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The Mastery of Counterpoint

In the sculpture of Classical Greece, counterpoint was first invented: the ability to position the human body as if it were about to take a step, imbuing it with a hint of the energy of future movement, and with hidden dynamics. For architecture, especially in the 20th century and now, this is also one of the main techniques, and the ATRIUM architects implement it diligently, consistently – and always slightly differently. The new residential complex “Richard” is a good example of such exploration, based on the understanding of contrasts in the urban environment, which was fused into the semblance of a living being.

25 August 2023
Object
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Firm:
ATRIUM http://atrium.ru/
Moscow is a city of contrasts in many places, and yet Zorge Street is one of the most vivid examples of this. This street stretches from south to north behind Khodynka; on its eastern side stand buildings constructed during the Stalinist period, followed by the “Birch Grove” park – a kind of ideal mid-rise, green-immersed quiet city with rare signs of life. The western side not too long ago was entirely composed of industrial zones and garages, situated along the Moscow Central Circle – and now this territory is being intensely developed.

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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM
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    View from the side of the Stalinist houses. “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


“Richard”, designed by ATRIUM architects and recently completed, is one of the new residential complexes. Its tall sections reach a height of 98 meters with 28 floors, offering upscale housing. Separating it from Zorge Street is a large and wide park, adjacent to a well-maintained area of the complex. On the ground floors on this side, there are cafes, shops, and a supermarket; the courtyards are enclosed, and the underground parking garage has one level – all of this has become a set of common decencies for a modern housing complex; such things are expected.

What IS intriguing, however, is the form of these buildings and how they respond to the environment.

The surroundings are contrasting to the point of amazement. Stalinist buildings are hidden behind trees, but on the opposite side, in the perspective gaps beyond the Moscow Central Circle, you can see cooling towers and brand-new pipes of the Combined Heat and Power Plant #16. The parking lot from the 1990s looks a bit worse, and even more unexpectedly, the new tall neighbor, the three under-construction residential towers of the “Zorge 9” complex, appears: they are placed so closely that there is a distinct feeling of “boundary violation” and a dispute among the towers, which is all the more astonishing because emptiness and industrial zones still prevail in the surroundings. As a result, a somewhat shaded canyon of a street emerges between the two complexes from the northern side.

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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: © ATRIUM


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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


In such an environment – sometimes not devoid of passive aggressiveness, and sometimes spacious and breezy – the “Richard” residential complex behaves like a living creature: first, it reacts to everything, and second, it makes attempts to sometimes raise its head, and sometimes curl up like a ball. It’s tempting to compare it to a group of large exotic animals – giraffes are the first thing that comes to mind. Generally speaking, giraffe-like buildings occasionally do appear in the context of Moscow’s design, which has recently been height-obsessed; however, I will immediately mention that the abstracted animal character of the buildings, manifesting itself in colorful “skins” and cantilevered “heads”, is ATRIUM’s signature style meant to emphasize this kind of “life-likeness” in their buildings. Their buildings have often reminded me of various creatures before; in recent years, ATRIUM has purposefully expanded this approach on a larger scale.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


Anton Nadtochiy, «ATRIUM»

We saw our task as reducing the scale through contrasting solutions, dividing a large form into many smaller ones, thus reconciling the building with the existing environment, or at least creating links with existing houses.

We also wanted to embellish the volumetric and spatial relationships, and to emphasize the difference in volumes with bracing. Since I adhere to the thesis, not the most popular among my fellow architects, that architecture is a sculpture in which you can live, we strive for maximum plastique, or at least the maximum possible in its genre. As a rule, sectional houses have rather restrained plastique possibilities – for example, there are almost no cantilevers in the facade plane, but in this case we managed to make cantilevered structures and achieve a rather expressive sculpture by harmoniously distributing elements of different scales.


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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM


Indeed, despite the fact that both buildings are sectional and have an L-shape plan, they resemble more a conglomeration of pedestal-like structures and towers – a typology that has become prevalent in Moscow over the past decade. However, in this case, it has “fused” into sections and then visually organized itself in a slightly different manner: here we see not only towers and stylized base connections but also a horizontal volume placed on a foundation with a slight offset, or a vertical volume “growing” through a plate.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


All of this is a mise-en-scène designed for perception from the outside: a sculpture “carved” from the rock of the multi-apartment monolith.

