The project of the residential area in question is quite real: construction is already underway, and quite large-scale: 110,000 m2 on 14 hectares, 10 km from the Moscow Ring Road along the Kashirskoye highway. The architects of DNA AG are convinced that in this case they were lucky: they managed to work consistently on all stages of the project and all its components from the general plan to the improvement, and to find mutual understanding with the customer on many issues. The restrictions on height and budget, as well as the significant - 28 m - difference in the relief on the site, the architects also consider as good luck, because these factors put the project into a framework, forced it to become what it has become. So the authors see in the resulting residential area not just another implementation, but an example of how you want and how to design residential areas. This is a positive example, which made it possible to study on the basis of the material that variant of development, which they, and many of us, have long preferred in their hearts, but which is almost never found in Russian reality.
After all, what do we usually see in the Moscow region, especially not far from the Moscow Ring Road? - houses of gigantic height, up to 25-30 floors. The vigorously growing upward edges of the Moscow "saucer", which city planners spoke about with apprehension back in the 1980s. Behind the Chinese walls of budget giants, and now sometimes between them, dacha huts and magnificent palaces swarm; the conditional Singapore sprouts right through the Soviet SNT, and this picture cannot be called harmonious in any way: neither a city nor a village.
So the architects of DNA AG call their project, partly in jest, partly in earnest, "a link between town and village", because "the concept is based on the idea of a district as a hybrid between a rural settlement and a city."
So, it was required to design relatively inexpensive housing, so there could not be separate houses and even townhouses here. But the offer had to become diversified as well, to be in demand among different categories of buyers: from singles who prefer studios to families. Height restrictions were determined by the fact that to the east, behind the forest, there is a museum-reserve "Gorki Leninskiye": closer to the forest it was possible to build three-storey houses, closer to the highway - five-storey ones, there could be no discussions about raising the altitude. The third feature is a complex but expressive landscape, slope, hills.
On the relief of the slope, the architects imposed an orthogonal hippodamous grid with a step of 60x60 m, and then did the same with it as the ancient Greeks, who built their regular cities on the mountain slopes: corrected the grid where required. Therefore, the cells of the perimeter building - houses-quarters - are mainly subordinated to the U-shaped plan gravitating towards the square, which is opened with "legs" to the best views for each case, to the forest or to the field. But along the diagonal of the boulevard "P" puts one leg aside and turns into "L"; and closer to the highway, houses become more closed, turning into zigzags and eights. Each house has no more than four sections, which also complies with the principles of a compact city.
The planning grid, as it should be according to the rules of the Hippodamus, is strung on two boulevards intersecting at right angles. They are planned to be landscaped and landscaped, turned into promenade parks closed for cars with playgrounds and other urban joys - the architects call them a "linear park". But it is also important that the paths of the boulevards are not arbitrary; they are not born of the abstract-geometric fantasy of the planner, but are tied to the place and context, we can say that they were born by him. The first boulevard was laid along a line of forest plantations parallel to the highway: the architects kept the large trees, supplemented them with new ones, and used the improved plantation as a border between the first and second stages. The first stage will be the construction of five-storey buildings near the highway.
The second, perpendicular boulevard starts from the highway and goes towards the forest, but 2/3 of the way turns at an angle to the southeast. The turn is not accidental: the track points to the village of Gorki Leninskiye and should become the beginning of the path to it through the forest, through which it will be possible to go to the Lenin Museum, whose building was built by Leonid Pavlov. In the same direction, children will be able to go to the Gorki Leninskikh school - in a straight line to it 2 km, bypassing now - 6 km, and with a new path it will be about 3 km, it is quite possible to overcome it in half an hour.
In addition, boulevards connect the two community centers of the new village: one of them will be a small shopping center, a group of shops and a "service center" in five-story buildings near the highway, the second will be a kindergarten and an elementary school on a hill in the southeastern part of the territory, at the end diagonal boulevard, just on the way to Gorki Leninskiye. The children are younger, thus they will go to the kindergarten and school along the boulevard, the older schoolchildren will escort the brothers and move on through the forest. The school and kindergarten are designed by other architects, but in a modern style close to the DNA and even with some similarities, so that the integrity of the complex will not be violated.
