On Wings Spread Wide

Designed by Roman Leonidov in the Moscow area, the Wing-house demonstrates a new type of Russian manor house built in the style of organic architecture. The Wing-house observes three rules: the client’s comfort, harmony with nature, and perfect plastique. We met with Roman Leonidov and spoke to him about manifesto buildings and the architects’ subconscious.

Written by:
Lara Kopylova
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

17 January 2018

Object

How did this name of “Wing-house” come about, anyway? Roman Leonidov explains that the image of the house sprung from its owner’s personality. He is a prominent figure in the beauty industry, known for his flights of fancy – hence, the “wing” motif. “My client is a very charismatic personality. I was afraid that he would dominate, and, as it turned out, he feared the same thing from my side. And this is why we stayed at a level of mutual respect but we never became soulmates the way I usually do with ninety percent of my clients”.

In addition, the architect wanted to experiment with the back pitch of the roof. The snow load does not scare away anybody these days because it is calculated for any type of roofing. As for the rainfall water, it just goes down the drain. This is how the “bird” form of the roof of the main house came about. It is duplicated in the design of the roofs of the flanks. As for the structure of the “main wing”, one of the elements under the roof is concrete because it carries most of the weight. The other parts of the structure are wood. The roofs of the wings expose bent glued wooden beams: they put an interesting spin on the wing motif.

zooming — Wing-house in the Moscow area. Architect: Roman Leonidov © Studio of Roman Leonidov

A modern Russian manor estate with a court of honor

The client wanted a home that would be rather open and representative-looking, yet the same time providing an opportunity for seclusion. Due to the fact that the land plot borders on a forest, there was no problem of shutting out from the neighbors but there was still a task of creating an intimate atmosphere in the yard so that a person who would find himself in there would not feel anybody’s presence. For this reason, the composition of the house includes the central tall part (the main house) and side wings of smaller height, which form the court of honor in front of the main façade. On entering it, one can only see the forest and the land plot. The fence (which is there nonetheless) is hidden deep inside the forest, and there is no feeling of being in a confined space. As for the “court of honor” term, it did not come about by chance. In the functional program of the building, typical of today, Roman Leonidov sees a new type of the Russian manor estate. This includes a rather extended public block: a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a health-and-fitness part consisting of a swimming pool, a sauna, and a gym. Fully glazed, the swimming pool grants access to nature, specifically to an open-air terrace with lounge chairs (to this same court of honor, to be exact). This is a whole spa complex, the kind you would meet at a luxury resort. The client wanted this part for his personal use, and for welcoming his guests and business partners.

Just the way it should be at a manor house, this house has “stalls” in it, i.e. garages for the family’s cars, because if you live in the country one car per family is definitely not enough. The garage also houses the harvesting equipment and the owner’s collection of cars. Totally, this comes together to form a whole car park. The manor estate is a whopping hectare, so the landscape is handled by a gardener, or rather, the local jack-of-all-trades.

The main house includes a double-height living room, a dining room, and a master’s bedroom on the second floor. One of the wings includes rooms for the residents and guests; beneath them, there is a spa complex. The other wing includes the “stalls” of the garages, and the gardener’s flat above them. What is interesting is the fact that the overpass leading from the main house to the wing on the second floor is essentially an open-air terrace for everyone to see, from which one can also enjoy the surrounding scenery. The terrace makes the image of the house more open (the usable roof, since it is flat, must be filled with life) but its role of a belvedere is rather representational: as was already said, the court of honor, protected from the outside world, enjoys more popularity here.

“At first the I and the client were shocked but then we realized that this thing would be bold and good-looking”

The fashionable black color is in fact a result of a construction mistake. Roman Leonidov: “The paint that we ordered arrived, and it was alright against the waybill. The construction workers started doing the paint job, and then they call us and go: it’s sort of darkish, was it meant to be that way? I instantly come round and see that the wood is now pitch-black! I try to take a shave off the surface, and I realize that this is impossible – you cannot even chip it away. At first I and the customer were shocked but then we realized that this thing would be bold and good-looking. All the more so because he is an emotionally open person, capable of making unexpected decisions! I myself would never have dared to make the plunge but now I see that this was a success”.

“I like Fallingwater in terms of composition, but functionally it’s an atrocity”.

