Archi.ru: When was T + T Architects created?
Sergey Trukhanov: Our company is formally very young: it was established at the beginning of 2012. But the team I lead was formed much earlier: for several years we all worked as part of another bureau. Some of the projects that we started doing then were completed under the new brand and rightfully entered the T + T Architects portfolio.
Archi.ru: As far as I understand, the name of the bureau is not connected with your surname?
S. T.: "T + T" are the initial letters of two English words, transparent and territory, that is, "transparency" and "space". This formula is the essence of our approach to the development of architectural projects. The openness of all design solutions, their validity and comprehensibility for the customer, contractor and end users - this is what we rely on. The architecture of the building, its social and functional program must be justified by factors, environment, logistics, aesthetic and social value, all that is now commonly called "context". Apparently, therefore, many of our objects do not have, shall we say, a pronounced, characteristic style for us. We do not set ourselves the task of realizing our architectural ego in every project, although personally I do not see anything wrong with that.
Archi.ru: How do you characterize your architecture in this case?
S. T.: Speaking about our architectural objects and interiors, I would say that they are all the most dynamic. We are not attracted to structures that are self-contained and exist separately from the city and people, forts are not our typology. We are much closer to projects similar to "White Square" - a complex on a tiny piece of land with a rich environment, the feeling of Manhattan on a micro-scale.
Archi.ru: In other words, is the created environment more important to you than the form?
S. T.: I would say that the interaction of the object with the environment is more important than the form. The shape should be conditioned by the environment, not the environment should be tailored to the shape. In this sense, we are very close to the approach when any project is presented as a set of clear, consistent and logical schemes, let us recall, for example, Bjarke Ingels. Everything is simple, for a start we take a cube in an open field, which is then transformed taking into account insolation, wind rose, species characteristics, transport scheme, and human flows. By superimposing some factors on others, we get the required matrix, and architecture ceases to be something unearthly and mysterious, turning into an understandable and logical science. In our work, we try to be guided by these principles. As the saying goes, if you cannot explain to a three-year-old child why you did exactly that, then you did something wrong.
Archi.ru: I just wanted to ask you if the English name of the company means your commitment to the principles of modern Western architecture. According to my observations, they are the closest to those who studied abroad or had an internship in foreign bureaus.
S. T.: There are no Western or Russian principles of architecture, they are the same. There is a context in which these principles are implemented, but it is already different, radically. One must correspond to the other, otherwise the object, be it a building or an interior, will become just an "art object". It does not matter where you studied, it is important for us how inclined the employee is to further self-study, graduates of the Moscow Architectural Institute and MGSU work at T + T Architects, but this does not prevent us from keeping abreast of current Western trends and the best examples of Russian and foreign architecture.
Archi.ru: How is the bureau organized? Do you have teams or do all projects go through you?
S. T.: We are a full-cycle bureau, we start with the development of the concept, do all the work, and usually end the cooperation with the customer by hanging the last lamp. T + T Architects has two independent divisions - architectural design, led by Alexander Brovkin, and interior design, led by Vladimir Chukanov. Several teams work in each of them, and Alexander and Vladimir supervise all stages of their work. As for me, of course, I carry out the final approval of each project, but it is not always possible to work on the concept in detail. We are not an author's architectural bureau, and we do not have a “stylistic dictate”. There is a common ideology, approach to design, and, of course, SNiP "Beautiful". Any concept is a joint discussion and unanimous decision.
Archi.ru: What qualities should an architect have to be hired by your office?
S. T.: Most of all in people and architects, I value an active life and professional position. Those. we do not accept into our team people who adhere to the principle "I can dig, I can not dig". Plus, of course, there must be people who are capable and ready to withstand the tough pace of work, because the main pool of our orders does not imply long-term design. We do not yet design large agglomerations, our main specialization is objects of redevelopment of industrial complexes for modern purposes, office buildings and complexes, commercial interiors, that is, objects with very clear pre-agreed terms that must be met. I am not in favor of an age limit, but as a rule, we hire pretty young people. Architects in their forties and graduates from design institutes usually don't like to work at our pace.
Archi.ru: You mentioned redevelopment projects, and while studying the portfolio of T + T Architects on the bureau's website, I drew attention to the fact that they prevail among your realizations. Do you consider this genre to be your main specialization?