The boulevards are pedestrianized and there are no underground parking lots. To prevent cars from standing in rows on asphalt fields, like in front of a supermarket, the architects worked out a map of parking pockets, which alternate with trees somewhere, are distributed evenly throughout the territory, but always along the outer contour of houses: private yards and cars are not allowed there.
With a noticeable integrity, commonality of the module, scale and planning grid, the houses are diverse. According to the assignment, four classes of apartments coexist here - economy, comfort, comfort plus and business. The architects distributed them in a kind of "gradient", smoothly stretching the typology from five-storey economical houses to the most comfortable and spacious houses near the forest. But all the houses are multi-apartment, single-storey apartments. Elevators are available only in five-storey buildings of the first stage; in them one-room apartments alternate with studios. All other houses, from the second to the fourth types, are three-storey, but the views from the windows improve as you descend from the slope, improve, and the size of the apartments increases; in the eastern part of the district, two- and three-room apartments prevail.
"Stretching" along the slope with a typological gradient, the houses visually descend along it - by steps. The steps of flat roofs are echoed at the ends of the terraces, then the consoles, and the volumes seem to be composed of large and flat "layers" of housing. In this they echo the construction of the landscape on the slope - also terraced in places, with many retaining walls. It must be said here that while experimenting with the possibilities of housing, the architects have envisaged their own gardens for the apartments on the ground floor: front gardens that can even serve as a mini-vegetable garden somewhere. The front gardens at houses from 1 to 3 types look quite modest, but in the yards of houses of type 4 real stepped gardens are arranged, and the authors are considering the possibility of creating mini-gardens and flower beds by residents not only on the plot before leaving their own apartment, but also in the middle of the yard - which appeals to the practice of "urban farms", which are now popular in European cities: they are created there by the inhabitants themselves. Therefore, for houses of types 2 and 3, front gardens are drawn at apartments, and in houses of type 4 near the forest, the most expensive, a terraced garden appears in the middle of the courtyard. However, the slope is mastered not only by terraces, but also by winding paths arranged in the form of a serpentine, which makes it possible to fulfill all the requirements for accessibility for people with disabilities.
The terraced forest houses are especially picturesque and multi-level. The roofs are operated here, spiral metal staircases lead to them. The vertically striped facades appear to be composed of multi-colored wooden planks, from old dark to almost pink; the balconies act as triangles - as if the rain was pouring on the walls and they warped, and the boards aged unevenly, some got more drying oil, others less … The effect, perhaps a little enlarged, is achieved by using Eternit-Cedral fiber cement "boards" with a wood texture … "Boards" are placed vertically and overlapping, thus completely repeating the Norwegian cladding system; air conditioners are hidden behind the triangular ledges of the balconies. The multi-colored fiber cement is echoed by the motley terracotta of the bricks of the retaining walls, shaded by the grassy frames of the entrance slopes. The feeling of country, country warmth, mixed with the dampness of fresh greenery, turns out to be quite thick, although somewhere on the periphery of consciousness you understand that a three-story house is not a country veranda. But these houses are figuratively a "village" step: there are vegetable gardens here, and the stepped terraces at the ends are directly intended for contemplating the sunrise over the forest, as over the sea.
Climbing the slope, houses acquire more discreet, but no less lively facades. Fiber cement "boards" are used here, in combination with brick, but there are fewer bricks, which supports the country-country theme. Here, the brick is also colorful, and the boards are monochromatic, but the facades of the neighboring sections are solved in different ways, likening them to separate houses placed in a row (a similar technique, only on a larger scale, the architects of DNA used in the project
"Dawn 3.34"). The consoles appearing at the ends support the theme of the old city, or just the city center, but very unobtrusively, they also recall European low-rise celebrities, some kind of "Residential hybrid" MVRDV, which, as it seems, the authors were partly inspired by.
The five-story highway buildings seem to be the most urban; moreover, closer to the highway, which serves as the "urban" border of the complex, they are brick, and then split into separate, but more vertical section houses, light beige, orange and quite bright. Here, we recall, there are shops, services and even the office of a general practitioner.
