Green Heart of Moscow

Project of the park "Zaryadye" developed by the consortium of "Reserve" Group + Maxwan + Latz und Partner

Written by:
Anna Martovitskaya
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

27 November 2013

Object

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

From the very start, this consortium was formed "on a parity basis". “We and Maxwan Bureau go back a long way and we know that we both are capable of effective and efficient cooperation. However, to develop the concept for "Zaryadye" park our two teams would not have been enough, so our main challenge was to find a top-of-the-list landscape designer" - Vladimir Plotkin shares. - It was Maxwan that suggested working with Latz und Partner because we had already been quite familiar with one another after working on several joint projects, and it was not until we got their consent to cooperate that we finally decided to take part in the competition. Together, all the participants of the consortium had met three times - in Russia, in Germany, and in the Netherlands. The first workshop took place in Moscow shortly after the shortlist of the contest was announced”.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

The architect recalls that the most difficult challenge of the two first workshops in Moscow and Munich was, without even getting down to actual drawing, settle the main question: what kind of park can be there in the heart of Moscow. “We examined three possible solutions. The first solution was to treat the park as a symbol worthy of Moscow's best place, like a breakthrough into the future, a park that produces a "wow-effect" (I have to admit that initially this idea was a favorite with me). The second one was a park with the interestingly devised and elegant three-dimensional topographical intrigue, which is based either on its historical background or on some kind of intellectual game. And, finally, the third solution was to create a park in the form of a… park, the greatest park of all times, which enhances and emphasizes the merits of its historical environment and the natural landscape. And it was this last idea that won us over with its simplicity and its being so convincingly appropriate on this land spot that is really tired as it is from all of the endless experiments of recent years. So our choice was made. True, the "wow-effects" in the form of unprecedented abundance of trees and shrubbery that create most unexpected color palettes during the year, and the intrigue of the diverse "semi-functional" spaces formed by the trees flanking the endless spiral-like trail, are also playing an important part in the project".

Following a joint decision on the main idea and basic conceptual solutions, the areas of responsibility of each of the groups were defined: "Reserve Group" in this project was responsible for the architecture, Latz und Partner - for the landscape design and dendrology, and Maxwan - for the town-planning issues, the layouts, and, together with Reserve, it coordinated the management of the project.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

In fact, what the architects do is they recreate the topography of this place in the form that preceded the historical planning of Zaryadye. Instead of the walks-through and strict dividing into sectors and plots, the place is ruled by smooth outlines that follow the logic of gradually lowering relief. One can say that it was the existing relief drop (some 16 meters from the Varvarka Street to the Moskva River Embankment) that became the main theme of the project - the park is treated as a system of terraces cascading down to the water. By using them, the architects achieve the necessary effect - the landscaped territory cast a cooling shadow on Moscow's most famous places, thus enhancing their significance - while all the functions that make the park a self-sufficient recreation area, are hidden inside the giant green steps.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

This kind of layout allows the architects to address yet another vital challenge - that is to create a diverse, and, most importantly, a sufficiently long walking route. Here is the thing - "Zaryadye" is vastly different from Gorky Park or Hyde Park; its area, by the park standards, is at least modest, and if one treats it as a mere territory connecting the Red Square, Ilinka Square, and the Moskva River, there is a risk that the pedestrians will not notice it at all. And it is the circular route that will make the pedestrians involuntarily slow down and, once in the park, switch to a strolling pace. Throughout the route, the architects place cafes, showrooms, training centers, and shops - such a "necklace" of buildings and pavilions is especially relevant in Russia in the wintertime when the walks get shorter, and the need to go somewhere warm becomes more pressing. The authors of the project, incidentally, are positive that in winter this park will be just in as much demand as it will be in summer: the transparency of the scenery views and the snowy vistas would emphasize the beauty of Russian winter and form here a place quiet and peaceful - the kind that is so hard to find in today's Moscow. Still, nobody is speaking about canceling the traditional winter fun activities: the project provides for snow fortresses, ice sculptures, and of course, sleigh rides from the Pskov slide.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

