At the "clinker seminar" of the brick production company Hagemeister, Sergei Tchoban, head of the Russian bureau SPEECH and co-director of the German nps tchoban voss, read a report where, using his own projects, he spoke about the special role of this material in modern architecture. Sergei Tchoban's report was called “Sense of the Material”.
In the first part of the report, Sergei Tchoban showed his own drawings with views of real-life historical cities and architectural fantasies. Using their example, the architect explained how the idea of a harmonious urban environment is changing - from proportionate historical volumes to brightly contrasting combinations of emphasized modern forms. The formation of the "face" of the urban environment, according to the architect, is always based on facades and the materials from which their surfaces are created.
NHow Hotel
Speaking about practice, Sergei Tchoban began with his buildings in Berlin. Situated in the East Harbor area and facing the river with its main façade, NHow Hotel is an example of a mix of different textures. Clinker cladding made of bricks of different sizes in combination with windows scattered along the facade with thoughtful picturesque and, most importantly, a silver console, the lower surface of which is lined with metal, together create a vibrating image in tune with the flow of river waves. Four shades of clinker bricks are mixed on the facades of the NHow.
Hamburger Hof
Another building, the Hamburger Hof complex in Berlin, is an example of combining the restoration of a historic building with new construction. The ensemble was formed from the beginning of the 19th century and then mainly consisted of small private enterprises and workshops. Sergei Tchoban's project for the reconstruction of the complex proposed preserving the existing function of the main buildings, adding them to a multifunctional center with the help of public entertainment zones and residential facilities.
But the most difficult task of the project was to find a solution that allowed to demolish as little as possible, delicately fitting the new buildings into the historical context. Facing the facades of the restored buildings with clinker bricks helped to renew them, preserving the historical accuracy. At the same time, the cool red brick matches well with the light sheets of modern metal and large glass surfaces in the new housings. This contrasting harmony is especially noticeable in the courtyards of the complex, which have become the new public space of the complex, endowed at the same time with the feeling of an “old city”.
Ibis and Amano hotels
The complex is located in the Berlin-Mitte district at the Main Station and consists of two hotels adjacent to each other on the sides of a trapezoidal courtyard. The strict grid of facades is dictated by the proximity of government buildings on the opposite bank of the river, so Sergei Tchoban paid special attention to details. Brick cladding, combining shades from light beige to dark gray, enlivens the facades, emphasizing the moving rhythm of three-layer facades, where protrusions and hollows, alternating in the frames of the windows, create a play of light and shade that can make the viewer doubt the uniformity of the surface of these, at first glance, very strict, buildings.
House near Potsdam
The last in the survey of German buildings by Sergei Tchoban was a private house near Potsdam. Here nps tchoban voss again turned to the subject of material contrast. The house consists of two simple parallelepipeds: the lower brick volume serves as a pedestal for the upper, lined with light metal, surrounded by a continuous tape of windows and, most importantly, extended by a deep console exactly half the length, making the viewer doubt the reliability of the structure and, on the other hand, admire its strength. A large open terrace appears on the roof of the lower volume, the console forms an impressive canopy.
The parts of the house are connected by a white spiral staircase, which serves not only as a communication, but as a sculptural axis of the light interior space. The staircase is visible from the outside, its whiteness sets off the dark rough texture of clinker, enlivened by interspersed light beige "sun glare".
Sergei Choban mentioned that this house is a good example of the development of the theme: a completely modern building seems to consist of a historic stone bottom and a light modern top.
The effect of contrasting harmony is necessary for the architecture of a modern city, the speaker is sure. And clinker brick is the most successful material for achieving the goal.
In the second part of the lecture, Sergei Tchoban turned to the experience of using bricks in Russian construction. Historically, bricks were made by hand until the 19th century. Sergei Tchoban examined the traditions and historical features of the use of bricks using the example of the Yaroslavl Church of John Chrysostom in Korovniki, built in the middle of the 17th century. The rich dark shade of large bricks contrasts with the light cement mortar, which, however, does not violate the integrity of the form. However, color contrasts were not the main decoration of the facades; this role was played by fractional architectural elements assembled from the same brick.
Western port
Having studied the originality of the use of brick cladding on the territory of Russia, Sergei Tchoban offers his own view of its use in his projects. The first one is the project of the multifunctional complex "Western Port" on Shelepikhinskaya embankment in Moscow. This is an extended large-scale development near the water, consisting of five blocks of different levels. A consortium of three Moscow architectural bureaus worked on the project - SPEECH, ADM architects and TPO Reserve. Therefore, after the development of a unified architectural concept, where each of the five quarters is formed from the same rectangular closed courtyards, each workshop proposed its own solution of the facades. Since all buildings are identical in shape, and differ only in size and number of storeys, the facades were supposed to perform the most important functions in the project: to give each building an individuality, which, however, does not argue with neighboring buildings and serves for the holistic design of the embankment. Again, the architects came to the conclusion that the best solution would be a color contrast: a combination of dark brick and light natural stone. Differences in shades of both the first and the second materials will most likely be sufficient for the harmonious design of the embankment with a single string of different facades.
ZIL
Another example from Moscow is the project of a residential complex carried out by the SPEECH bureau on the territory of the reconstructed ZIL. Since we are talking about one of the most ambitious projects in Moscow in recent years, in which almost all outstanding architects are involved, it was necessary to take into account all the principles of the general plan laid down in the concept of the complex in the project of a separate, albeit large, building. Sergei Tchoban turned to the aesthetics of Soviet constructivism, dividing the brick facades with jagged pylons of a "colossal order" consisting of three verticals of a triangular cross-section.
In the cladding of the facades, Sergei Choban also plans to use clinker bricks of different shades in the cladding: from rich terracotta to light gray. And again, the project contains bold color combinations: the rather dark brick of the main surfaces emphasizes the horizontal "beam" of the mezzanine of the upper floor - a detail that only reminds of the constructivist past of the place.
Garden quarters
The last project, which Sergei Tchoban spoke about in the framework of the report, is part of a large-scale Moscow residential complex - Garden Quarters, which is also based on a single design code developed by Sergei Skuratov. However, for this object, Sergei Tchoban chose a rather complex plan, taking into account the features of the site, and an even more memorable facade. The building is set on a high glazed stylobate with public spaces inside. Above, the facades of the eleven-story building are a vibrating, as if corrugated, surface. In addition, the edges of the zigzag are not straight, but slightly wavy.
To create the effect of a moving surface, Hagemeister Gent clinker bricks in several shades of red were used.
According to Sergei Tchoban, this review demonstrates the role of bricks in shaping the urban environment: whether it is the reconstruction of historical buildings, when new buildings should overlap with the "old-timers", or a completely new construction designed for visual comfort. Facades are the most important part of the urban environment, and brick is an “eternal” facade material, relevant for both historical and modern architecture. ***
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