It should come as little surprise that a country with as much disposable capital and an open-minded approach to ostentatious design should house a veritable hitlist of beguiling architecture – but Russia isn't any old country. Here, we've collated a number of 19th, 20th and 21st century architectural curios featured in Wallpaper* over the past years, from Soviet-style cultural centres and rickety avant-garde residences, through modernist pavilions and cosmic rural creations…
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Modern Russia's complex relationship with its avant-garde architectural past is well documented. Photographs of the crumbling husks of once pristine geometric visions of historic modern architecture are widely circulated. Konstantin Melnikov's house, built in 1927 and featured in W*164, is a good example. The house on Krivoarbatsky Lane in Moscow was a prototype for mass housing for workers, showcasing new techniques, materials and forms.
Writers: Jonathan Bell and Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Leo Balanev
It should come as little surprise that a country with as much disposable capital and an open-minded approach to ostentatious design should house a veritable hitlist of beguiling architecture – but Russia isn't any old country. Here, we've collated a number of 19th, 20th and 21st century architectural curios featured in Wallpaper* over the past years, from Soviet-style cultural centres and rickety avant-garde residences, through modernist pavilions and cosmic rural creations…
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Modern Russia's complex relationship with its avant-garde architectural past is well documented. Photographs of the crumbling husks of once pristine geometric visions of historic modern architecture are widely circulated. Konstantin Melnikov's house, built in 1927 and featured in W*164, is a good example. The house on Krivoarbatsky Lane in Moscow was a prototype for mass housing for workers, showcasing new techniques, materials and forms.
Writers: Jonathan Bell and Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Leo Balanev
Over multiple storeys and 250 sq m, Melnikov created a generous living space and two vast split-level studio areas united by a spiral staircase and lit by bands of diamond-shaped windows. Beneath the white render, it is built from brick, with timber flooring, conceived from an interlocking lattice of planks, rather than conventional joists. As a result of this rather bold move, as well as the low quality of materials available, the house is now very fragile. Chaotic, in need of conservation and a focus of architectural debate in Russia, the Melnikov House is still above all, a unique and remarkable home.
Writers: Jonathan Bell and Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Leo Balane
Over multiple storeys and 250 sq m, Melnikov created a generous living space and two vast split-level studio areas united by a spiral staircase and lit by bands of diamond-shaped windows. Beneath the white render, it is built from brick, with timber flooring, conceived from an interlocking lattice of planks, rather than conventional joists. As a result of this rather bold move, as well as the low quality of materials available, the house is now very fragile. Chaotic, in need of conservation and a focus of architectural debate in Russia, the Melnikov House is still above all, a unique and remarkable home.
Writers: Jonathan Bell and Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Leo Balane
Finally, after being burried in scaffolding for the best part of a decade, the 'house with the lions' – named after the two lions flanking its entrance – was unveiled as a grand five-storey hotel, with a state-of-the-art spa complex and pool built into an internal courtyard, and a restuarant and bar overseen by Eastern Europe's first Michelin-starred chef, Andrea Accordi. The building, completed in 1820 and featured in our November 2012 issue, was designed for Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky by Auguste de Montferrand. Soon afterwards, it served as the Ministry for War until the revolution in 1917. It then variously housed a hostel, a school and, most recently, a state-owned architectural bureau.
Writer: Tobin Auber. Photography: Egor Rogalev
Finally, after being burried in scaffolding for the best part of a decade, the 'house with the lions' – named after the two lions flanking its entrance – was unveiled as a grand five-storey hotel, with a state-of-the-art spa complex and pool built into an internal courtyard, and a restuarant and bar overseen by Eastern Europe's first Michelin-starred chef, Andrea Accordi. The building, completed in 1820 and featured in our November 2012 issue, was designed for Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky by Auguste de Montferrand. Soon afterwards, it served as the Ministry for War until the revolution in 1917. It then variously housed a hostel, a school and, most recently, a state-owned architectural bureau.
Writer: Tobin Auber. Photography: Egor Rogalev
Boris Bernaskoni's Villa Mirror Mongayt near Moscow, which originally appeared in W*164, is more akin to an art installation than a house. Its facade, which for now features mirror panels that reflect the surrounding forest, is designed to be replaced every year, while the locally sourced, prefabricated wooden frame, recycled wool insulation and wooden interiors all underline the building's eco-consciousness. The result is a mix of clean shapes, simple materials and playful, eye-catching conceptual elements, which is fast becoming Bernaskoni's signature approach.
Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Yuri Palmin
Boris Bernaskoni's Villa Mirror Mongayt near Moscow, which originally appeared in W*164, is more akin to an art installation than a house. Its facade, which for now features mirror panels that reflect the surrounding forest, is designed to be replaced every year, while the locally sourced, prefabricated wooden frame, recycled wool insulation and wooden interiors all underline the building's eco-consciousness. The result is a mix of clean shapes, simple materials and playful, eye-catching conceptual elements, which is fast becoming Bernaskoni's signature approach.
Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Yuri Palmin
Bernaskoni himself, standing under his Arc pavilion, a striking 13m-high wooden construction designed as 'a gateway to nature' for the Archstoyanie festival. The arch-shaped wooden pavilion combines a striking perforated facade with a gallery space, a viewing platform and even its own water well. 'The Arc de Triomphe is traditionally an urban symbol,' explains Bernaskoni. 'We took the classical shape, symbolising fame and victory, and transferred it into the countryside to celebrate nature.'
Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Yuri Palmin
Bernaskoni himself, standing under his Arc pavilion, a striking 13m-high wooden construction designed as 'a gateway to nature' for the Archstoyanie festival. The arch-shaped wooden pavilion combines a striking perforated facade with a gallery space, a viewing platform and even its own water well. 'The Arc de Triomphe is traditionally an urban symbol,' explains Bernaskoni. 'We took the classical shape, symbolising fame and victory, and transferred it into the countryside to celebrate nature.'
Writer: Ellie Stathaki. Photography: Yuri Palmin
When Alvar Aalto originally created his library, between 1927 and 1935, it was a civic jewel of the wealthy port of Viipuri, a city second in size only to Helsinki in the Finnish region of Karelia. But after the Second World War the area was ceded to the Soviets, the indigenous population relocated to Finland and replaced by Russians, and the city renamed Vyborg. The library, which was featured in Wallpaper's July 2011 issue, vanished behind the Iron Curtain and a fog of rumour, which makes its survival and restoration, crowned by recent 75th anniversary celebrations, all the more heartening.
Writer: Trevor Dannatt. Photography: Gustav Welin
When Alvar Aalto originally created his library, between 1927 and 1935, it was a civic jewel of the wealthy port of Viipuri, a city second in size only to Helsinki in the Finnish region of Karelia. But after the Second World War the area was ceded to the Soviets, the indigenous population relocated to Finland and replaced by Russians, and the city renamed Vyborg. The library, which was featured in Wallpaper's July 2011 issue, vanished behind the Iron Curtain and a fog of rumour, which makes its survival and restoration, crowned by recent 75th anniversary celebrations, all the more heartening.
Writer: Trevor Dannatt. Photography: Gustav Welin
