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Architecturally speaking, it’s not the biggest or best project I made. It’s nice neoclassicism – that’s what was asked for. As an architect, I build what the customer wants...But aesthetically speaking, it is very correct considering historical proportions. It is not kitsch...It's not overdone, but naturally it is rich, as it was supposed to be. And we used fantastic materials. I was proud of my job. — Der Spiegel
Christian Esch chatted with Lanfranco Cirillo an architect who has spent decades providing Moscow’s super rich with villas and Italian-inspired designs. View full entry
In 1977, the movie house, Novorossiysk, was constructed. During the 80's cinema clubs, lectures, and film festivals used the site to meet and showcase film. Here Muscovites (Moscow residents) had the opportunity to watch the films of Takeshi Kitano, Michael Haneke, Lars von Trier, and other... View full entry
wHY received approval from the city of Perm, Russa on the design of the new Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theater last month. Located at the heart of the city, the new building aims to become a focal point for the growing arts district along the Kama River. Accompanied by a new park... View full entry
Russian firm Syndicate Architecture Bureau won an architectural competition organized by the Garage Museum and Strelka KB to design a temporary summer movie theater space in Moscow's Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure. Aerial view of Garage Screen summer movie theater. Photo by Iwan... View full entry
Architecture is often subject to photo manipulation, especially as it has been made easier through increasingly sophisticated imaging software. The most recent set of examples that we have come across are the creations of Russian production studio Lestnica. Headed by Artem Prudentov, the... View full entry
It’s nighttime and you find yourself in a small, dark flat in a nondescript suburb in Russia. You look out of the window and see the courtyard covered in snow, illuminated by street lamps and the cold neon glare of storefronts. You turn on the light switch and look around your apartment. This is the melancholy start of a new immersive game made by developer Alexander Ignatov and poet Ilia Mazo. — The Calvert Journal
The setting and landscapes of video game worlds add to the overall gaming experience, particularly free roaming games. Called a "sandbox" in the gaming community, the mission-less free to roam game allows the player to wander throughout the virtual world. Without a plot or mission to accomplish... View full entry
Local officials in Saint Petersburg, Russia have granted the RMJM-designed Lakhta Center Multifunctional Complex the authorization for commissioning of the facility after it passed final inspections this week. While the grand opening as Gazprom's new HQ is still another year out, the... View full entry
Russian officials have abandoned a flagship project to build of a new State Center for Contemporary Arts in Moscow.
[...] the head of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (ROSIZO-NCCA), Sergey Perov, revealed to the Art Newspaper Russia earlier this month that the project had been officially scrapped due to a lack of funding.
He said the government had been unable to find the 16 billion rubles ($240 million) needed to back the project.
— Calvert Journal
Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects had originally emerged as the final winner of the international competition for Moscow’s new National Center for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) back in 2013. Image/Visualization by LuxigonImage/Visualization by LuxigonImage/Visualization by Luxigon View full entry
This is the era of the glass and steel airport. As if made from the same mold, shiny, glittering terminals have become a status symbol for any city with aspirations. But all of this is a world away from the remoteness of Russia's Arctic regions and the Siberian wilderness [...] built in the mid-20th century when the Soviet Union saw in air transport a way to expand the state's reach to every corner of its territory, even if that meant little more than a dirt runway and a radio shack. — cnn.com
A collection of Russia's historic wooden airports are the antithesis of our current experience of most urban airports. Rather than immense glass and steel constructions, these old structures are made of simplistic wooden designs. While many may look dilapidated, several are still in operation... View full entry
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has ordered officials to speed up the construction of a cultural centre in Sevastopol, the historic naval capital of Crimea, which will include exhibition space for the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery.
Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In May this year, Putin inaugurated a $7.5bn bridge to link the Crimean city of Kerch with the Russian mainland.
— The Art Newspaper
As Moscow’s Zaryadye Park approaches its first birthday next month, the city’s chief architect, Sergei Kuznetsov, is defending the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed green space for an unexpected feature: its aphrodisiacal properties. Just a stone’s throw from the Kremlin, the firm’s carefully crafted experiment in “wild urbanism” has lived up to its billing, apparently, becoming something of a hotbed for outdoor lovemaking. — news.artnet.com
Moscow's one year old $245 million public park by Diller Scofidio + Renfro was meant to bring freedom of exploration and a feeling of comfort within the urban setting. The space provides visitors with an amphitheater, flora-covered terraces, green spaces with views of the city, and a 230 foot... View full entry
A row has broken out between former RMJM international group design director Tony Kettle and a Russian architect over who designed Europe’s new tallest building – an 87-storey skyscraper near St Petersburg. Staff at Moscow-based firm Gorproject have accused Scottish practice The Kettle Collective of trying to claim ‘authorship’ over energy giant Gazprom’s mammoth tower, currently nearing completion on the Gulf of Finland. — architectsjournal.co.uk
As Europe's tallest skyscraper nears completion, a dispute has erupted over the authorship of the completed project. The Moscow-based firm Gorproject claims design authorship over the Lakhta Center, while Tony Kettle claims the delivered design is his concept while working at RMJM... View full entry
For a brief period from 2011 until 2012 Renzo Piano’s 309.7m London skyscraper, The Shard, was the tallest in Europe. However, it has since been dwarfed by three new buildings in Moscow, and, this summer, the title has shifted to Moscow’s second city, St Petersburg, as one of Russia’s largest companies plans its relocation. — phaidon.com
The Lakhta Center, designed by British firm RMJM, is set to be Europe's new tallest skyscraper. The nearly completed supertall, located on St. Petersburg's coast, will reach approximately 1,515 feet, which is about 50% taller than The Shard in London. The building will serve as the... View full entry
In some places, the tower block has never faded from view. The history of mass housing in eastern Europe is complex and uncomfortable. Yet what’s striking is how prominently the tower block features in the work of contemporary photographers from that territory. These artists have every reason to turn their backs on such buildings. They’re ugly and overbearing, not to say reminiscent of an authoritarian past. But the mass housing block is a recurring presence in their work. — Calvert Journal
Writer and critic Ekow Eshun provides a beautiful overview of the tower block as a recurring architectural, social, and aesthetic theme in the works of post-Soviet-era photographers in Russia, Serbia, the Baltic states, and throughout Eastern Europe. "However ugly and monolithic such buildings... View full entry
A new Moscow apartment building has unveiled a fully-functioning facial recognition system designed to replace residents’ keys. [...]
As well as allowing homeowners to enter the building without a key, the system automatically selects each resident’s floor when they enter the lift, and keeps tabs on cars and pedestrians leaving the complex.
— Calvert Journal