Roman Leonidov says that some of his creations were inspired by organic architecture. When asked whether he drew inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright, he gave an unexpected answer – and our conversation went to a whole new level. “An architect cannot NOT be inspired by Wright. We all are infected by this his “Fallingwater” or “Waterfall villa”. I love it in terms of composition, but functionally it’s an atrocity, a thing in itself. It leaves no room for life. Whatever life there is in it, it only gets in the way of architecture. I am trying to be a modernist like Corbusier or Wright but I can’t seem to be doing very well. Eclecticism is what’s hot right now. At a first glance, modernism seems to have more integrity about it. But, in fact, we do the same decoration stuff that the authors of the late ХIХ century did. It lacks the philosophical prime mover that would push the whole thing forward from inside. It’s just not there. And this is generally the issue with modern architecture. It lacks the integral philosophical construct that would shape up the contents and the form of the architecture. But the tasks that we have to handle are still as important: you need to make the house fit in nicely with its surroundings, ensure the client’s comfort, and achieve the perfect plastique”.

The Wing-house successfully solves all these three tasks. As for the comfort aspect, we already covered it. The house also fits nicely with its surroundings thanks to its materials. There are many of them: concrete and wood, stone and brick, glass and stucco. “Yes, it may seem like there are too many different materials used in our house. Had we used fewer materials, it would be more integral and its form would read better – Roman Leonidov says. But what people are after is something that has texture about it, something palpable”. In this case, the architect was very considerate of the human psychology. Wood, brick and stone are used in the bearing structures. The decoration is ruled by plaster and basswood. The vertical towers are covered with sandstone: “not for any functional reason, just for the beauty of it”.

The composition, as was already said, consists of three parts. Where a vertical accent was needed, the stone-covered “Wright” towers appeared – a memory of the “Villa above the waterfall”. (“The vertical wall here is, regretfully, not a fireplace. It’s just that we needed a vertical here”). These towers bump into other elements, one of them piercing the “wing” roof, for example. This technique makes the architectural form particularly dramatic. The tension between the plastique tasks and the function is always there.

As is known, “manifesto” houses are rarely lived in. While Fallingwater, according to Roman Leonidov’s confession, is functionally atrocious, in spite of all its artistic beauty (or maybe thanks to it), and Philipp Johnson’s Glass House is also a manifesto that he never lived in, the next question I asked Roman Leonidov was – why does it always happen this way? And it turned out that “the architect’s artistic concept is one thing, and his subconscious is another”. And when I asked if it was worth trying to hear what the subconscious tells you, the answer was as follows: “This is far from easy. It’s great when somebody is around who can help you find your inner freedom. But when the person you have to fight is yourself, it’s pretty tough sometimes. My task was to make sure that my pencil sketch shows through in the end result”. In the Wing-house project, Roman Leonidov was able to do it. What he ultimately got is a house that is integral in its image and comfortable to live in. The artistic concept and the function made peace with each other and are now keeping a good balance.

17 January 2018

Headlines now

The Mirror of Your Soul

We continue to publish projects from the competition for the design of the Russian Pavilion at EXPO in Osaka 2025. We are reminding you that the results of the competition have not been announced, and hardly will ever be. The pavilion designed by ASADOV Architects combines a forest log cabin, the image of a hyper transition, and sculptures made of glowing threads – it focuses primarily on the scenography of the exhibition, which the pavilion builds sequentially like a string of impressions, dedicating it to the paradoxes of the Russian soul.

Part of the Ideal

In 2025, another World Expo will take place in Osaka, Japan, in which Russia will not participate. However, a competition for the Russian pavilion was indeed held, with six projects participating. The results were never announced as Russia’s participation was canceled; the competition has no winners. Nevertheless, Expo pavilion projects are typically designed for a bold and interesting architectural statement, so we’ve gathered all the six projects and will be publishing articles about them in random order. The first one is the project by Vladimir Plotkin and Reserve Union, which is distinguished by the clarity of its stereometric shape, the boldness of its structure, and the multiplicity of possible interpretations.

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The Fortress by the River

ASADOV Architects have developed a concept for a new residential district in the center of Kemerovo. To combat the harsh climate and monotonous everyday life, the architects proposed a block type of development with dominant towers, good insolation, facades detailed at eye level, and event programming.

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In the Rhombus Grid

Construction has begun on the building of the OMK (United Metallurgical Company) Corporate University in Nizhny Novgorod’s town of Vyksa, designed by Ostozhenka Architects. The most interesting aspect of the project is how the architects immersed it in the context: “extracting” a diagonal motif from the planning grid of Vyksa, they aligned the building, the square, and the park to match it. A truly masterful work with urban planning context on several different levels of perception has long since become the signature technique of Ostozhenka.

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Generational Connection

Another modern estate, designed by Roman Leonidov, is located in the Moscow region and brings together three generations of one family under one roof. To fit on a narrow plot without depriving anyone of personal space, the architects opted for a zigzag plan. The main volume in the house structure is accentuated by mezzanines with a reverse-sloped roof and ceilings featuring exposed beams.

