House on the Martynov embankment
St. Petersburg, Martynov emb., House 60
Designer: INTERCOLUMNIUM
Customer: LLC "Fokina 2"
Discussed: architectural and town-planning appearance
The house on the Martynov embankment is another project of the INTERCOLUMNIUM bureau for Krestovsky Island, known for its prohibitively expensive real estate: the Imperial Yacht Club RC was built very close to the site, on the other side of the island is the Privilege RC with a similar “cruise” architecture and the Krestovsky RC de luх, in the back there is a business center and the Esper Club residential complex under construction.
The new project, which the bureau has been working on since 2017, differs from the previous more complex initial data: on a small plot there is a monument of regional significance - the own house of architect Vadim Statsenko built in 1914, and the closest neighbor is the eminent residential complex "House by the Sea", designed by Evgeny Gerasimov and Sergei Choban. In July, the 1930 annex was demolished on the site.
The new house reacts to the surroundings with an S-shaped plan: it "delicately and carefully bends around the cultural heritage site, starts behind the mansion and, after going around, breaks out from behind it to the embankment, demonstrating the dynamics and smoothness of lines." Large balconies increase the resemblance to the liner, "which also fits into the context of the location where the yachts are moored nearby." The curvilinear volume also responds to the plasticity of the "House by the Sea" complex: the far corner of the building comes very close to it.
Evgeny Podgornov noted that the materials presented are rather of a sketch nature, since at this stage the main goal is to approve the main parameters of the building and the project for the planning of the territory.
The reviewer Svyatoslav Gaykovich noted the wit of the authors of the project, who managed to cope with numerous regulatory restrictions, respect for the monument and "House by the Sea". As it turned out later, he was the only one who, with some reservations, offered to support the project.
The experts' comments were about three main points. The first is an insufficiently complete understanding, in particular, the lack of perspective and situational plan, which would give a more realistic idea of the influence of the building on the context. Evgeny Gerasimov noted that at the tenders “House by the Sea” “is located a kilometer from the new house,” and according to Sergei Oreshkin, the historical and cultural expertise and approval of the KGIOP, which do not exist yet, could significantly change the project.
The second block of comments touched on the proximity to the architectural monument: its function and status, the need to demarcate the plots so that if it is sold to another owner, there would be no problems with the operation of the mansion. Vladimir Avrutin noted the deviation from the altitude regulations, Alexei Mikhailov recalled the valuable trees on the site, and Alexander Karpov drew attention to the fact that the fence is part of the monument and in reality continues further than on the renders.
Finally, the third topic of discussion was the relationship between the new home and its famous, and, as it sounded, the award-winning neighbor, “
House by the Sea”by Sergei Tchoban and Evgeny Gerasimov. According to Evgeny Gerasimov, the project under consideration violates the main idea of the "House by the Sea", according to which the high buildings in the depths of the quarter are gradually decreasing. Sergei Oreshkin called the attitude of the project to the neighboring building indifferent. Vyacheslav Ukhov called "an attempt to join the plastic game with" House by the Sea "slyness. Vladimir Linov called the deviation from the "general structure of space set by the" House by the Sea "and the historical scale of the mansions along the embankment" an urban planning mistake. They also discussed the southern-resort appearance of the house, the abundance of terraces and the likely prospects for their glazing, although Vladimir Grigoriev urged not to reject the elements of resort architecture too strongly.
However, many experts approved the architecture as such, called it graceful and original, and Yevgenia Podgornova a recognized master.
The project, meanwhile, was not approved and sent for revision; Summing up, Vladimir Grigoriev suggested taking into account all the comments and, in addition, acquainting the customer with the comments and with the opinion of the council. The chief architect of St. Petersburg also raised the question: "which comes first, a chicken or an egg?" - where it is necessary to begin consideration of the project, in the KGIOP or at the city council. In this case, the consideration was preliminary, preceded the opinion of experts on the protection of monuments and did not include the urban planning component. In this case, the council considered the project “for the planning project”, so the work will obviously be continued at a new stage, taking into account the comments.
