The project of the consortium Nikken Sekkei, UNK project, D&S and JLL became one of the three finalists of the competition for the architectural and urban planning concept of the large-scale territory of Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, located outside the Moscow Ring Road and became part of Moscow in 2012 (for more details about the competition and the site, see here).
Working with the approved TPP, all participants had to propose solutions that reveal the Smart City concept, which is key for this project, detail the ideas about a “smart” city, and demonstrate the possibilities of its concrete implementation. “Our team proposed to create a 'Linked city' / 'Linked city', in which the architectural environment closely interacts with the natural environment and which includes smart technologies and cities of the future,” said Nikken Sekkei architects. "Our project attaches particular importance to the promotion of creativity, the manifestation of the individuality of each resident of the area, the project is designed to create a public space that facilitates communication between people and the city."
“In this competition, it was relatively unusual that, among other things, it was required to provide an economic model,” says the head of the UNK project, Yuliy Borisov. - My colleagues and I Nikken Sekkei have attracted the largest specialists in this field for economic calculations both in the field of probable sales and the economics of the construction process. After all, now people buy or change housing not because they have nowhere to live, - continues the architect, - but because they want the best for themselves and their children. They improve not only their conditions in the primitive sense of the size of the apartment or the proximity of the metro, but also improve the environment in terms of a combination of factors: schools, places of employment, environmental well-being. We have tried to increase both the attractiveness of housing in general and its probable turnover in the market by means of various methods."
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zooming 1/4 RC "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoe", master plan © Nikken Sekkei
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zooming 2/4 RC "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoe", scheme of the central part © Nikken Sekkei
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zooming 3/4 RC "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoe", layout © Nikken Sekkei
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zooming 4/4 RC "Rublevo-Arkhangelskoe", schemes © Nikken Sekkei
So, the peculiarities of the project of the Japanese-Russian consortium are the emphasis on new technologies, the view of public spaces as a kind of "Internet in reality" and an abundance of greenery.
City of smart technologies
Some of the technological innovations of our time are quite predictable and lie in the plane of the rules of an environmentally responsible city. Separate waste collection, treatment and recycling of industrial water, use of solar and wind energy, storage of heat and its use for heating. The authors supplement the list of the named components: in particular, for the energy service of office buildings, they propose a trigeneration complex that generates not only heat and electricity, but also cold. Apart from the general energy network, the office buildings are united by underground parking under the entire spot of their territory.
For office towers, the authors proposed double glass facades: cool air can circulate between two layers of glass in summer, warm in spring and autumn, while in winter the air curtain receives “recharge from heaters on each floor. The system is complemented by vertical ribs-lamellas that outline the facades for the sake of protection from direct sunlight - and the shape of the lamellas and their presence flexibly depends on the expected illumination: where there is little sun, they smoothly fade and disappear. The apartments offer heated glass, radiators built into the floor, and in cheaper versions - radiators of a small height, up to 30 cm instead of the usual half meter.
Meanwhile, the actual architectural techniques are also not alien to innovations from the field of fine tuning. For example, the structure of office buildings is flexible. And the window openings of residential buildings grow from the lower floors up, smaller windows at the bottom provide privacy, large windows on the upper floors allow you to enjoy the panorama. Also an innovation for Russia, a country whose residents are more focused on the purchase of housing, in the Nikken Sekkei and UNK project has become a fairly high percentage of apartments intended for rent.
Another type of innovation is organizational and planning: the authors propose to build community centers, from playgrounds to markets and a museum, in several stages. First, build fairly simple temporary structures, and then replace them with permanent, more interesting from the point of view of architecture. This is important, given that the construction process in total should stretch until 2045.
But the authors are not limited to the sum of technical innovations, fine settings and rationalization proposals, trying to emphasize the futuristic terrain, especially in the central office area. Here, on the main square, a small building appears - a streamlined pavilion on a voluminous leg, glass, with a pointed nose and similar to an ultra-modern control tower at an airport. It is called
"Smart communication center" / Smart Linked center and, indeed, takes over the functions of a distribution center scattered throughout the territory of "smart devices" / Smart devices, showing the time, allowing you to recharge your smartphone, spreading a wi-fi signal, allowing people to feel the constant benevolent presence of technology ready to help. This is one of the widespread motives of science fiction literature: certain centers scattered across the planet and allowing one to feel its space as civilized even in a deep forest. In this case, the entire territory of the new city. The authors called this network “Smart Infrastructure”. It looks like a symbol of Smart city, a kind of semantic point that confirms its futuristic essence. On the other hand, these pavilions, of course, are not only a symbol of a smart city, but a supposed very real repository for its technologies.
