot.

Structural and engineering solutions compensate for the site limitations. Mechanized multistory parking with a roundabout allowed us to meet the requirements for parking space provision. The 8.5 m outreach cantilever with a beam height of 60 cm is within the allowable reinforcement consumption. Structural glazing is used with silicone adhesive fixing and filling the joints with silicone sealant; we also used single-glazed windows. The suspended ceilings are made of ply-curve panels manufactured in individual molds; the outer layer is made of fire retardant natural veneer (Wallhof, RMK-Style). The columns are clad with curvilinear aluminum honeycomb panels with carbon coating with unique resistance to wear, moisture and dirt (Aludecore).

Two things are unclear to me: firstly, why doesn’t Mikhail Dmitriev refer to the construction site nearby, 400 meters away, the campus building of the Moscow State Technical University, which aims for modern architectural solutions and has a glass courtyard that has already been extensively discussed and shown? After all, the “aquarium” oval office at some point may appear to be a fragment of the campus, conceived as a futuristic or, at the very least, a modern structure. Or it might resemble a piece of the University’s dormitory located here on the other side of the Yauza River. In the Bauman district, a noticeable statement has already been made in favor of modern architecture – it’s the perfect time to join in.

Secondly, it’s interesting to see how this “aquarium” – inside of which currently a few people are drawn, and thin columns are well visible in a single straight row along the axis – will look after being cluttered with office desks (or perhaps even small meeting rooms!) and more people, along with blinds on the windows.

You never know until you try, but, for all intents and purposes, the view from the glass office to the trams turning towards Bauman Street and constantly ringing, just like the wide, bright opening of the passage towards the Yauza, should be magnificent.

Nevertheless, returning to the history of the area, it’s worth noting that the new MGTU campus is 400 meters away, and Anna Mons’ house is 600 meters away, almost in a straight line, if you don’t think about the need to pass through the courtyards. In addition, Radio Street with its surroundings on both the right and left banks of the Yauza River is filled with palaces of Peter the Great’s associates. Although they may not all look good now, having been rebuilt and crowded with later houses, the inclusion of a glowing oval volume among them suggests thoughts of some dropped precious gem, like a stone from the ring of the famous Anna. It’s an interesting place here: you walk, and suddenly there’s a fragment of a polychrome mosaic or at least a shard from a decanter glinting in the ground.

It seems that Mikhail Dmitriev’s project aims to revive this impression – somewhat similar to how the glass “nose” of the Hermitage Plaza on the Garden Ring surprises the passersby. Either way, it’s interesting to see what will come out of this.

20 February 2024

Headlines now

Object

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.

Object

A Twist of the Core

A clever and concise sculptural solution – rotating each floor by N degrees – has created an ensemble of “dancing” towers: similar yet different, simple yet complex. The designers meticulously refined a single structural node and spent considerable effort on the column construction – after that, “everything else was easy”. The architects also rotated the core walls on each floor to maximize the efficiency of the office spaces.

Object

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.

Object

Water and Wind Whet the Stone

The Arisha Terraces residential complex, designed by Asadov Architects, will be built in a district of Dubai dedicated to film and television production. To create shaded spaces and an intriguing silhouette, the architects opted for a funnel-shaped composition and nature-inspired forms of erosion and weathering. The roofs, podium, and underground spaces extend leisure opportunities within the boundaries of a man-made “oasis”.

Object

Elevation 5642

The Genplan Institute of Moscow has developed a comprehensive development project for three ski resorts in the Caucasus, which have been designated as special economic zones of the tourism and recreation type. The first of these zones is Elbrus. The project includes the construction of new ski runs, cable cars, and hotels, as well as the modernization of stations and improvements to the Azau tourist meadow. To expand the audience and enhance year-round appeal, a network of eco-trails is also being developed. In this article, we provide a detailed breakdown of each stage.

Object

The IT Town

Taking the example of the first completed phase of the “U” district, we examine how the new neighborhood in Innopolis will be organized. T+T Architects and HADAA formed a well-balanced and ingenious master plan with different types of housing, a green artery, a system of squares, and a park in the town’s central part.

Object

The Heart Lies Within

The second-phase building of the Evgeny Primakov School already won multiple awards while still in the design stage. Now that it’s completed, some unfinished nuances remain – most notably, the exposed ceiling structures, which ideally should have been concealed. However, given the priority placed on the building’s volumetric composition, this does not seem critical. What matters more is the “Wow!” effect created by the space itself.

Object

Magnetic Forces

“Krylatskaya 33” is the first large-scale residential complex to appear amidst the 1980s “micro-districts” that harmoniously coexist with the forests, the river, the slopes, and the sports infrastructure. Despite its imposing scale, the architects of Ostozhenka managed to turn the complex into something that can be best described as a “graceful dominant”. First, they designed the complex with consideration for the style and height of the surrounding micro-districts. Second, by introducing a pause in its tallest section, they created compositional tension – right along the urban planning axis of the area.

Object

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.

Interview

Grigory Revzin: “It Was a Bold Statement Made on the Sly. Something Won”

In this article, we discuss the debates surrounding the circus competition and the demolition of the CMEA building with the most renowned architectural critic of our time. A paradox emerges in the process: while nostalgia for the Brezhnev era seems to be in vogue in Russia, a landmark building – the “axis” of the Warsaw Pact – has been sentenced to demolition. Isn’t that strange? We also find out that wow-architecture has made a comeback as a post-COVID trend. However, to make a truly powerful statement, professionals still remain indispensable.

