Grigory Dainov is an architect from Yaroslavl. His name became famous thanks to victories in various competitions. Here at the award ceremony
ARCHIWOOD-2013 awards Dainov immediately received a special prize and two diplomas: regarding the country house built by his DK bureau in the Nekrasovsky District of the Yaroslavl Region - austere form, with a transparent lobby and white interior - the opinion of the jury and the "popular vote" coincided; the house became the undisputed leader of the 2013 award. With this last victory, we will begin our acquaintance with the Yaroslavl architect.
The appearance of a modernist private house in the vicinity of Yaroslavl still looks like a happy accident. Is this the same customer as your Gorki-Hall?
- This customer is a very rare case for us, because he came, trusting absolutely everything that will be done. At one time we came up with the interior of the apartment for him and parted happy with each other. It looks like this became the foundation of the next project. We discussed only the functional program with him, but we did the script, because it is quite difficult for a person who is not involved in construction to immediately formulate what he would like, even from a utilitarian point of view. We have to help: isolate some block of information in a conversation, turn it into a program and already work with it, doing the actual layout, details and everything else. The work began in 2007, we did the project for 5-6 months, the construction dragged on for several years, and this year the customer was able to mobilize efforts and complete the object. Initially, the house was conceived as a suburban housing for seasonal living, but as a result, the owner lives in it all year round.
Where is the house? Is this a cottage village, a village?
- The history of the land is from the 90s. The former sanatorium was privatized, private houses appeared on the site of guest houses, and large multi-storey buildings remained in operation. These two parts coexist quite peacefully. Those who are treated in a sanatorium go to gawk at the houses that have grown up in this area.
Are the neighboring houses also modernist?
- No, he is the only one there, the rest are quite traditional for Yaroslavl …
- Was it important for you to make the architecture of the house modern, and not practice traditional solutions?
- We are engaged in modern architecture - there were no other options for the development of the project for us.
Although the house could have turned out, probably different, if the customer were different. After receiving the competitive awards, I called, told everything - and he was very happy with this news. This is not rich, by conventional standards, a person, but able to take an impressive loan for construction. He did not want to build poorly, for which special thanks to him. It seems to me that it makes sense to agree to cooperate with a customer only if you feel mutual understanding, a common desire for a decent result. If there is no such confidence, then, most likely, strength and nerves will be wasted.
Are you even ready to give up work in this case?
- Yes, that's what I do. We have few orders, but this makes it possible to deal with more or less decent architecture.
What were you guided by?
- It is impossible to imagine an architect who does not follow what is happening in the world with architecture. It is clear that it was possible to go further in formal searches, but in this case it would be inappropriate, and we deliberately designed a simple house that could be built with high quality and this quality is guaranteed to be controlled. It is important to meet the allotted budget, no more than 50 thousand per square meter (although we still somewhat exceeded this amount). Based on all the prerequisites, a desire arose to work with wood: a frame house is lightweight and does not require a serious foundation, which allows you to save a decent amount. In addition, the tree for that place is a proven material, absolutely contextual and dear. And the customer was glad that we offered him a tree.
It so happened that your first completed object - the chapel of the Icon of the Kazan Mother of God on the Kotorosl embankment - was published in millions of copies: the chapel is depicted on modern thousand-ruble bills next to the monument to Yaroslav the Wise. To me this chapel looks like a space rocket … Is the feeling of modernity important to you even in church architecture?
- It was almost immediately after graduation. I haven't really got a job yet, there was almost no work, I was periodically invited somewhere, but not for long - it was a period of such freelancing. At this time, the mayor's office of Yaroslavl announced a competition for the chapel (this was probably one of the last competitions held according to the rules) and I made a project. A sense of modernity, in my opinion, is important for any architecture, including church architecture, otherwise the relationship between architecture and time will be depreciated.
- Your Gorka-Hall is also located in the “zone of monuments”. How can an architect work in the city of the Golden Ring, in a situation of severe restrictions?
- Regulations are an integral part of the context, its framework, as well as the sense of place, understanding of its connection with the city as a whole, allow us to clarify a number of conflicts that inevitably arise with a new object. The new violates the current situation, but something grows out of this conflict - you need to create another harmony. The city cannot consist of only masterpieces, this is not necessary, it is enough that, if the requirements of the regulations are met, the relatively high quality of the urban environment will be guaranteed. If architects and the customer each time decide anew what city they imagine, the integrity of the environment, its cohesion will be destroyed. Therefore, compliance with the regulations for architects, and in general their availability for the city, is an incredibly important thing.
It's surprising that the Gorka-Hall turned out to be not white-stone …
- At the first stage of work, we came to the conclusion that the “home” in this place will not be convincing. Moreover, this place was once a fortress wall. The object should become a part of the urban landscape, let people pass through it in all directions they are used to. The creation of an unusual shape was not the goal of the project, a building with a roof that could be used as an amphitheater was to become a generator of social events.
Are they building a lot in Yaroslavl now?
- Yes, the revival is noticeable. A lot of housing is being built, apparently, what was designed before 2008 is being implemented.
- And what are the facades? Sand lime brick?
- From anything. Both sand-lime bricks and local bricks. Chinese porcelain stoneware. Usually some kind of pale pink, pale yellow colors. The most unthinkable materials on the roofs are multi-colored metal tiles. Anything. The regulations, which I spoke about, are just not enough here. And outside the UNESCO zone, there are no architectural regulations for the city at all.
- Grigory, when did you decide to create your own workshop? What does the name of the DK mean?
- The workshop was created in 2006, before that I worked in another Yaroslavl bureau, which was called Tsentrproekt, and when it became necessary to found my own workshop, I did it. Why DK? It just so happened - Dainov and the company or the House of Culture … The bureau employs graduates of the Faculty of Architecture of the Yaroslavl State Technical University. We have no others.
From the very beginning of the bureau, two excellent architects have been working with me: Sergei Fomin and Alexander Kachalov. They are 10 years younger than me, but they already have good experience and qualifications confirmed by projects. The rest of the employees are even younger: they work as interns for some time, and if we suit each other, if they like working with us, and we like how they show themselves, then we invite them to work. Now, besides me, we have 6 architects, there is a chief project engineer who deals with general organizational issues, contacts with subcontractors. For the Yaroslavl architectural bureau, this is a fairly large staff.
In general, I believe that architects can exist only in the form of a bureau, because if the bureau develops into a kind of design institute, with designers, engineers, then gradually the production process begins to suppress the architectural component. We would not like this, because in this way the occupation of architecture is gradually turning exclusively into a project business.
Judging by your portfolio, you have more projects so far
- This is the way it is, most of them "stuck" in connection with the crisis, although some of them are already being reanimated.
- Three objects brought you fame. Which object is especially expensive?
- Probably the house on the Kotoroslnaya embankment is long-suffering. It is dear to what it got through the competition, and despite all the difficulties associated with the approvals (it is also in the "monument zone") and implementation, it turned out to be quite decent. It was built very long and hard. There are still some worries about him …
What do you think about the so-called architectural gestures?
- There are many of them both in Moscow and in the provinces. They demonstrate to a greater extent the fact that there are no effective means of influencing the customer. Often, despite the fact that construction in the historical part of the city is a responsible business, the designer is chosen without competition, and as a result, objects appear, mostly created by the customer, and not by the architect. In this case, the architect only realizes the irrepressible ambitions of others.
However, with the emergence of any new object in the existing environment, a number of conflicts inevitably arise: a new one always upsets the existing balance. What will grow out of this conflict largely depends on the architect: will a new, different harmony emerge as a result, or will the building remain an unreasonable gesture.
