Coincidentally, the master class of Sergei Tchoban, an architect practicing simultaneously in two countries - Russia and Germany, was held in the middle of one of the major events of the Arch Moscow Next festival! - Day of Italy. In the same conference hall, from the very morning, master classes by famous Italian architects were held, who spoke with one voice about traditions and innovation, a painful topic for modern Russian reality. This topic is also close to Sergei Tchoban, remember at least the last issue of the magazine ‘SPEECH: Second Life’, the main theme of which was the reconstruction of the old rear ones. This time, behind the "genetic code of the city", designated as the topic of the master class, there was the same problem of old and new, but it was revealed not on the example of reconstruction, but of new construction, which, as you know, relates to the urban environment in different ways. …
Sergei Tchoban chose a non-linear way of presenting the material: his story was subordinated to a concept with several sub-themes, and projects and constructed buildings served as illustrations of various systems of interaction between the urban environment, architecture and architectural form. Sergei Tchoban began his master class with a small theoretical excursion, where, using the example of two well-known Russian cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg, he showed how different an urban environment can be. Over its more than 800-year history, Moscow has become a city of layering and contrasts of different eras. Its genocode, according to Sergei Tchoban, are separate objects-sculptures. Petersburg, on the other hand, is an ideal city, where the form does not matter, and the façade plays the main role.
Thus, based on the genetic code of the city, there are two main approaches to the historically formed urban environment - its “loosening” by separate new buildings-sculptures or its preservation, when new construction is carried out according to already existing principles. Sergei Tchoban uses both of these principles in his practice, and the choice of one method or another depends on the context of a particular urban environment.
First, the architect told about those cases from his own practice, when it was necessary to "shake" the architectural environment, to supplement it with new "sculptures".
In the city of Wolfsburg, the LSW tower is currently being built according to the design of Sergei Tchoban. The tower is a small "sculpture", the console of which is brought out to different sides of which create a dynamic composition with a conscious emphasis on geometry. This emphasis is due to the proximity to the building of Zaha Hadid, which cannot be repeated or "shouted down". The decision to do something completely different, according to Sergei Tchoban, was the most correct here. The Zaha Hadid building and the new LSW tower are located on the border between two completely different parts of the city - the "city of cars" and an ordinary European city with a system of axes, streets and blocks. The construction of Zaha Hadid has already "shook" this border, simultaneously uniting and dividing the two parts of the city. The new LSW tower continues this loosening, thus creating a new quality for the urban environment.
Another building that Sergei Tchoban considers developing the same theme of sculptural confrontation is the Jewish Cultural Center in Berlin. Only, in the opinion of the author, the opposition here is external, but “internal”. The substation building was reconstructed for the cultural center. Accordingly, it radically changed its function, and a completely new space was created inside. Outside, the changes are almost invisible, only the axis of the main entrance with a very bright colored stained-glass window has been pierced. The interior space is filled with sculptural elements, none of which are in contact with the existing walls, contrasting their sculpturality with the functional and geometric space of the former industrial building. As a continuation of this project, a building of a Jewish school is being designed nearby, similar to one of the sculptures of the interior of the Cultural Center.
The building of the technical museum, the place for which is provided in the very center of Berlin on the square, which is part of the former telegraph complex, is a dynamic "sculpture" opposed to a strict static frame. The building supports a huge console that covers the perimeter of the plaza, creating a space between the existing and new buildings, similar to the covered galleries of an Italian palazzo. Inside the museum, you can take an elevator to the roof and get a bird's eye view of Berlin.
The second part of the lecture was devoted to projects that continue the city, perceive the genetic code of the city as an important component, on the basis of which new construction and new architecture emerge.
The Benois house on the territory of the Russia plant is a reconstruction of a former production hall, in which special attention was paid to the façade. According to Sergei Chaban, a theme was chosen for the facade at the same time decorative and abstract-architectural - drawings by Alexander Benois for his theatrical performances. Such a topic arose for obvious reasons: at this place at the end of the 19th century was the summer residence of Alexander Benois, where he rested with his parents and older brother Albert. When industrial buildings began to be built on the site of park buildings, Alexandre Benois wrote in his diary that he saw here for the first time how commerce was replacing culture. Now the opposite situation has arisen, when production has become unnecessary, and culture has again appeared in its place. Thus, the building contains memories of the nature of the place, continues the history of the urban environment.
Another example of following the genetic code of the environment is the building "Langensiepen" in the center of St. Petersburg of the period of neoclassicism and modernity. It used to be a textile manufacturing company owned by Langensiepen. The house, which was reconstructed by Sergei Tchoban, consists of contrasts - the main facade is made of glass and looks like wallpaper, the side facade is made in stone, and the ragged rhythm of the windows creates its image. This opposition, which was conceived by the architect, is in the very integrity of St. Petersburg. According to Sergei Tchoban, it was important to show how St. Petersburg lives and thereby strengthen the existing space.
In Moscow, according to the project of the architect, the Byzantine House is being built in Granatny Pereulok. According to Sergei Tchoban, the surrounding buildings are very diverse. Therefore, he decided to make the facades very calm, subjecting them to this technique of total ornament, which envelops the building like a blanket, without tiers and orders. This should help the house blend in with the "campy" mansions around. The total ornamentation of the surface also penetrates into the interior, forming an overall impression.
The genetic code of a city is a conditional, but very substantial concept that can actually work in modern architecture and urban planning. This was shown in his master class by Sergei Tchoban on the example of already built and still under construction buildings. Today the architect can change the environment of the city and create his own round in the genocode of the architectural space. The main thing in this opportunity is to understand the responsibility to past and future generations, so as not to accidentally “kill” the city.
