Published on Archi.ru (https://archi.ru)

12.10.2009

Crystal Wings

Julia Tarabarina
Architect:
Vladimir Plotkin
Studio:
Creative Union ‘Reserve’

On the way to Sheremetvevo-2 airport, in the field near Melkisarovo village, installation of the “Aeroflot” company office building is completed. Three years ago we had a publication about the project here. This is a back-office of the Aeroflot (the head office will be located in a rented space on the Arbat), and at the same time this is a perfect head office. Anyway, it is hard to imagine a more appropriate office for a company involved in air transport services.

The new Aeroflot office resembles it’s own logo – the emblem created back in 1923 – the "wings" so familiar to its air passenger. Often when an architect wants to include an emblem or a logo in project, they choose the easiest way encrypting graphical information into an appropriate form of the plan. Project of the Aeroflot office is different. It has two wings-constructions stretched along the Mezhdunarodnoe highway, one of them is very close to the highway, and the other stands at some distance. Here the word "wing" is almost literally: each construction has pointed, upturned nose - this, in fact, brings similarity with the wings of the Aeroflot logo which came from the time of Art Deco. Only, the emblem is split into a three-dimensional volume: equal bodies are turned at 80 angle, so nose-wing of one of them fronts Sheremetyevo Airport, and of the other faces Moscow. They are like two opposing express trains on parallel tracks. Buildings spark with glass surfaces and reflect their surrounding, the sky mostly. They seem to absorb the clouds and the sapphire of the skies, demonstrating their belonging to the celestial world. This is the example when the glass completely and successfully fulfilling its role – it makes the building airy. In addition, planes of the wings are contrastly defined with a white line and the black ground floor steps back from the edges and looks like a shadow from afar – this gives the effect of floating above the ground. Sharp "noses" add dynamics, and slight fractures of facade surfaces hint at "movement" of the wings.

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