S. T.: We have never set ourselves the task of specializing in this, but renovating old objects turned out to be no less interesting than designing new ones. In addition, there is always an interesting opportunity to preserve and modernize the building that has been served, to give a second life in modern realities. Therefore, customers with us willingly work in this genre. In particular, we highly appreciate our long-term fruitful cooperation with KR Properties, for which we have completed several such projects. In 2010, for example, a concept was developed for the reconstruction of a flour mill in Orenburg, which was later awarded the International commercial property awards. Now we are taking an active part in the reconstruction project of the Danilovskaya Manufactory, making both the exterior of several buildings and interiors there. Plus, the implementation of a very interesting project for the improvement of the territory of the courtyards of the building, in which KR Properties themselves sit, is coming to an end. We managed to transform the asymmetric elongated section, almost from all sides "locked" by the facades of the adjacent buildings, into a meaningful cozy space with the help of various greening areas, arrangement of walkways and ramps, partial excavation of ground floor windows and arrangement of recreation areas.
We are also very proud of the project of the loft quarter "Studio # 8", which has just been awarded the Honorary Diploma of the "Golden Section 2013". This is the reconstruction of the factory in the passage of the Airport, which will be turned into a complex of apartments. Our task was to preserve the building spots and all those buildings that could be preserved and give a new architectural look. Plus, the site is adjacent to the territory of the residential complex "Triumph-Palace", the aesthetics and dimensions of which I wanted to somehow gently resist. We solved this problem with the roof, which was turned into the fifth facade. And in order not to compete with the high-rise, neither the class of housing, nor even the type, we have completed our project in the aesthetics of Loft and a modern European dacha.
Archi.ru: Your office - Roof point on Luzhnetskaya embankment is also very charismatic in this sense. How did it happen that the office of an architectural bureau is both a showroom and a media platform?
S. T.: It seems to us that our office perfectly reflects our creative approach - it is all transparent, laconic and understandable at first glance. When we first got into this attic, we were captivated by its huge window facing the Luzhniki and Moscow City, open structures, the possibility of using the roof. We removed all partitions and outbuildings left over from the previous owners, and then the beams of the wooden roof structure were opened, which eventually also became one of the main design elements, as well as the original wooden flooring from boards, which in their previous life were hidden under the carpet. Why a media platform? Well, it seemed to us that it would be a sin to hide such a place - as if it was intended for meetings, lectures, discussions and companionship. Plus, I wanted to create a platform where you can arrange discussions, argue from the heart and defend your point of view, without constraining yourself with the framework of corporate culture.
Archi.ru: How important is the social function for you in general? Do you always strive to include it in your projects?
S. T.: We always try to do this if the customer is willing to do it. One of the main tasks of the Studio # 8 project, we set ourselves to create this mini-quarter open to passers-by, to make the “address” of the object, to turn the compressed streets and spots of the territory into comfortable and comfortable places for recreation and walking for residents and tenants. The project of building a site opposite the Bagrationovskaya metro station along Barklaya Street was also very interesting for us. Now it is a wasteland, across which locals walk from the metro to their homes. The plot is encumbered, i.e. the investor is obliged to build something here for the city, and we just had to figure out what it could be. First of all, we preserved and legalized the existing passage and arranged a multi-level public space around this axis with cafes, shops, numerous terraces and aisles. It seems to be a building, but permeable, safe and expressive through and through.
Archi.ru: A very optimistic project for Moscow, don't you think?
S. T.: And, you know, I believe that water wears away a stone. We will propose to build something similar. Other architects will suggest. And someone will definitely get lucky. Someday Moscow will begin to transform itself into a city convenient for life. As I said, the context will begin to change.
Archi.ru: So, in general, you look at Moscow with optimism?
S. T.: Now in modern Moscow, architecture suffers greatly due to the optimization of the budget for implementation. After all, as it usually happens: you make a concept, show it to the customer, he is glad that, they say, it's very cool, but can you build it for three kopecks? You answer that no, you can't. That is, there is enough decisiveness to accept a bold concept, but they do not want to spend money. There are only a few companies ready to work differently, but they exist, and this, of course, inspires some optimism. The regions have their own specifics: there people are extremely afraid of accepting bold projects for implementation, and the budgets sometimes exceed those in Moscow. This is such a vicious circle. In general, it is very difficult to talk about any quality of a project if it should pay off in a maximum of 5 years. For me, this is an incredibly short time. The ideology of "temporary workers" is a big hindrance, hence the total savings on implementation, which ultimately affects the quality of objects. In Europe, there are many schemes that make it possible to bring the payback period closer. I very much hope to live up to the time when they will work everywhere in Russia - then the "European" principles of architecture can be used to the fullest extent.