Nature
It would be wrong, working with an area of 461 hectares, not to saturate it with green areas. The authors unite the conversation about landscaping, which is everywhere here: large trees are specially stipulated in the courtyards of residential buildings, with the theme of "connectedness" - linking, the information network and the network of human communications that echoes it, the spaces of walks and interaction. They offer three "park corridors" - wide boulevards to connect the central area with the banks of the river, linking them with its green embankments and "paths along the lake", as well as with smaller roads around and within the neighborhoods, united, according to the authors, in Nature passage, "natural path". All together, as the authors explain, forms a single walking network with hubs, allowing residents, especially the elderly and children, to travel safely on foot.
Destination bridge
Yet the intonation difference between languages is inevitable. In Russian it turned out very solemnly, not to say pretentious. In English, more precisely: it is a bridge that not only serves as part of the communication framework, but itself can be considered as a destination; that is, it is planned that you can come here just like that, not only when moving from point A to point B.
The bridge across the Moskva River in the southeastern part of the territory, necessary for better communication with the city and overlooking the Rublevskoye highway line, is important as part of the car traffic, but in their project the authors also turned it into a space for pedestrian walks. There is still no place to walk on the opposite bank of the river, between the old cottage village Rublevsky and the closed territory of the Vodokanal station. Therefore, the architects interpreted the bridge itself as a place for walking with views of the river.
In addition, it is simply beautiful in itself, in our country there are still few bridges with spectacular structures, although all over the world they serve as the best examples of engineering aesthetics. Here, the arches of a two-span cable-stayed bridge covering the channel with a width of about 100 m are made of tubular structures, inside which paths for pedestrians and cyclists are planned. And, while walking, go out onto balconies alternating with protrusions of adaptive mass dampers necessary to ensure the stability of the structure. The location of the balconies is determined by the best viewpoints. One, with the best views, has been turned into a lawn, a green area hanging over the river.
Glitter of glass and parametrics
The bridge is an accent on the border of the territory, part of its representation to the city. But the main element of the perception scenario is located, of course, in the city center and is connected with the transport hub. Here, leaving the metro, we, as in the Parisian Defense (or in the Moscow City), will be able to lift our heads up and marvel at the growing glass bulk. The effect is calculated: it is immediately clear that we are in the place of an innovative business.
The towers, which are indeed the tallest in the territory, look like a kind of glass sails, are present in almost all panoramas of the complex, as now the City is in all Moscow panoramas. But they are more sparse and shorter in stature - the highest, iconic - 130 meters. The outlines of the buildings appear to be sculpted, yet they are defined parametrically - as a result of the analysis of the wind rose. The volumes are almost literally "washed" by the wind currents, since they are drawn in order to evade it - hence the streamlined contours.
Stepped silhouettes, which from a distance could remind of Habitat, helped to arrange many terraces on the roofs overlooking the lake, with cafes and meeting places - they should serve both for recreation and for business communication, according to the scenario: “let's discuss this on the roof, we'll have some coffee at the same time.
Housing gradations
And yet, living space occupies more than three quarters of the multifunctional city complex. The facades of residential buildings, in contrast to office buildings, are mostly rectangular, with a clear grid of windows, often combined in two and three; predominantly vertical proportions.
The authors divide them into several areas. Vostochny, next to the metro station, is interpreted as a place for people working in the center, since it will be easy to get to Moscow from here. At the exit from the metro, an extensive warm gallery, mostly transparent, is planned - allowing you to get to your house, shop and other public spaces without going outside. The area to the north of the lake is intended for successful young people - "millennials", the class of housing here is premium, floor-to-ceiling windows, next to the promenade. There is more glass in the youth area, although there are also warm galleries along the houses. The southern region is understood as a place for families and the elderly - there is much more "traditional" stone in its architecture, the courtyards are more closed, moreover, there are more schools and they are closer - so that grandmothers can take their grandchildren to study. ***
Designing the cities of the future is a genre in which architects and urbanists have been working for over five hundred years. As a rule, it is associated with hopes for something bright, dynamic, comfortable, and smart. Smarter than now and what it was. The genre itself contains a completely understandable impulse for a better life, hope and faith. Perhaps capable of "lifting" a large piece of Moscow land, turning it into a miracle. It all depends on the circumstances. This project is only part of the process and the futuristic reflections that are important for it.
