The OSA bureau designs many and varied projects for all of Russia: from a high-rise complex in Moscow's Tushino to urban villas in its native Yekaterinburg. One of the secrets of fruitfulness is a specially structured work with young architects: they are taught to be universal “fighters”, capable of leading a project from start to finish, but at the same time they are allowed to look for themselves.
OCA is more of a platform than an authoring bureau. This does not negate the prestige of founding partners and architects with extensive experience. Any project is discussed with them, their experience is always available. But we are interested in the fact that from the first months of work the specialist is involved in solving complex project problems.
This method is the result of our design dynamics. Despite the short deadlines for the implementation of projects, their quality remains important - and success depends on the number of competent and proactive specialists. If a young architect quickly and with a known quality copes with local tasks, then he is ready to put them together in the design process, be it a concept, sketch or detailed design. In this regard, it is easier to work in a team of young professionals. They have the time and desire to learn from experience, devote more time to analyzing the situation and find unexpectedly interesting solutions.
Egor Obvintsev and Vladislav Sarapulov, “yesterday's students,” as they call themselves, talk about working on their first independent project for the bureau, which helped them feel all stages of work - from context to marketing, and also get to know themselves better.
At the request of the customer, the location cannot be disclosed, the typology is business class apartments. The site is responsible - in the center of a large city, overlooks the lake, the embankment of which has recently begun to be improved. A mirror of water is common for historical quarters, Soviet buildings and completely new buildings.
The architects wanted to create a quiet place with cozy courtyards and a green garden, but at the same time make it recognizable through its striking silhouette, make it a landmark on the circular embankment, and preserve the feeling of an accessible and friendly public space. In the process of work, I managed to understand several important things.
The architect is an actor and a psychologist. The primary task is to understand the customer. And even not so much with direct questions as intuitively, through emotions, replacing politeness with sincere interest. To do this, you need to be able to live someone else's experience, like an actor working on the Stanislavsky system. Which is not always easy for a recent student designing luxury housing. But architects define this quality as the most important, prevailing over drawing skills.
Egor believes that an architect is also a bit of a psychologist, because he helps the client to form the theses, images and character of the project. These theses are also influenced by the context: culture, nature, national characteristics. “Everything around us is a relationship between people. It is important not to look for a solution for the sake of a solution, an option for the sake of an option, but to find what is interesting to you, which reflects our common essence”.
The best tactic is to trust your feelings. Instead of looking at analogs, it is worth taking courage and relying on sensory perception, comprehending the uniqueness of a place and culture. Grabbing an inevitably arising emotion by the tail, make it the basis of your reading. Not to develop facade solutions, but to lay and maintain imagery, empathy. Vladislav notes that the pleasure of designing is a marker of a correctly found direction, an emotional approach allows you to get a thrill from life, from work.
I formulate, therefore I exist. The architects admit that the freedom provided made them think: what do people really need, what is right, what is truth? We decided “to do as for myself” or “as for the last time”: what will be the phrase I said at the end, how will I be remembered? This approach gives more chances for a strong and stable solution, the essence of which is not proportional objects in space, but a place, atmosphere, lifestyle, which are preserved with any facade mesh.
We propose to see what the architects ended up with: two moods, two ways of being, from which the customer had to choose “not as between an apple and a pear, but as between two versions of himself”.
A quiet harbor
Egor Obvintsev
Four urban villas with a height of 4-6 floors form a "quiet harbor": houses like rocks cover the courtyard from external disturbances, it is always calm here. A variety of spaces add coziness: squares, gardens, patios and plazas, private front gardens and open terraces on the top floors. Privacy is combined with permeability, which allows you to take advantage of the main advantage of the embankment - the view of the water.
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zooming 1/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 2/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 3/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 4/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 5/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 6/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 7/7 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
The houses are independent, but they are linked by a stylobate and a single character. The courtyard is sufficiently detached to be private, but does not lock into itself, taking advantage of the advantages of the embankment - common spaces, views of the water. The architecture is laconic, obeys a certain metric, but at the points of contact with urban spaces it breaks its rules, defining the uniqueness of these spaces. The facade can be made of natural stone, composite panels with a stone texture or fiber-reinforced concrete slabs.
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zooming 1/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 2/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 3/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 4/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 5/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 6/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 7/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 8/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 9/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
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zooming 10/10 Project "Quiet Harbor" Architectural Bureau OSA. Egor Obvintsev
Children's and sports grounds are integrated into the general concept of the embankment improvement. The first line is occupied by restaurants, in addition to the usual retail, there are buildings for residents: libraries, children's rooms, a place for work and business meetings.
Bronze garden
Vladislav Sarapulov
While the first option reflects a spatial scenario solution, the second responds to a greater extent to the cultural context. This complex resembles a gemstone geode: calm and confidence on the outside, mystery and intrigue on the inside. The sheer brutal shape of the outer perimeter contrasts with the bright façade and the scattering of nooks and crannies in the interior. The suite of courtyards resembles the decoration of a precious box, the compactness of which is compensated by the developed public spaces outside.
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zooming 1/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 2/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 3/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 4/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 5/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 6/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 7/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
In this version, a rather wide strip is landscaped from the street side, so the urban villas become even more isolated from the bustle of the streets and focused on the main value of the place - the water surface.
Materials should be used in deep tones: the outer façade can be made of matt black composite panels or fiber cement slabs, the inner façade can be made of bronze panels or composite panels with a metal texture.
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zooming 1/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 2/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 3/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 4/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 5/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 6/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
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zooming 7/7 Project "Bronze Garden" Architectural Bureau OSA. Vladislav Sarapulov
Despite the fact that urban villas will not be built in the end, the experience of the OCA bureau should be recognized as effective. Young architects are full of enthusiasm, which is transmitted even through the webcam screen, they want to make the world a better place and believe in themselves. The customer is also satisfied - now he understands better how he wants to see his objects. The degree of trust and success of the built dialogue is evidenced by the fact that the client entrusted the young architects with the project of his office - and this is almost a house. The emotional approach, which by inertia is often perceived as somewhat naive or idealistic, generates sincerity and freshness, and also works economically - thanks for the proof.
