In Tatarstan, the results of a closed international competition for a project of a residential area on 180 hectares in the village of Malye Kabany, located on a green, but now actively developed and developing area between Kazan and its city airport, were summed up. 11 architectural firms took part in the competition. The jury was curated by Michael Geller, a Canadian architect and specialist in sustainable urban development. The best project was recognized as the "Machaon Valley" project of the Dutch workshop LEVS architecten, whose competitors in the final were the Spaniards and the British. The project of the winners has already been presented to the President of Tatarstan, and the organizer, the Unistroy company, is preparing to start developing a master plan together with the winning team. It is planned to complete the construction of a residential area for 17,000 people by 2025.
In their LEVS architecten project, they demonstrate the 'Dutch approach' of shaping the living environment: the desire to create a sustainable community. This is noticeable in the large number of greenery, bicycle and pedestrian paths, the absence of high-rise buildings, the desire to naturally fit a large-scale residential complex into the surrounding landscape.
Today, on the site of the future region, there is a historically valuable landscape with numerous lakes. Hilly terrain, riverbeds of thawed rivers and its other attributes have become part of the design, so when looking at the master plan of the "Machaon Valley" it seems that it seamlessly merges with the picturesque surroundings. The very name of the project reminds of the importance of preserving the specifics of the natural environment, even in the territories occupied by residential buildings.
LEVS architecten is currently working on several more projects in Russia. Among them is the Sukhodolskaya quarter in Yekaterinburg. The landscape solutions in the project were handled by the Amsterdam bureau VLUGP. The operator of the competition was the agency for strategic development "Center". "Visualizations: Moare, Brno.
