Integrated development of the territory is a very popular term lately. Concepts for building plots, with an area comparable to a small town, sometimes offer the most incredible combinations of functions and solutions to infrastructure and transport problems. Of course, not all of them will eventually be transformed into initial permissive documentation, but this does not mean that projects of this kind are not worthy of close study. After all, this "collection of colorful chapters" is not just an attempt to look into the future, but also to create it.
Among such works, undoubtedly, is the project of the multifunctional center "Ostrov" in Nizhny Novgorod, developed by AM Yuri Vissarionov. It will be built on the Pechersk Sands Peninsula, which today is equally suffering from the spring floods of the Volga and the lack of any infrastructure.
The land plot with a total area of 61 hectares stretches along between the Volga river bed and the northeastern bank of the Grebnoy Canal. And although geographically this is the very center of Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod region), and on the opposite bank of the canal is the famous Pechersky monastery, no one has ever really dealt with the peninsula. This strip of sushi was, in fact, given up to be torn apart by lovers of kebabs and beach vacations. Today, there are at most 3 unpretentious summer cafes on the Pechersk Sands, and even such a banal sign of civilization as toilets for the peninsula, alas, remains a dream.
At the same time, it is clear that its advantageous location, combined with spatial self-sufficiency, could not fail to attract the attention of potential investors. Discussions about the development of the Pechersk Sands have been going on in Nizhny Novgorod for a long time, and during the debates the parties - the authorities, developers, architects - managed to come to a common opinion: a multifunctional complex should be located on the peninsula, capable of making it a place of round-the-clock urban activity. That is why the concept of territory development, developed under the leadership of Yuri Vissarionov, is so rich in the typology of the structures being built. The architect proposes to include in the complex a shopping and entertainment and sports centers, a water park, a congress hall, a medical center, hotels of category 3 and 4 "stars", a camping village, as well as active recreation areas.
The only limitation that the architects had to face was the requirements for the height of the designed objects. Since the Pechersky Monastery is located opposite the western part of the peninsula, new buildings here should not be higher than 16 meters. This requirement largely predetermined the overall compositional solution of the complex. Its master plan resembles a necklace made of different-sized beads, which gradually increase in size with distance from the western end of the peninsula. The chain of biomorphic volumes is closed by two cone-shaped towers, which are supposed to house hotels.
This is a fantasy and futuristic architecture. In one of the versions, the towers are covered with a flexible and thin metal mesh, their shape - parabolic outlines with a gigantic "pinch" at the top suggests that it was "molded", but not from clay, but from some modern plastic. To the west of the towers is an extended Martian landscape of oval domes, to the east are regular campus honeycombs.
All buildings will be built on the principle of "hanging houses" and will have reliably waterproofed foundations, which guarantees the visitors of the center a comfortable pastime at any time of the year. The volumes are interconnected by covered glazed passages - a kind of decks that make a giant complex with an intercontinental liner, which is not afraid of any storms. The naval theme is also supported at the ideological level: it is planned to include a yacht club with a pier (which, by the way, will allow getting to the Pechersk Sands by water), as well as the Multimedia Center for virtual travel around the globe and the Oceanarium.
The theme of travel, water movement is the main motive of the island architecture. Groups of landing stages (hotels, restaurants, game rides, media centers, branches of the oceanarium and water park) become an integral part of the complex, periodically leaving the side of the island-ship and again docking to it. Situated almost at the confluence of the Oka and Volga, these autonomous elements, traveling according to the principle of a circus-tent, reach almost any place in the central part and any part of the city, complementing the city-wide center with modern functions. For the wintering period, these small island boats huddle together at the berth, forming a single floating object.
A promenade boulevard will run along the bank of the Grebnoy Canal, and behind it will be the main transit highway, separated from the complex by a parking "buffer". In addition to land and water transport, the complex will be connected to the "mainland" by a cable car.