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Three Dimensions of the City

We began to delve into the project by Sergey Skuratov, the residential complex “Depo” in Minsk, located at Victory Square, and it fascinated us completely. The project has at least several dimensions to it: historical – at some point, the developer decided to discontinue further collaboration with Sergey Skuratov Architects, but the concept was approved, and its implementation continues, mostly in accordance with the proposed ideas. The spatial and urban planning dimension – the architects both argue with the city and play along with it, deciphering nuances, and finding axes. And, finally, the tactile dimension – the constructed buildings also have their own intriguing features. Thus, this article also has two parts: it dwells on what has been built and what was conceived

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New “Flight”

Architects from “Mezonproject” have developed a project for the reconstruction of the regional youth center “Polyot”(“Flight”) in the city of Oryol. The summer youth center, built back in the late 1970s, will now become year-round and acquire many additional functions.

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The Yauza Towers

In Moscow, there aren’t that many buildings or projects designed by Nikita Yavein and Studio 44. In this article, we present to you the concept of a large multifunctional complex on the Yauza River, located between two parks, featuring a promenade, a crossroads of two pedestrian streets, a highly developed public space, and an original architectural solution. This solution combines a sophisticated, asymmetric façade grid, reminiscent of a game of fifteen puzzle, and bold protrusions of the upper parts of the buildings, completely masking the technical floors and sculpting the complex’s silhouette.

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Architecture and Leisure Park

For the suburban hotel complex, which envisages various formats of leisure, the architectural company T+T Architects proposed several types of accommodation, ranging from the classic “standard” in a common building to a “cave in the hill” and a “house in a tree”. An additional challenge consisted in integrating a few classic-style residences already existing on this territory into the “architectural forest park”.

Overview

The U-House

The Jois complex combines height with terraces, bringing the most expensive apartments from penthouses down to the bottom floors. The powerful iconic image of the U-shaped building is the result of the creative search for a new standard of living in high-rise buildings by the architects of “Genpro”.

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Black and White

In this article, we specifically discuss the interiors of the ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh. Interior design is a crucial component of the overall concept in this case, and precision and meticulous execution were highly important for the architects. Julia Tryaskina, head of UNK interiors, shares some of the developments.

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The “Snake” Mountain

The competition project for the seaside resort complex “Serpentine” combines several typologies: apartments of different classes, villas, and hotel rooms. For each of these typologies, the KPLN architects employ one of the images that are drawn from the natural environment – a serpentine road, a mountain stream, and rolling waves.

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Opal from Anna Mons’ Ring

The project of a small business center located near Tupolev Plaza and Radio Street proclaims the necessity of modern architecture in a specific area of Moscow commonly known as “Nemetskaya Sloboda” or “German settlement”. It substantiates its thesis with the thoroughness of details, a multitude of proposed and rejected form variants, and even a detailed description of the surrounding area. The project is interesting indeed, and it is even more interesting to see what will come of it.

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Feed ’Em All

A “House of Russian Cuisine” was designed and built by KROST Group at VDNKh for the “Rossiya” exhibition in record-breaking time. The pavilion is masterfully constructed in terms of the standards of modern public catering industry multiplied by the bustling cultural program of the exhibition, and it interprets the stylistically diverse character of VDNKh just as successfully. At the same time, much of its interior design can be traced back to the prototypes of the 1960s – so much so that even scenes from iconic Soviet movies of those years persistently come to mind.

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The Ensemble at the Mosque

OSA prepared a master plan for a district in the southern part of Derbent. The main task of the master plan is to initiate the formation of a modern comfortable environment in this city. The organization of residential areas is subordinated to the city’s spiritual center: depending on the location relative to the cathedral mosque, the houses are distinguished by façade and plastique solutions. The program also includes a “hospitality center”, administrative buildings, an educational cluster, and even an air bridge.

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Pargolovo Protestantism

A Protestant church is being built in St. Petersburg by the project of SLOI architects. One of the main features of the building is a wooden roof with 25-meter spans, which, among other things, forms the interior of the prayer hall. Also, there are other interesting details – we are telling you more about them.

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The Shape of the Inconceivable

The ATOM Pavilion at VDNKh brings to mind a famous maxim of all architects and critics: “You’ve come up with it? Now build it!” You rarely see such a selfless immersion in implementation of the project, and the formidable structural and engineering tasks set by UNK architects to themselves are presented here as an integral and important part of the architectural idea. The challenge matches the obliging status of the place – after all, it is an “exhibition of achievements”, and the pavilion is dedicated to the nuclear energy industry. Let’s take a closer look: from the outside, from the inside, and from the underside too.

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Rays of the Desert

A school for 1750 students is going to be built in Dubai, designed by IND Architects. The architects took into account the local specifics, and proposed a radial layout and spaces, in which the children will be comfortable throughout the day.

