Archi.ru:
Let’s start with a blitz round: where did you study, where did you work, and how did you start your own company?

Marina Yegorova:
I studied at Moscow Architectural Institute, and I consider my admission there a stroke of fate – initially, I was going to become a designer. After graduating, I went to work at SPEECH architectural company, which was then headed by Sergey Tchoban and Sergey Kuznetsov. The further trajectory of my professional activity was largely associated with Sergey Kuznetsov – he invited me first to MosComArchitectura to head the Department of New Territories Development, and then recommended me for the position of Deputy Director at the Genplan Institute of Moscow. A funny memory: in MosComArchitectura, they jokingly called me the “Queen of the Fields”, as I often went on trips to New Moscow to inspect and survey yet-undeveloped sites.

Having had my fill of working as a government official, in 2021, I decided to open my own company, which I recently named Empate. The name came about like many others: I noticed new niches in the market and saw opportunities in them. In the early 2020s, developers began actively exploring the mechanism of ITD – Integrated Territorial Development. And I, as an experienced urban planner, and as a person who indirectly participated in the preparation of this mechanism and knows the regulations and monitors the emergence of new standards, thought: why not, as an independent entrepreneur, engage in what I have long specialized in.

The name Empate is both a tribute to the profession and a declaration of love for the sunny south: it’s a Portuguese word that translates as “to draw”. Importantly, it also sounds very much like “empathize”. And these are exactly the two words that describe me best – an architect and an empath! Everything fell neatly in place.

You position yourself as an architect / urban planner – does this mean that your portfolio only includes master plans, site plans, and ITD projects?

No, not at all! However, for the record, I see nothing wrong with a narrow specialization.

I know that for most young architects, the main dream is to realize themselves in “volumetrics”, i.e. building design. They consider this task ambitious. And urban planning for them is something unclear, almost abstract. And it’s not entirely clear for them how to position yourself in this regard: when you design a city or a district, the constructed result is still ultimately associated with those who came up with the specific buildings, not the planner. But at the same time, the urban planning concept directly influences the architectural appearance of the structures: everything starts with the volumetric-spatial solution, and only then does work on the facades follow. So, it’s still a big question as to who the main creator here is.

We develop architectural and urban planning concepts that combine both building design and planning. Today, developing architecture already at the urban planning stage is becoming a trend.

But in general, of course, we think on a large scale – in terms of hectares, not square meters. And we like it. However, we would never refuse to design a building or a complex of buildings. We feel excited about any architectural task.