The project won an open international competition for the development of a concept for a residential area near the Samara Arena stadium, held by IAAM last summer (the results were announced in the fall). The stadium itself was rebuilt for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and in 2020 another competition was held for the concept of developing the territory next to it, in which the green project won.
The new residential complex "Arena Park" overlooks the multi-lane Moscow highway, but on its flanks there are two green areas: the Park of the 60th Anniversary of Soviet Power, passing into the park "Samara Arena", and the Nagornaya Dacha forest. There is no regular urban development nearby, only a handful of assorted cottages.
Danish bureau project
Juul | Frost Arkitekter is entirely based on the natural character of the area. The heart of the new complex is a green park strip that “flows” along the houses, whimsically bending and “splashing” in the courtyards and squares. It intertwines the urban environment with the natural, while taking on the role of the center of social life. Along the heart of the park are kindergartens and a school, a cultural center, shops, cafes and sports grounds.
The buildings of the houses, the height of which does not exceed nine floors, form permeable quarters, in which the indentations from the red line along the diagonal and in the form of niches are completely unusual. The farther from the highway, the more pronounced this technique, the more bizarre the streets and courtyards are dotted.
This "randomness" and asymmetry borrowed from natural processes is maintained at all levels: different heights of houses, pitched roofs with different degrees of slope, several levels of streets extended with terraces, stylobates and wide staircases with the functions of an amphitheater. Tiles and green islands divide squares, streets and courtyards into additional micro-zones. Every corner of the district is filled to the brim with individuality, a new perspective around every corner, new spatial impressions and pastime options - the expectation that the streets live in any weather at any time of the day.
Needless to say, the facade solutions of different sections are not repeated, the windows do not obey a strict rhythm, and the finishing materials suggest a variety of textures and colors.
One gets the impression that the architects tried to get away from the definition of "typical" as far as possible. To the extent that, thanks to the "vernacular" plan, the new district resembles a medieval city with green roofs instead of tiled ones. The solutions found for Russian realities seem utopian, the more interesting it is to track how they will be implemented, because according to the terms of the competition, the winner gets the right to participate in the further implementation of the project.