Totally, the park has in it four levels of terraces. The upper level of the Varvarka Street is the "belvedere" that commands the views of the Moskva River; the terrace beneath it is the historic one, with churches and monuments. The new functions are concentrated predominantly at the third level (it is these function that are united by the single pedestrian ring), while the fourth bottom terrace is in fact a sort of an open-air stage, the park' main public space mean for organizing large-scale events. At this same level, as far away from the Kremlin as possible, there is the Philharmonic Hall (as expected, it will be built through a dedicated tender, this is why, for the time being, it is designated by a symbolic volume), the underground car park also exits here. The latter is the special pride of the authors: designing the space for storing vehicles, they still were able to avoid turning it into a "stone bag" hidden underground. The relief drop here is also used to its best advantage: in fact, the car park is a large hood, turned to the trees and shrubs and "collecting" the excessive sunlight.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

Just as unconventional is the solution that was found to link the park with the Moskva River embankment, one that the "Zaryadye" project is meant to breathe new life into. According to the contest specifications, the contestants were to link the park with the Moskva River with some sort of a bridge and an overpass, and it was only the team "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner" that took the liberty to rethink this requirement. In order to avoid the necessity of grappling with the six-lane road at the top, the architects make a wide passage underneath it. The underground underpass is the last thing in the world that it looks like - rather a gallery or yet another, the "super-bottom" terrace that leads into a small but beautiful tunnel. The latter, by the way, coincides with the historical gates leading into the "China-Town Wall", whose "museum" archeological elements will become its main adornment. An additional lower level also appears at the embankment itself - the Moskva River makes in this place a slight bend, which the architects straighten out with the aid of two smooth ramps, leading the basic pavement away from them. And, although the pedestrians will still be able to walk along the traffic way, the cozy territory next to the water with the bikeways and the marina for the waterbuses are not visually connected with the stream of cars in any way. Thanks to the underground passage, "Zaryadye" park gets not only the required connection with the river but also an imposing extra entrance - the judging board of the contest gave high critical acclaim to this proposal by "Reserve" and its partners; later the Chief Architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov even announced that it would possibly be used in the winning project.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

As was already mentioned before, the main "building material" that forms the park territories is in fact trees and shrubs. These are the flower walls, hedges, lawns, flower beds, and, of course, the trees, which in the park are represented in the variety that is unique for Moscow. “Wealth of the forms of vegetation, according to our concept, symbolizes the variety of the inhabitants of Moscow and Russia, and furthermore it guarantees that the park will boast a saturated color palette almost all year round”, explain Anton Egerev, leader of the 5th architectural workshop of “Reserve”. The park also has a body of water of its own - the symbolic connection to the river is underlined with the help of an artificial creek that, in the shape of a giant horseshoe, straddles the Philharmonic Hall building, as well as by the brook running down the slope and turning into a water surface covering the main square. This "thin film of water", just like the lake, will be reflecting the wealth of the surrounding architectural monuments, while in the night time it will serve, together with the rest of the park, as the background of the various lighting scenarios.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

Designing the park as, predominantly, a work of landscape design, the consortium Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner creates in Zaryadye a space that is as much as possible comfortable, natural, and thus "timeless" - the XXI century makes its presence known not with the modern technological twists but the so-rare for Russia idea of proportion and respect for the immediate surroundings.

"Zaryadye" Park. Project by the consortium "Reserve + Maxwan + Latz und Partner"

27 November 2013

Headlines now

The Big Twelve

Yesterday, the winners of the Moscow Mayor’s Architecture Award were announced and honored. Let’s take a look at what was awarded and, in some cases, even critique this esteemed award. After all, there is always room for improvement, right?

Object

Above the Golden Horn

The residential complex “Philosophy” designed by T+T architects in Vladivostok, is one of the new projects in the “Golubinaya Pad” area, changing its development philosophy (pun intended) from single houses to a comprehensive approach. The buildings are organized along public streets, varying in height and format, with one house even executed in gallery typology, featuring a cantilever leaning on an art object.

Report

Nuanced Alternative

How can you rhyme a square and space? Easily! But to do so, you need to rhyme everything you can possibly think of: weave everything together, like in a tensegrity structure, and find your own optics too. The new exhibition at GES-2 does just that, offering its visitor a new perspective on the history of art spanning 150 years, infused with the hope for endless multiplicity of worlds and art histories. Read on to see how this is achieved and how the exhibition design by Evgeny Ace contributes to it.

Object

Blinds for Ice

An ice arena has been constructed in Domodedovo based on a project by Yuri Vissarionov Architects. To prevent the long façade, a technical requirement for winter sports facilities, from appearing monotonous, the architects proposed the use of suspended structures with multidirectional slats. This design protects the ice from direct sunlight while giving the wall texture and detail.