The buildings are composed of two main types of “architectural material”.

One type is responsible for contextual interplay with the Stalinist buildings – these are volumes clad in beige tiles that closely resemble bricks, with various tones and occasional dark-gray inclusions. As is customary for the conservative element, these surfaces are designed calmly and follow the vertical lines: the windows on parts of the facades are grouped in pairs, elongated proportionally with black inserts, and in some places gathered into narrow “slots”. Additionally, significant facades feature relief patterns suitable for brickwork: sloping surfaces and thin vertical cavities.

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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


Surfaces responsible for the modern component of the image are more prominent – at a glance, I would say that they are about two-thirds of the overall volume, and they are solved more intricately and contrastingly. The main theme here is a white grid with predominance of horizontal lines, but without “ribbon” windows, just alternating between wide and not very wide ones. However, all predominantly vertical walls show us, first of all, the submergence of the protruding white stripe due to black inserts, and secondly, its inclination, each time at a slightly different angle. These are accompanied by the slopes of the piers on the first floor – they are now clearly likened to the legs of a centipede, which adds a lot of “animal character” to the building’s image. They have both necks and legs – what more could be said?

The second aspect of the “modern part” of the facades is sidewalls. They are made of glass, but with numerous differently colored slats, resembling small flags, forming a lively, light, and asymmetrical surface – it beautifully enlivens the houses in perspectives, appearing as a precious inlay, significantly different from the long-established simple bright-colored inserts in Moscow. Here, it is not a flat plane, but a volumetric hatching, illuminated by glints from the stained glass – a very pleasant technique, reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation, but in a simplified form and in a more complex color palette: beige resonates with brick, blue with the sky.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


The two themes, as was mentioned before, do not just merely coexist as is often the case in sectional buildings: a stripe of this, a stripe of that. Instead, they intertwine within the volume, being neatly separated by dark niches and other “cut-offs”, as mentioned by Anton Nadtochiy above.

However, the crescendo of the entire composition is undoubtedly the arch. It faces Zorge Street and the park, and is shifted towards the driveway for better visibility; in height, it spans 8 stories – a grand portal designed to attract attention with its shine and unusual shape. Compositionally, the arch inherits the idea previously experimented with by architects in the Barkli Park building on Soviet Army Street: the lower part accommodates the main entrance lobby, while above, there is an open space.

Here, quite clearly, two images “stitched” by the architects come together in a contrasting juxtaposition: the stable colonnade of the brick volume meets the cuts and angles of the modern one. We are seemingly invited to do a comparison.

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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


Furthermore, come right down to it, it’s not an arch at all; there’s nothing arch-like here, nor could there be. This thing much more resembles a gorge, and here the statement becomes very obvious – on the cross-section, it looks precious and golden.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


This is where the main “face-off” of the two materials is staged: on one side, there is brick, on the other, triangle-cut gold (actually composite aluminum panels), and there is a white color at the top.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM


To do the architects justice, we must stress that there is only one golden insert here. Of course, it is directed towards the pedestrian coming from the street and driveway side, meant to capture their attention, and it does: you don’t even notice the brick at first. But this insert is single, that this is important.

Also important is the fact that the faceted golden surface extends into the lobby interior; a skylights has even been created in front of it. The entrance stained glass is also aligned with the golden facets as if it were a membrane. The two walls of the lobby are transparent, providing a view of the courtyard through it – it looks as if it is “stretched” between the two volumes of the house.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


Here, one could fantasize: it would have been ideal to make the lobby entirely glass, light as air, with the brick also penetrating inside, just like the golden surface. However, inside, the brick is replaced by marble mosaic. Nonetheless, it works well: it is cozier for people, and the specifics of the interior space are more obvious; it is by no means “too outward”. The transition is well constructed, as is the connection between the “inside” and the “outside”.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
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    “Richard” housing complex
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    “Richard” housing complex
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    “Richard” housing complex
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


It’s worth noting that the implementation is very close to what we see in the design – perhaps because ATRIUM worked on all stages, from concept and design development to detailed design and interiors. According to the architects, the project was executed quite quickly, despite the fact that the client initially only requested a small, more decorative treatment for the existing volumes. The architects revised everything, enriched the forms, and improved both the apartment layouts and the volumetric solutions, which turned the standard sectional building into something recognizable and unique.

