The site intended for the construction of a house is located in the Moscow region, on the territory of a garden and summer cottage partnership, which borders on a picturesque field and a forest that begins behind it. It was this neighborhood with a very spectacular landscape, as well as the emphatically rectangular shape of the land plot itself, that prompted the architect how best to arrange the future cottage on the site. The house, which the author intends to use not for permanent residence, but as a summer cottage, that is, a place of rest and relaxation, is planted at the very beginning of the plot, along one of the narrow sides of the rectangle, and the length of the structure is actually equal to the width of the plot. All the main premises are maximally revealed on the field and forest, so that the picturesque view will become an integral part of the composition of the whole house.
Since the architect initially relied on economy, he decided to use the most affordable building materials in the construction of his house, allowing the project to be implemented not only relatively cheaply, but also quickly. The main structural system here is a metal frame on which lightweight self-supporting sandwich panels are hung. And as an external facing material, a wooden lath and a profiled sheet were used, which impressed Leonidov not only with its democratic price, but also with the ability to withstand an aggressive external environment for a long time. On the facade facing the street, there are several such sheets, and in order to diversify the ribbed surface, the architect paints them in white, black and red, and on top he puts several inscriptions in very large print. As Leonidov himself says, he borrowed this technique from his Croatian colleagues - bureau Bruketa & Zinic, who recently reconstructed the Zavrtnica business center in Zagreb, painted its facades with giant letters and numbers and called this technique called "typotecture", which means a kind of hybrid of typography and architecture … True, if the Croats used abstract concepts, like the word "object", then Roman Leonidov uses "typotecture" in order to leave an autograph and serial number of the building on the facade of the house (01 - the architect does not exclude that over time this project may be adapted for serial production).
The front door is decorated with red - it differs from the facade by its smooth surface, but the courtyard facade, hidden from the eyes of strangers, is solved completely differently. Here, the already mentioned terrace and the balcony above it, fenced with a wooden pergola, play a dominant role. The part of the house, where the study-studio and the bedrooms are located, is a box closed by a slat, on which a rectangular bay window of the window is hung. The strict geometric shapes and shallow depth of this element make it look more like a giant plasma TV placed on the facade. By the way, exactly the same window opens onto the street facade, where, in combination with corrugated metal, it looks even more technocratic.
The layout of the volume itself is also simple and concise. On the ground floor there is one common room that combines several functions at once - this is a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room, it is also a recreation area. From here you can go up to the second floor, and next to the main terrace there is a utility block. Above the living room, the architect designs a bathroom with a shower, a storage room and a study-studio, in which a guest sleeping place is also located on a small podium. On the third floor, Roman Leonidov has a bedroom, from which you can go to the already mentioned balcony.
In the interior decoration, natural and also the most inexpensive building materials were used - the architect intends to lay a board on the floor, sheathe the walls and ceiling with plywood, releasing the rafter structures. “A large amount of wood is designed to soften the initial stiffness of the box frame itself, and a neutral color scheme (natural honey shade of wood and white furniture) will dissolve the interior into the exterior and immerse its inhabitants in an atmosphere of peace,” explains Roman Leonidov. Large areas of glazing will also contribute to the creation of a comfortable atmosphere in the house, in addition, they will provide the dwelling with natural light as much as possible, which is especially important for a structure powered by electricity. “The task of strict economy of space and space set before oneself made it possible to obtain the maximum usable area, and the need to think in advance about operating costs forced us to find the simplest and at the same time energy efficient planning solutions,” sums up the architect. And it is precisely such a scrupulous thoughtfulness of this project that gives Leonidov every reason to hope that this simple and at the same time emphatically modern and provided with all the amenities country house can eventually be launched into mass production.
