Faster, Higher, Stronger

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

The comfort-class residential complex "You and I" is located in the Losinoostrovsky district in the north-east of Moscow. A rectangular building plot with an area of 6 hectares - the territory of the former Krasnaya Arrow stadium, built in the early 1900s, which had to be demolished for the sake of development - this area is included in the renovation program of the old Moscow housing stock. From the side of Shushinskaya street, the site borders on Babushkinskiy PKiO, on the opposite side - on the sports ground of school No. 1381. Through Yantarny Proezd and Kominterna Street, there are 4-5-storey Khrushchevkas free-standing among the trees, many of which are planned to be replaced with modern housing in the near future. In the immediate vicinity there are also the Torfyanka park, the line of the Yaroslavl direction of the Moscow railway and the Yaroslavskoe highway, behind which the Losinoostrovsky forest park already stretches. The nearest metro station is Babushkinskaya.

As a consequence of the diversity of the location, the architects subordinated their concept to several themes: the sports past of the site, the many green spaces around it, and the architectural heritage of the 1960s.

The structure of the complex is three blocks of buildings of different heights, united by galleries on the ground floor level. The quarters are connected to each other by through passages that form pedestrian boulevards. The entire development can be divided into three lines. The first is a powerful front of sections, a maximum of 20-22 floors from the side of Yantarny Proezd. The second is the sequence of high and low "points": the decrease goes from 18 to 6 floors. The third one is extended buildings of average height of 8-11 floors, a "reflection" of the Soviet buildings along Kominterna Street on an enlarged scale. This “terracing” gives the complex a variable silhouette that changes when viewed from different angles.

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1/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". The scheme of the planning organization of the land plot, combined with the scheme of the transport organization of the territory © GREN.
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2/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". Situational plan © GREN.
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3/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". Sweep along the street Comintern © GREN.

Thanks to the composition, a network of walking trails is formed that pass through and between the quarters. Walking from the extreme section to Babushkinsky Park, you will have to cross only one road - Shushenskaya Street. For cars, there are both open parking spaces along the outer perimeter of the complex, and underground parking.

The block on the side of Shushenskaya Street is about half the size of the others: part of its site was allocated for an open football field and grass tennis courts, which create a gentle transition from residential buildings towards Babushkinsky Park. The quarter is closed by an extended building of a sports and recreation complex with an area of 3800 m2, which will have two swimming pools - an adult and a children's one, gyms and indoor courts. Its public function is emphasized by the design of the facades, which is different from the residential sections - narrow windows and ribbed inserts in white and brown, forming a wavy corrugation.

Other neighborhoods are also rich in public functions. A three-story kindergarten, decorated with panels of juicy berry flowers, became a striking inclusion between two residential towers overlooking the school grounds. Some of the first floors of the buildings in the complex are commercial. In addition to the courtyard, each block has its own themed "arch", that is, covered landscaping - a children's area, a yoga area and a skateboarding area.

For cladding the facades, the architects used several types of materials: clinker tiles, composite panels for copper, HPL panels for wood and concrete, fiber cement panels with milling. Calm natural shades prevail, but there are also bright accents of red - perhaps a reference to the "Red Arrow". Openwork baskets for air conditioners and decorative panels duplicating their pattern in the cladding became a highlight. The stylized drawings on the bodies are different, they resemble either the crown of a tree, then the bark under a microscope, then the thickets of grass. In total, the architects have developed eleven types of facades for the complex, achieving diversity not only at the macro, but also at the micro level.

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1/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". Scheme-plan of the 1st floor © GREN.
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2/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". Floor plan of the 2nd floor © GREN.
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3/3 Residential complex "YOU AND I". Floor plan of the 1st floor © GREN.

Similar techniques are a patchwork combination of materials of different textures, openwork gratings and decorative GREN panels. used in his other projects, for example, in the residential complex on Mikhailova Street. But in the RC "You and me" the mood is completely different. This is perhaps the most “homely” and cozy project at the time of its creation in the bureau's portfolio.