We publish the accompanying text of the architects:
“Zvenigorod is a city with amazing magic and charm, a long history. It is an outpost city, a city of spiritual rebirth. In the 21st century, using the preserved spirit of the times and the memory of this amazing place, we tried to take a step back in order to clarify the essence of architecture and the significance of new planning solutions on the threshold of the future. The starting point of our project was the boundaries of the design site and the adaptation of the space to the historical landscape. We propose to rethink and soften the existing boundaries, to create the intersection of the artificial with the natural, the symbolic with the pragmatic, the public with the private, the global with the local, the complex with the simple. We tried to create the penetration of private spaces into the public scenario and turn this symbiosis into a dialogue with the surrounding buildings, and most importantly, with the natural features of the site. We made an attempt to get away from the opposition of natural life in nature and "unnatural" life in urban conditions. The modern approach requires seeing the city as an artificially created natural habitat.
“A modern person does not care what environment the buildings are in, it is important for him what environment he is in, therefore a forest, park, garden is the foreground. The buildings are in the back, not the other way around."
Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of Cities.
Analysis of the design site led us to the following conclusions:
1. Landscape degradation (overgrown forest, landslide slopes, “protected landscape” cut by drainage canals due to flooding of the territory).
2. There is no intellectual connection between the territory beyond the river (design site) and the central part of the city.
Project objectives:
1. Maintain the existing structure, adding new qualities to it.
2. Create a high quality environment that people will love.
3. Include the river in the urban environment. Today, the success of a city depends on the quality of life of its people. The winners are cities where conditions have been created in which educated, creative and successful people would like to live and work.
Herodotus wrote: "There is nothing surprising in Scythia, except for the rivers that irrigate it: they are great and numerous." On these rivers, as on a frame, the country of the Russian Slavs arose. Fortified settlements - small settlements of several houses stood along the rivers in an almost continuous succession. The Normans named our country "Gardaricia" (Gardarika) - the country of cities. As the main urban planning composition, we used the principles of a Slavic settlement - softly, correctly fitting into the peculiarities of the existing relief. The proposed development does not change the landscape, creating a calm urban structure in the forest, in the garden. The “settlement” principle allows creating local, private zones, internally filled with the spirit of an “old-fashioned place”.
The main planning idea is a combination of two structures: light urban and active bionic. Cicero said that there are two natures: wild and used by man - gardens and fields. During the Renaissance, Italians added a third nature to this - a park, which they defined as "nature perfected by art." "We come from nature and we return to it." Or must return. At least sometimes.
The design site is the borderline between the city and nature (forest, river, meadows). Our planning system is based on the principle of the primacy of nature over urbanism. The first building lines and perspectives form green spaces, houses go into the second and third plans, streets and roads turn into communication park structures. The river, field, forest, garden, park become the main elements of the planning structure. The main feature of this architectural and natural space is not static, but dynamics and versatility. It is a living architecture, a living organism, breathing, growing and changing. At any time of the year and at any time of the day, new colors, forms, sensations appear. We offer a high-quality, comprehensive dendrological solution that will emphasize the beauty and naturalness of the existing landscape, soften the urban planning oversights of previous developments and return the old-style dacha spirit to the city with its bright bionic energy.
Speaking of temperature and humidity conditions, it is worth mentioning that in the summer months, colder, clean air over the territory of green spaces descends from the upper atmosphere. Simultaneously with a decrease in temperature, a slight increase in humidity occurs. In the winter season, large tracts of green spaces act on the temperature regime of built-up areas, softening the effect of cold and somewhat reducing air humidity. In the immediate vicinity of the design site, there are treatment facilities with a 300-meter (in the future, 100-meter) sanitary protection zone. Therefore, the hygienic properties of green spaces come to the fore. The greatest air pollution in sanitary zones occurs in the lower layers, which are essential for the life of the population. Green spaces are a powerful tool in the fight for air purity. They also have the ability to mitigate the effects of city noise (especially shrubs and trees with low crowns, significantly absorbing sound, with the greatest effect being green spaces with a free grouping of trees and shrubs).
The design solution envisages the planting of trees and shrubs of 10-15 years old by the developer in common areas and along the perimeter of the site fences, first of all - linden, pine, spruce, oak, Norway maple. In common areas, it is possible to plant chestnuts, thuja, large trees. We would also like to emphasize that, from our point of view, it is mandatory to introduce a regulation, according to which 10–20% of green spaces on a house plot should be pine and spruce. This allows you to create a full-fledged effect of a forest-park zone on the construction site. When placing residential groups in free areas of the forest, compensatory planting of coniferous trees is necessary.
Our concept emphasizes the connection of times, creates life in a high-quality, green environment for people who will live there permanently, come there on business or on vacation and will definitely want to come back here."