Among other things, the architects chose not to alter the Tarakanovka River, which diagonally crosses the site – in fact, it is because of this river that the residential complex is divided into two L-shaped buildings, and their form, in turn, is determined by their adjacency to the street. The elongated sections are parallel to the street, while the smaller bridges face south and towards the views of Moscow-City.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex. Plan of the 5 floor
    Copyright: © ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM


Aside from everything else, these buildings, especially the main one to the east, provide an example of a beautiful cross-section view. The lines that shape the sculptural volumes come together upon it in a manner reminiscent of some sort of speaking ornament, an icon-like contour of the very essence hidden within the complex’s plastique.

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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM
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    “Richard” housing complex
    Copyright: © ATRIUM


“Richard”, indeed, bears a resemblance to the “Barkli Park” building from a decade earlier: not only in the placement of the lobby within an arch but also in the interweaving of volumes and “narratives” and most importantly, in the attempt to consistently reflect the well-known thesis that the city is a living organism. The architects at ATRIUM attempt to populate it with “animated” dynamic buildings, creatively fusing contrasts within. If one were to look from above, the newly constructed “puzzle” somehow enters into a dialogue with the much larger and noticeably more unruly one, which the city presents to us as having developed independently over several periods of its growth: here, the beige color of the brick, there, the whiteness of the panels; here, the verticality of the pipes, and so on. They even arrange themselves in familiar patterns, both the building itself and everything around it.

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“Richard” housing complex
Copyright: Photograph © Vlad Ainet / provided by ATRIUM


However, at the same time, the new building, while digesting all these themes, offers its own response and its own solution – one that might well serve as a context for future neighbors.

In the year 2022, “Richard” became the winner of the Urban Awards in the category of “Residential Complex with the Best Architecture”.

Firm:
ATRIUM http://atrium.ru/

25 August 2023

Headlines now
Object
Domus Aurea
In this issue, we examine the “Tessinsky-1” house, designed by Sergey Skuratov and completed in 2023. Located in the middle of the Serebryanicheskaya Embankment district, at the intersection of its main streets, this house assumes a sort of “nodal” role: it not only responds to everything around it and preserves many memories of the former EMA factory within itself, but it weaves all this into a newly directed pattern, reconciling bright “gold” and dark-colored brick, largely with the help of the new, modern-yet-archaic Columba brick, which, come to think about it, is the most precious element here.
​Periscope by the Bay
The jury awarded the second place in the competition for a public and cultural center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the companies GORA (“Mountain”) and M4. In the consortium’s proposal, the building resembles a sperm whale with a calf swimming next to it or a periscope, whose lenses capture the most spectacular views from the surrounding landscape.
Contest Results
From Arcs to Dolmens
While working on the competition project for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, ASADOV Architects prioritized the value of the natural and urban environment, aiming to preserve the balance of the location while minimizing the resemblance of the volume that they designed to a “traditional building”. The task was challenging, and the architects created three versions, one of which having been developed after the competition, where their main proposal took third place. However, the point of interest here is not the competition result but the continuity of creative thinking.
Object
Hide and Seek
The ID Moskovskiy house, designed by Stepan Liphart in St. Petersburg, in the courtyards near Moskovskiy Avenue beyond the Obvodny Canal and recently completed, is notable for several reasons. Firstly, it has been realized with considerable accuracy, which is particularly significant as this is the first building where the architect was responsible not only for the facades but also for the layouts, allowing for better integration between the two. On the other hand, this building is interesting as an example of the “germination” of new architecture in the city: it draws on the best examples from the neighborhood and becomes an improved and developed sum of ideas found by the architect in the surrounding context.
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.
Contest Results
Frozen Magma
A competition for the creation of a public and cultural center was held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Three architectural companies made it to the final, and we consider it important to share about the work of each. Let’s start with the winner – the consortium led by Wowhaus.
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.