In an era of change, in which we all have a controversial happiness to live, twenty years is a solid anniversary. If this date is celebrated, it means that the hero of the day not only still exists, but also fit into new times, did not compromise himself in any way, we respect and even, apparently, love. All this, it turns out, is quite applicable not only to some organization or, say, an official, but also to an architectural work. In any case, during the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the completion of the construction of the building of the International Moscow Bank on Prechistenskaya embankment, the words of love and gratitude sounded very sincere. Bank employees - since 2007 it has been called UniCredit - are proud of the place in which they work and call it their home. Curator Alexander Balashov, who has collected over the years a small but convincing collection of Russian painting and graphics of the 1920s and 1930s, continues to work on its replenishment with inspiration.
As for the author of the project, Alexander Skokan, for him the building at 9 Prechistenskaya embankment became the first significant project - and immediately a great success. And not only for Skokan and his workshop, this object turned out to be significant. This was the first building of a commercial bank built in Russia after the October Revolution (just like the International Moscow Bank itself, it became the first non-state bank in the post-Soviet space, holder of a license No. 1). And most importantly - the very first project, which began the comprehensive reconstruction of Ostozhenka, which turned the rich in historical associations, but completely neglected "microdistrict No. 17" into the notorious "golden mile" - the focus of prestigious real estate and the most compact polygon of advanced architecture in the post-Soviet space.
In general, they found each other very well - the architect Alexander Skokan and Ostozhenka. The Staromoskovsky district, where by the end of the 1980s, behind the rather decent facades of the then Metrostroyevskaya Street, a confusion of half-barreled lanes was hidden, was lucky to find a careful reformer - no matter how oxymoron this phrase may look. The architect, who began to deal with the comprehensive reconstruction of Ostozhenka back in 1989, as part of the Moscow Architectural Institute, made this mission, without exaggeration, his life's work, which is enshrined in the name of the bureau formed three years later. For ten years, JSB "Ostozhenka" performed the function of the general designer of the district and erected object after object here. Of course, other excellent architects have also built and are building here, and the geography of Ostozhenka's projects has long gone beyond the territory of the same name, but their “romance” continues. Why is there a novel - there are all the signs of a happy marriage: both the common "surname" and the porcelain jubilee have been celebrated. To complete the family theme, let us mention that Skokan himself is happy to call the bank building his “firstborn”.
The house on Prechistenskaya Embankment is also unique in that the public resonance it caused developed in the opposite direction to the usual one. More often than not, as it happens - if a building is interesting, they start talking about it at the stage of the project, by the time the construction is completed, the discussion is in full swing, and then everyone gets used to it, switches to other objects. But at the moment when the scaffolding was removed from the building of the International Moscow Bank, the public simply … did not notice it - this modern, not a bit archaic building so organically fit into the panorama of Prechistenskaya embankment. For Skokan, with its programmatic contextuality, such "stealth" is the best compliment. Moreover, after looking closely, the project was highly appreciated not only by colleagues and the public, but also by officials: in 1996, the building received the State Prize, and in 1997, according to the results of the Moscow rating, it was recognized as the best building of the decade.
Do not exceed the height, do not step over the red line and in general, if possible, do not "stick out" too much - within the framework of all these restrictions that are mandatory for the historical center, "Ostozhenka" exists naturally, like, perhaps, no other Moscow workshop, and, more Moreover, each time builds on their basis a distinct and completely uncompromising artistic quality. For example, the bank building, with a cursory glance from the opposite side of the river, somehow manages to look like a twin of the building of the Ermakov Technical School of architects Faleev and Markov standing nearby, although it would seem that they have nothing in common: one was built in 1905, the other - 1995, one thing is classical Moscow Art Nouveau, the other is a building with elements of constructivism that is absolutely relevant for the turn of the XX-XXI centuries of the European type. The compact orthogonal façade of smooth granite, with austere rows of rectangular windows and wide pylons two stories high, might seem dull without a light glass structure crowning it, receding from the level of the red line to the depth of the spacious terrace. Here, at the top, are the representative premises and apartments of the bank's management, which is emphasized by the constructive differences, and the terrace with a breathtaking view of the wide panorama of the Moskva River instantly evokes associations with a ship's deck. The upper boundary of the volume is formed by the double underlining of the roof line, "echoing in its sloping rounded silhouette with the cables of the Crimean bridge" (Alexander Skokan), and the glass canopy passing under it.
