Yuri Gagarin Park of Space Conquerors

description:

The 22.5-hectare design area is located in the Engels district of the Saratov region and represents the second development phase of the Yuri Gagarin “Conquerors of Space” Park.

The concept of the park is based on dividing the territory into thematic zones, each dedicated either to past achievements or to future advancements of Russia in space exploration. One of the key tasks of the project was to reflect the narrative of each thematic zone in its architecture and landscaping, making every zone recognizable and unique while also introducing design elements that visually unite the entire park. The spatial layout is organized around visitor movement scenarios.

The main entrance to the park is a 10-meter-diameter portal leading into a “parallel reality” of the thematic environment. The teleportation effect is enhanced by a screen displaying a galaxy. On the way to the main pavilion, visitors pass between the entrance-group service facilities, cafés, and souvenir shops. Each zone offers attractions and experiences related to space or to specific literary works such as Captains of the Future, Alice’s Adventures, The Secret of the Third Planet, and others.

The “Vostok-1” pavilion reflects its central theme — Gagarin’s flight on the spacecraft of the same name — in its façade design. Metal wall panels, glossy columns, and smooth rounded forms of openings, furniture, rooms, and equipment recreate the atmosphere of the era of Gagarin’s mission. A monochrome interior palette combined with glossy surfaces and soft linear lighting conveys the sensation of being aboard a spacecraft.

In front of the pavilion, a central plaza leads to the remaining thematic zones through special portals designed in a unified architectural language: curved tunnels with metallic finishes, differing in the color of their lighting and the informational graphics on their interior surfaces.