In response to Archi.ru's offer to publish a selection of architectural projects that seem interesting and relevant to me, I chose five topics that currently excite me in my profession, and then illustrated them with projects - one for each of these topics.
1. Construction
USSR pavilion at the World Exhibition in Montreal-1967 (now located in Moscow).
Architects M. Posokhin, A. Mdoyants, B. Tkhor; engineer A. Kondratyev. 1967-1968.
Every time I look at this pavilion, now vegetating near the main entrance to the All-Russian Exhibition Center, I am overwhelmed by an ambivalent feeling. On the one hand, there is pride in our architectural past: admiration for the bold design and stunning lightness of the building, and on the other, regret that now in Russia I do not see such masters who could create something equally impressive.
2. Scale
Viaduct Millau in the south of France.
Engineer Michel Virlogeux, architects Foster + Partners. 2001-2004.
Big does not always mean great, but this viaduct, with its simple geometry and truly "geological" scale, in my opinion, cannot but admire.
3. Nature
Spidernethewood House in Nimes. R & Sie (n) Architects. 2007
In this project, I am fascinated by how the mysterious and terrifying "wild" nature becomes the walls and ceiling of the living space. Bounded only by a thin plastic mesh, the green biomass seems to swallow the narrow corridors laid in it just a little bit more.
4. Order
Nordostpolder is a reclaimed plot of land (polder) in the central part of the Netherlands.
Engineer Cornelis Lely. 1936-1942.
A social and urban planning experiment to create an almost absolute order that (fortunately) cannot be repeated. A piece of land lined with a grid of identical plots with identical farmhouses is a huge food-making machine. Its details are the land - the former seabed; ditches, channels and pumps that prevent this land from becoming what it used to be again; as well as selected plants, animals, and most importantly, farmers, whose descendants still cultivate the same land.
5. Usage
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.
Bureau Kling Stubbins. 1997-1999, updated 2003.
Corresponding to its prototype - Venice, this
a resort hotel is a city capable of accepting and not letting anyone go until he / she runs out of money. It offers a versatile infrastructure for all kinds of leisure activities, providing a never-ending change of scenery: from a giant casino to a pseudo-French café, from oriental clubs to an exhibition hall in the Hermitage (Hermitage Guggenheim, OMA, 2001).
Timur Shabaev - Russian and Dutch architect, OMA / AMO employee since 2010.
In 2005 - 2008 he worked in the workshop "Project Meganom".
He was a freelance illustrator for the magazines Esquire Russia, Secret Firmy, Hermitage and others.
Graduated from the Ufa State Petroleum Technical University (2001) and the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (2010).
Winner of the Europan 10 and Europan 11 competitions.
Author of Archi.ru, Project Russia magazine.