As for the interior architecture, it is built around an atrium that runs through all floors, covered with a glass roof with linen sun blinds in a complex tangerine-gray shade. It is this multi-colored space, which forms something like a city square inside the building, that creates the main wow-effect of the project. Air, light, pedestrian bridges and staircases crossing the atrium at different angles, a lot of greenery, like in a winter garden - here you breathe deeply, and your gaze does not get tired of following the intersections of levels and projections, which open in a new way from each floor. The naval theme continues in the design of the bridges, metal posts and ropes subtly interact with teak handrails and glass blocks, from which most of the internal partitions are folded. A real luxury for an office building, where it is usually customary to save every meter of usable space.
As the "pioneer" of the new Ostozhenka, the building assumed the function of a reference point, that is, it itself became the context for all subsequent buildings. Including, of course, for the projects of the "Ostozhenka" bureau. And when, after a decade and a half, the bank ordered the architects to build
of the second building, which was supposed to be located behind the first, at the corner of Korobeinikov and Butikovsky lanes, they had to not only fit in, but also in some way compete with their own project, and even so successful and famous. The solution was found to be very elegant, light to weightlessness - glass facades decorated with horizontal plastic slats, exactly matching the color of the brick of the main office, create the feeling that the massive volume is stratified, disintegrates into strokes, and then completely dissolves in the Moscow air. With an eye to the bank building, the residential complex "Maple House" was also designed, which occupied the neighboring property further along the embankment (an object of difficult fate, but we will not be distracted from the topic).
At the jubilee, as usual, they recalled with pleasure the now seemingly especially amusing stories of twenty years ago. As the first persons of the then young bank, they simply entered the workshop from the street to ask if there was a good place for a bank building nearby. (“Why not,” the architects responded and soon received the order.) How the authors of the project, keen on the idea of maintaining the continuity lost during the years of Soviet power, insisted on a classic facade with pilasters, and the customers were not too lazy to put together a whole board to explain to the architects: it is expensive, it is impractical, it is unnecessary. (“And thanks to them for that slap on the head,” Skokan comments.) How they were not jokingly going to install a steering wheel on one of the bridges so that the “captain” would control the institution entrusted to him like a large ship. Another funny story turned out to be a huge success. Since the president of the bank wanted a full-scale floor-to-ceiling panorama of the Moskva River to open from his office, he insisted on replacing the corresponding fragment of the brick parapet with glass. The resulting asymmetric notch, a kind of light ironic touch, has become a distinctive feature of the building, giving it liveliness and charm, like a fly over a beauty's lip. The story, by the way, had a continuation: the board wanted to have exactly the same panorama in the meeting room, but here the architects defended the parapet, comparing the facade of the building with a man's suit for persuasiveness: here, they say, you have a pocket with a handkerchief on your jacket, and that's good, but imagine two pockets with two handkerchiefs?
Alexander Skokan does not get tired of repeating that this work became an excellent school for his workshop - both thanks to joint work with Western colleagues (Finnish architect Juhan Palasmaa participated in the design, the Italian company Codest Engineering was involved in the construction), and because he managed to work on the project from start to finish, right down to the placement of paintings and the selection of plants for the atrium. And all this - in the conditions of trusting, truly partner relations with the customer, which architects can only dream of today. It is quite possible, by the way, that this factor became one of the reasons for the success of the project - this is another reason to rejoice, and feel nostalgic, and think.