It must be said that the complex looks as diverse, as holistic, recognizable - it does not disintegrate or split up. In addition to the general planning grid, a number of techniques help to unite it: the unity of facade materials, where fiber cement "boards" and bricks alternate, and the brick grows towards the highway, and the "boards" - towards the forest. In addition, the facades of all houses are enlivened by transparent bay windows, similar to extended drawers of a chest of drawers - a popular technique of modern architecture makes it possible to enhance plastic and give a person who has stepped onto such a bay window a feeling of flight, levitation in space.
The "gradient" theme also becomes a powerful unifying principle: architects seem to sing one note, raising and lowering the key. By the way, greening is also subject to "stretching", only if the altitude, density and urbanity increase to the west, towards the highway, then the greenery increases and even seems to be liberated towards the east and the forest. In the most urbanized part, the trees are built into circles of the pavement, in the middle we see clipped Versailles baskets, and on the terraced slope there is something curly and garden. However, there is no redundant landscape design here. “The types of green spaces are zoned according to the hierarchy of public spaces,” says Konstantin Khodnev. - We could not afford a complex landscape design throughout the territory, since it requires a large initial investment and expensive maintenance. Therefore, the most intense landscape events are courtyards and a linear park - where people directly interact with nature. We would like people to spend more time outdoors, and good landscaping encourages this. " ***
The project looks attractive, but even more curious is the tendency of its authors to consider this work as a study of the elements and current principles of residential development, not all of which have so far taken root in Russian reality, but which have taken root - those are often in a distorted version. Therefore, we will try to determine what kind of ideal housing the architects are proposing here. What is it like?
1. Inexpensive
In the project, this is indicated at least by the absence of underground parking lots, bunk apartments and villas; comparatively economical but durable facade material.
2. Low, but not one-story
The format of a compact city is exactly 3-5 floors, 8-9, probably already a lot. With a low height, the yards also turn out to be relatively small, chamber, noticeably smaller than in Stalin's 9-storey buildings. On the other hand, multi-storey building sets a certain density, which allows you to stay within a reasonable price.
3. Quarterly
The super-popular theme of a quarter, a semi-closed square, does not always find adequate embodiment: in and around Moscow, gigantic pseudo-quarters, built with frames, but very high, have multiplied. In this case, the authors found, and circumstances suggested to them, a pleasant scale of the quarter.
4. Diverse
Within the framework of not too expensive materials, you can achieve variety by approaching the task creatively.
5. Tied to the task, locality, context
Often, the main object of savings is the efforts of architects, although it is known that they are not the main cost item in any construction, even with low Russian fees. Here it is obvious that the architects have put a lot of analytical and creative efforts: the authors caught a lot of local clues, both near and distant (the school in Gorki Leninsky), and "grew" the project out of these clues. The project is individual, the project looks back at all conditions and restrictions, not complaining about them, but rejoicing at them and relying on them.
6. Whole
Despite the variety, there are many elements in the project that unite it into one whole. Starting with boulevards and ending with front receptions.
7. Pedestrian boulevard
It is also a "linear park", a park stretched along the pedestrian promenade. The axis of public life in a residential area, offering a comfortable walk between shops and school. The boulevard also becomes a natural barrier to excessive transit traffic within the area.
8. Yards without cars
A well-known principle is now in full use, it is impossible to argue with it. The yard should be comfortable and safe.
9. Courtyards-front gardens
A relatively new principle, although it is also already known, is rarely used. Other examples in Russia: Skolkovo Park in Zaryadye, which is more expensive; house in Kronstadt, cheaper. DNA AG not only arrange front gardens near the apartments on the first floors, but also develop the theme, bringing private gardens into the center of the courtyard. In such cases, they usually write: let's see what happens.
10. Cars between trees
Parking spaces are not distributed by fields, but evenly outside around the houses.
11. Terraces and serpentines
A convenient option for organizing hilly terrain, terraces allow you to hold the soil, and they look beautiful from the outside; winding roads and paths provide car access and are handicapped-friendly. In addition, the serpentine road is a passive method of reducing the speed of traffic, which increases safety within the area.
12. Smooth transition "from city to village"
Also a well-known technique, but here the architects put their whole soul into it, having come up with a "stretch" that does not go beyond the pleasant multi-storey typology, that is, it does not literally embody the outgrowth from one to the other, but provides a smooth change of thematic chords, working as if for variety, and unobtrusive combination of four types of housing, cheaper and more expensive. ***