Object

Exposed Concrete

One of the stages of improving a small square in the town of Lermontov was the construction of a skatepark. Entrusting this part of the project to the XSA team, the city gained a 250-meter trick track whose features resemble those of land art objects – unparalleled in Russia in both scale and design. Here’s a look at how the experimental snake run in the foothills of the Caucasus was built.

Object

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.

Object

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.

Interview

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.

Object

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.

Object

Field of Life

The new project by the architectural company PNKB (an acronym for “Design, Research, and Advisory Bureau”), led by Sergey Gnedovsky and Anton Lyubimkin, for the Kulikovo Field Museum is dedicated to the field as a concept in its own right. The field has long been a focus of the museum’s thorough and successful research. Accordingly, the exterior of the new museum building is gentler than that of its predecessor, which was also designed by PNKB and dedicated specifically to the historic battle. Inside, however, the building confidently guides the visitor from a luminous atrium along a spiral path to the field – interpreted here as a field of life.

Object

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.

Review

Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making

Do architects design houses for themselves? You bet! In this article, we are examining a new book by TATLIN publishing house. This book – unprecedented for Russia – features 52 private homes designed and built by contemporary architects for themselves. It includes houses that are famous, even iconic, as well as lesser-known ones; large and small, stylish and eccentric. To some extent, the book reflects the history of Russian architecture over the past 30 years.

Object

A City Block Isoline

Another competition project for a residential complex on the banks of the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod has been prepared by Studio 44. A team of architects led by Ivan Kozhin concluded that using a regular block layout in such a location would be inappropriate and developed a “custom design” approach: a chain of parceled multi-section buildings stretching along the entire embankment. Let’s explore the features and advantages of this unconventional method.

Report

Competition: The Price of Creativity?

Any day now, we’re expecting the results of a competition held by the “Samolet” development group for a plot in Kommunarka. In the meantime, we share the impressions of Editor-in-Chief Julia Tarabarina, who managed to conduct a public talk. Though technically focused on the interaction between developers and architects, the public talk turned into a discussion about the pros and cons of architectural competitions.

Object

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!

Contest Results

The Volga Regatta

GloraX plans to develop a residential complex spanning 14 hectares along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod. The winning design in a closed-door competition, created by GORA Architects, features housing typologies ranging from townhouses to terraced high-rise slabs, a balance of functions, diverse ways of engaging with the water, and even a dedicated island (no less!) for the city residents.

Object

Life Plans

The master plan for the residential district “Prityazheniye” (“Gravity”) in Naberezhnye Chelny was developed by the architectural company A.Len, taking into account the specific urban planning context and partially implemented solutions of the first phase. However, the master plan prioritized its own values: a green framework, a system of focal points, a hierarchy of spaces, and pedestrian priority. After this, the question of what residents will do in their neighborhood simply doesn’t arise.

Object

A New Track

We took a thorough look at D_Station, a railcar repair depot dating back to 1906, recently reconstructed while preserving its century-old industrial structure, upon the project by Sergey Trukhanov and T+T Architects. Though work on the interiors – set to house restaurants and public spaces – is still underway, the building’s exterior already offers plenty to see. Visitors can explore the blend of old and new brickwork, appreciate the architect’s unique interpretation of ruin aesthetics, and enjoy the newly built pedestrian route that connects the Citydel Business Center’s arches to Kazakova Street.

Report

Four Different Surveys

The “Explore the City” competition, organized this year by the Genplan Institute of Moscow, stands out as a pretty unconventional one for the architectural field but aligns perfectly well with the character of urban planning work. The winning project analyzed contemporary residential complexes, combining urban planning insights with a realtor’s perspective to propose a hybrid approach. Other entries explored public centers, motivations for car ownership, and housing vacancy rates. A fifth participant withdrew. Here’s a closer look at the four completed works.

Report

Scheduled Evolution

ASADOV Architects unveiled the EvyCenter pavilion, a microcultural hub for fostering personal growth, organizing workshops, and doing gymnastics. Additionally, this pavilion serves as a prototype for a scalable country house, drawing inspiration from the “Loskutok” project, and constructed from CLT panels in a factory. This marks the beginning of a developer project initiated by the architectural firm (sic!), which is seeking partners to expand both small Evy settlements and even larger Evy cities, which are, according to Andrey Asadov, aimed at fostering the “evolutionary” development of the people who will inhabit them.

Object

The Golden Crown

The concept for a dental clinic in Yekaterinburg, developed by CNTR Studio, revolves around the idea of a “mouth full of gold”: pristine white porcelain stoneware walls are complemented by matte brass details. To avoid an overly literal interpretation, the architects focused on the building’s proportions, skillfully navigating between sunlight requirements and fire safety regulations.

News

Flexibility and Integration

Not long ago, we covered the project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential complex, designed by APEX. Now, we’ve been shown different fence concepts they developed to enclose the complex’s private courtyards, incorporating a variety of public functions. We believe that the sheer fact that the complex’s architects were involved in such a detail as fencing speaks volumes.

Object

A Step Forward

The HIDE residential complex represents a major milestone for ADM architects and their leaders Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova in their quest for a fresh high-rise aesthetic – one that is flexible and layered, capable of bringing vibrancy to mass and silhouette while shaping form. Over recent years, this approach has become ADM’s “signature style”, with the golden HIDE tower playing a pivotal role in its evolution. Here, we delve into the project’s story, explore the details of the complex’s design, and uncover its core essence.