Report

Campus within a Day

In this article, we talk about what the participants of Genplan Institute of Moscow’s hackathon were doing at the MosComArchitecture booth at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition. We also discuss who won the prize and why, and what can be done with the territory of a small university on the outskirts of Moscow.

Overview

Vertical Civilization

Genpro considered the development of the vertical city concept and made it the theme of their pavilion at the “ArchMoscow” exhibition.

Interview

Marina Yegorova: “We think in terms of hectares, not square meters”

The career path of architect Marina Yegorova is quite impressive: MARHI, SPEECH, MosComArchitectura, the Genplan Institute of Moscow, and then her own architectural company. Its name Empate, which refers to the words “to draw” in Portuguese and “to empathize” in English, should not be misleading with its softness, as the firm freely works on different scales, including Integrated Territorial Development projects. We talked with Marina about various topics: urban planning experience, female leadership style, and even the love of architects for yachting.

Interview

Andrey Chuikov: “Optimum balance is achieved through economics”

The Yekaterinburg-based architectural company CNTR is in its mature stage: crystallization of principles, systematization, and standardization helped it make a qualitative leap, enhance competencies, and secure large contracts without sacrificing the aesthetic component. The head of the company, Andrey Chuikov, told us about building a business model and the bonuses that additional education in financial management provides for an architect.

Object

The Fulcrum

Ostozhenka Architects have designed two astonishing towers practically on the edge of a slope above the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod. These towers stand on 10-meter-tall weathered steel “legs”, with each floor offering panoramic views of the river and the city; all public spaces, including corridors, receive plenty of natural light. Here, we see a multitude of solutions that are unconventional for the residential routine of our day and age. Meanwhile, although these towers hark back to the typological explorations of the seventies, they are completely reinvented in a contemporary key. We admire Veren Group as the client – this is exactly how a “unique product” should be made – and we tell you exactly how our towers are arranged.

Object

Crystal is Watching You

Right now, Museum Night has kicked off at the Museum of Architecture, featuring a fresh new addition – the “Crystal of Perception”, an installation by Sergey Kuznetsov, Ivan Grekov, and the KROST company, set up in the courtyard. It shimmers with light, it sings, it reacts to the approach of people, and who knows what else it can do.

Object

The Secret Briton

The house is called “Little France”. Its composition follows the classical St. Petersburg style, with a palace-like courtyard. The decor is on the brink of Egyptian lotuses, neo-Greek acroteria, and classic 1930s “gears”; the recessed piers are Gothic, while the silhouette of the central part of the house is British. It’s quite interesting to examine all these details, attempting to understand which architectural direction they belong to. At the same time, however, the house fits like a glove in the context of the 20th line of St. Petersburg’s Vasilievsky Island; its elongated wings hold up the façade quite well.

The Wrap-Up

The competition project proposed by Treivas for the first 2021 competition for the Russian pavilion at EXPO 2025 concludes our series of publications on pavilion projects that will not be implemented. This particular proposal stands out for its detailed explanations and the idea of ecological responsibility: both the facades and the exhibition inside were intended to utilize recycled materials.

Birds and Streams

For the competition to design the Omsk airport, DNK ag formed a consortium, inviting VOX architects and Sila Sveta. Their project focuses on intersections, journeys, and flights – both of people and birds – as Omsk is known as a “transfer point” for bird migrations. The educational component is also carefully considered, and the building itself is filled with light, which seems to deconstruct the copper circle of the central entrance portal, spreading it into fantastic hyper-spatial “slices”.

Faraday Grid

The project of the Omsk airport by ASADOV Architects is another concept among the 14 finalists of a recent competition. It is called “The Bridge” and is inspired by both the West Siberian Exhibition of 1911 and the Trans-Siberian Railway bridge over the Irtysh River, built in 1896. On one hand, it carries a steampunk vibe, while on the other, there’s almost a sense of nostalgia for the heyday of 1913. However, the concept offers two variants, the second one devoid of nostalgia but featuring a parabola.

Review

Midway upon the Journey of Our Life

Recently, Tatlin Publishing House released a book entitled “Architect Sergey Oreshkin. Selected Projects”. This book is not just a traditional book of the architectural company’s achievements, but rather a monograph of a more personal nature. The book includes 43 buildings as well as a section with architectural drawings. In this article, we reflect on the book as a way to take stock of an architect’s accomplishments.

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.

send.project

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.

Object

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.

Object

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

Object

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.

Object

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.