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The Dairy Theme

The concept of an office of a cheese-making company, designed for the enclosed area of a dairy factory, at least partially refers to industrial architecture. Perhaps that is why this concept is very simple, which seems the appropriate thing to do here. The building is enlivened by literally a couple of “master strokes”: the turning of the corner accentuates the entrance, and the shade of glass responds to the theme of “milk rivers” from Russian fairy tales.

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The Road to the Temple

Under a grant from the Small Towns Competition, the main street and temple area of the village of Nikolo-Berezovka near Neftekamsk has been improved. A consortium of APRELarchitects and Novaya Zemlya is turning the village into an open-air museum and integrating ruined buildings into public life.

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Towers Leaning Towards the Sun

The three towers of the residential complex “Novodanilovskaya 8” are new and the tallest neighbors of the Danilovsky Manufactory, “Fort”, and “Plaza”, complementing a whole cluster of modern buildings designed by renowned masters. At the same time, the towers are unique for this setting – they are residential, they are the tallest ones here, and they are located on a challenging site. In this article, we explore how architects Andrey Romanov and Ekaterina Kuznetsova tackled this far-from-trivial task.

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In the spirit of ROSTA posters

The new Rostselmash tractor factory, conceptualized by ASADOV Architects, is currently being completed in Rostov-on-Don. References to the Soviet architecture of the 1920’s and 1960’s resonate with the mission and strategic importance of the enterprise, and are also in line with the client’s wish: to pay homage to Rostov’s constructivism.

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The Northern Thebaid

The central part of Ferapontovo village, adjacent to the famous monastery with frescoes by Dionisy, has been improved according to the project by APRELarchitects. Now the place offers basic services for tourists, as well as a place for the villagers’ leisure.

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Brilliant Production

The architects from London-based MOST Architecture have designed the space for the high-tech production of Charge Cars, a high-performance production facility for high-speed electric cars that are assembled in the shell of legendary Ford Mustangs. The founders of both the company and the car assembly startup are Russians who were educated in their home country.

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Three-Part Task: St. Petersburg’s Mytny Dvor

The so-called “Mytny Dvor” area lying just behind Moscow Railway Station – the market rows with a complex history – will be transformed into a premium residential complex by Studio 44. The project consists of three parts: the restoration of historical buildings, the reconstruction of the lost part of the historical contour, and new houses. All of them are harmonized with each other and with the city; axes and “beams of light” were found, cozy corners and scenic viewpoints were carefully thought out. We had a chat with the authors of the historical buildings’ restoration project, and we are telling you about all the different tasks that have been solved here.

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The Color of the City, or Reflections on the Slope of an Urban Settlement

In 2022, Ostozhenka Architects won a competition, and in 2023, they developed and received all the necessary approvals for a master plan for the development of Chernigovskaya Street for the developer GloraX. The project takes into account a 10-year history of previous developments; it was done in collaboration with architects from Nizhny Novgorod, and it continues to evolve now. We carefully examined it, talked to everyone, and learned a lot of interesting things.

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A Single-Industry Town

Kola MMC and Nornickel are building a residential neighborhood in Monchegorsk for their future employees. It is based on a project by an international team that won the 2021 competition. The project offers a number of solutions meant to combat the main “demons” of any northern city: wind, grayness and boredom.

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A New Age Portico

At the beginning of the year, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport opened Terminal C. The large-scale and transparent entrance hall with luminous columns inside successfully combines laconism with a bright and photogenic WOW-effect. The terminal is both the new façade of the whole complex and the starting point of the planned reconstruction, upon completion of which Tolmachevo will become the largest regional airport in Russia. In this article, we are examining the building in the context of modernist prototypes of both Novosibirsk and Leningrad: like puzzle pieces, they come together to form their individual history, not devoid of curious nuances and details.

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A New Starting Point

We’ve been wanting to examine the RuArts Foundation space, designed by ATRIUM for quite a long time, and we finally got round to it. This building looks appropriate and impressive; it amazingly combines tradition – represented in our case by galleries – and innovation. In this article, we delve into details and study the building’s historical background as well.

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Molding Perspectives

Stepan Liphart introduces “schematic Art Deco” on the outskirts of Kazan – his houses are executed in green color, with a glassy “iced” finish on the facades. The main merits of the project lie in his meticulous arrangement of viewing angles – the architect is striving to create in a challenging environment the embryo of a city not only in terms of pedestrian accessibility but also in a sculptural sense. He works with silhouettes, proposing intriguing triangular terraces. The entire project is structured like a crystal, following two grids, orthogonal and diagonal. In this article, we are examining what worked, and what eventually didn’t.

​On Wings Spread Wide

On Wings Spread Wide