The place where the new house of Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Tchoban was built dictates two different, if not contradictory, themes to its architecture. In a nutshell, these are "sea" and "cold" - things that are poorly compatible in the minds of the average modern person. Let's explain. Krestovsky Island is located between two branches of the Neva, Srednaya and Malaya Nevka, and on the western shore it goes to the Neva Bay of the Baltic Sea. This is the "sea facade" of the northern capital, which implies austerity and harmony, restrained Petersburg dignity. But the sea is also about yachts, walks, rest, and, in combination with Krestovsky Island, parks and other entertainments.
The architecture of the complex is based on the combination of these two themes - the austerity of stone Petersburg and park openness. To achieve harmony, if such a task is set, is not easy - the architects succeeded, firstly, thanks to the use of an unusual S-shaped plan, and secondly, due to the techniques belonging to two - note, antagonistic - stylistic directions. Moreover, both are closely related.
The flattened and horizontally stretched letter ‘S’ with a bizarre calligraphic “tail” in the southern part, when viewed from above, most of all resembles the bends of the sleeves in the Neva delta - it seems to be trying to fit not only into the town-planning, but also into the geographical context. Because of this, the whole ensemble looks unusual - instead of three long rows of buildings, which at this place are straightforward, we get a "snake" that bends around two extended courtyards.
But this geographic sensitivity is not the main thing here, but rather a side effect. Another thing is more important. In two places, where the stone "python" turns, the buildings merge into strict, fan-semicircular volumes, the facades of which are cut by verticals and grasped by a grid of windows. Without leaving the slightest doubt - we have before us an architecture very similar to the Art Deco of the 1930s - this image is so "collected" and classic. For some reason, the Parisian palace of Chaillot pops up in my memory … So, in two places - in the place of the turn - the complex acquires distinctly palace features and makes one recall the classical architecture.
But where the bend ends and the body of the house becomes straight, extended, the architectural solution of the buildings becomes different - they are united only by the stylobate, and above they are divided into volumes with asymmetric "free" plans. These buildings are no longer palaces at all, they can equally recall the search for modernism-functionalism, and the dachas of the neighboring Stone Island.
Comparison with a snake turns out to be not so arbitrary: if we take a children's toy-snake and fold it in a similar way, then in the places of bending the links will form rigid “fan” semicircles, in the rest they will be located more freely. So, the "house by the sea" where it bends is almost a palace, and in the other parts it is almost a modernist villa. So, in the curved parts of the complex, classical composure and symmetry dominate, in the extended ones - romantic freedom and openness.
The image of the "palace" reaches its climax in the solution of the front southern courtyard. Its ponds and fountains are lined up in one line, continuing the axis of the Rowing Canal, and the effect is downright Versailles (or, if you prefer, Peterhof). The canal is included in the perspective and takes on the role of a water parterre. On the opposite side, the extended cour-d'honneur is solemnly closed by a semicircular building. Thus, the house not only absorbs the sea panorama, but also denotes a distant relationship with the suburban imperial residences, with this main tourist attraction in the environs of St. Petersburg. And its inhabitants, it turns out, live not only in an elite house, but also, as it were, a little in a palace. What they will be able to remember by swimming in the pool and contemplating the linear perspective of the water parterre with fountains. By the way, just to “open” the view of the canal, it was necessary to add a calligraphic “tail” to the plan - the space expands slightly to the west, playing with the perception according to the rules of the palaces of classicism.
The second courtyard is slightly smaller and noticeably more intimate. Continuing the comparison with the imperial residences, we can say that the southern courtyard looks like a "French" parterre, while in the northern one its antagonist - the "English park" with its cult of private life, has taken root. Even the semicircular body does not look so solemn here, and asymmetric volumes begin to play the "main violin". What is fair - the character of the northern courtyard is akin to their "dacha" spirit. These buildings are made up of three parallelepipeds, and each such volume corresponds (at the floor level) to one apartment, so the layout of these buildings should be recognized as 100% “honest”, following the rules of 20th century functionalism.
The freedom of the plan is reflected in the facades, where the continuous stained-glass windows of the loggia facades are replaced by stone massifs cut through with thin "loopholes" of asymmetric windows. Lightness and massiveness, black and white, straight and rounded corners - asymmetry is combined with contrasts. Even the light-shadow is contrasting: on the "front" facades, the stone planes between the windows are covered with sharp horizontal corrugation - a kind of architectural ornament reminiscent of the blinds of southern cities. This decorative and pictorial motif enlivens the architectural plot and adds a narrative to it, forcing us to remember, besides Versailles, Paris. For instance.
So, the architecture of the complex is built on contrasts - in general and in particular. Which, oddly enough, does not make it fractional (which could happen with such a rich play with meanings and styles). But all together it turns out not at all defiant, rather light and harmonious. The ensemble remains very solid - several images, which, in theory, are supposed to argue and contradict, coexist surprisingly peacefully. Perhaps this is due to the emphasized severity of the architectural solution: the whiteness of the stone, the sharpness of the lines. Although not to a small extent, this unexpected integrity is achieved due to the refined quality of finishing - up to the pattern of stone cladding with unobtrusive frames around the windows.
