Gradsovet Remotely 11.11

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

Microdistrict at Pulkovo Heights

Blocks bounded by Volkhonskoye Highway, Pulkovskoye Highway and projected driveways

Designer: JSB "Zemtsov, Kondiain and Partners"

Customer: "TERRA"

Discussed: urban planning concept

The meeting of the town planning council began with a minute of silence in memory of Vladimir Popov and Yuri Kurbatov.

Mikhail Kondiain spoke about the concept. The future microdistrict will appear near the Pulkovo Observatory; a 215 hectare site is located at the intersection of Pulkovskoye and Volkhonskoye highways. Unlike the neighboring residential complexes Planetograd and Yugtown, it does not come close to Pulkovskaya Gora, but there is still a limitation on night exposure. A stream flows through the entire site, or rather, as it turned out later, the Pulkovka River, which originates somewhere in the bowels of the Southern landfill located across the Volkhonskoe highway. Another “challenge” of this territory is the Southern Cemetery, one of the largest in the city.

Bureau "Zemtsov, Kondiain and Partners" proposed a layout that many found innovative and in keeping with the spirit of suburban life. Houses with a closed perimeter are relatively freely spaced within the quarters, thanks to which residents have both private courtyards and fairly extensive common areas that form a system of gardens with various sites. Two pedestrian boulevards with a width of at least 40 m are two green axes of the quarter, which intersect in the main square, where a large park, a children's playground and a temple located in the center of a decorative reservoir are conceived. The building height is 18-21 m, there will be 9000 jobs per 31,000 inhabitants.

Генеральный план. Проект планировки территории района у Пулковских высот © Земцов, Кондиайн и партнеры

During the discussions, it turned out that the stream has not been sufficiently explored, and this casts doubt on the whole concept: it is likely that it will even have to be removed into a pipe and buried underground. Alexander Karpov recalled that the line of the blockade ring passed through the territory of the site, and did not find a reaction to this circumstance in the project. Alexander Mikhailov added that

The Green Belt of Glory does not have the status of an object of cultural heritage, and nevertheless called for "to carry out the memorialization of the object, a conventional line, with the help of improvement elements."

Experts considered the southern cemetery rather a plus of the territory - "quiet neighbors" and an area for walking - however, they admitted that it is necessary to lay a sanitary zone, despite the fact that it is not currently in the project, and at the same time it complies with the norms.

Many people liked the free layout of the quarters, the picturesqueness and humanity of which is manifested even more vividly due to the contrast with the neighboring geometric "Planetograd", similar to the city of the Sun, as Evgeny Gerasimov called it.

Проект планировки территории района у Пулковских высот © Земцов, Кондиайн и партнеры

Vladimir Grigoriev, on the other hand, found weak points in this part: “The buildings near the cemetery are the same as those on the side of the wholesale warehouse, and the same as those of the recreational zone. The territory is suburban, but the perimeter urban development of blocks is clearly declared - there is a contradiction in this."

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LCD on Oktyabrskaya

Saint Petersburg, Oktyabrskaya embankment

Designer: "Invest-Consult", "PARITET GROUP"

Customer: LSR. Real Estate - North-West"

Discussed: architectural and town-planning appearance

The future economy-class residential complex will be located on the first line of the Oktyabrskaya embankment, but it will be surrounded by industrial zones on almost all sides. Buildings with a height of 18 to 25 floors are lined up along the perimeter of the site, leaving a large courtyard free, where a school for 610 students and a kindergarten for 300 children will be located. In two corners of the site there will be multi-storey car parks, round in plan. The appearance of the complex was affected by the class of housing: there are no balconies and loggias in the houses, reinforced concrete walls will be plastered.

The experts noted the professionalism of the architects, who received complex initial data. The "strong master plan" of the complex received a lot of positive feedback. Oleg Kharchenko called the project a "time machine": "When I saw the master plan and pictures, it breathed with something from the 70s of the last century, romanticism, an inspired attempt to make at least some semblance of a town-planning venture out of nothing."

However, the project received its portion of criticism. Nikita Yavein suggested doing something "more serious" for the facades overlooking the Neva, since these houses could obviously be of a different level. He was supported by Sergei Oreshkin and Mikhail Kondiain, who did not fail to remind about the importance of the St. Petersburg embankments. Mikhail Milchik was confused by the architecture: “Facade solutions repeat each other, they are very small and will not be perceived from distant points. Equal height of the hulls is also a disadvantage. It would be possible to solve the complex on the principles of the ensemble: to highlight accents, secondary elements. There is also no connection with the neighboring Stalinist buildings."

Vladimir Grigoriev compared the project to a grandmother from an anecdote, whose pension was only enough to be treated with air: the peripheral plot and class of housing determine the approach to development, but there is definitely air here, although the composition is still not as crystal as we would like. The chief architect recommended avoiding the "Podgorny effect on the Black River" - with buildings of different heights near the embankment, and also welcomed the absence of balconies and the attendant neatness of the facades.

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