River Gallery
Krasnodar, Russian Federation
New urban block with shopping mall and hotel
Info
2008-2009: Project
Project: IDxEA
Client: Trevisan Spa Vicenza Italia – Valery Agayan Krasnodar Russian Federation
Lot surface area: 48.667mq
Total surface area: 159.844mq
Covered area: 21.047mq
Total volume: 1.004.464mc
Text
From the very start, the evolution and the fine-tuning of the architectural project for the River Gallery Shopping Center followed three main guidelines: meet the needs and expectations of the client, analyze the urban and environmental context in which the complex would be built, and carry out a mediation between the individual designers’ proposals and the high level of creative and technical quality that the Krasnodar project required. The last two, in particular, profoundly influenced the architectural design for the project, which, despite its complexity and modernity, strove to maintain a close connection with the historical, geographical and urban elements of the surrounding environment, not to mention its anthropological and cultural aspects.
The use of materials and forms that are part of the history of the local population and the seamless insertion of elements that recall the surroundings are examples of what emerged from the firm’s preliminary study. For instance, an analysis of the landscape by means of satellite maps revealed a dense network of rivers and streams that criss-cross the entire area. The presence of this network influenced all the decisions on how to distribute the buildings and determine the layout of the outdoor areas. One element, water, also became an architectural hallmark of singular importance. Moreover, the subdivision of the site into rectangles was inspired by the chequered pattern of vegetable gardens around Krasnodar, delineated by axes along which the four towers were placed.
Once again, water was the element that inspired the design of the towers as well: just as rocks are eroded by water, the shape of the towers is remarkably harmonious, and they are crossed are by horizontal lines that taper at the top. This aesthetic solution, together with the location being perpendicular to the road, made it possible to build towers that were slimmer and more attractive, potentially a new important landmark for the city.
A transparent shopping mall was included to link the various portions of the complex. Its particular arrangement aims to break up the rigidity of the basic pattern by exploiting the vitality and energy coursing through its interior. Just like a river, in fact, the shopping mall threads through the buildings, a new, dynamic element for the four towers that skews the rectangular grid and creates that ‘beneficial’ disorder that enlivens and rounds off the design of the River Gallery.
The use of materials and forms that are part of the history of the local population and the seamless insertion of elements that recall the surroundings are examples of what emerged from the firm’s preliminary study. For instance, an analysis of the landscape by means of satellite maps revealed a dense network of rivers and streams that criss-cross the entire area. The presence of this network influenced all the decisions on how to distribute the buildings and determine the layout of the outdoor areas. One element, water, also became an architectural hallmark of singular importance. Moreover, the subdivision of the site into rectangles was inspired by the chequered pattern of vegetable gardens around Krasnodar, delineated by axes along which the four towers were placed.
Once again, water was the element that inspired the design of the towers as well: just as rocks are eroded by water, the shape of the towers is remarkably harmonious, and they are crossed are by horizontal lines that taper at the top. This aesthetic solution, together with the location being perpendicular to the road, made it possible to build towers that were slimmer and more attractive, potentially a new important landmark for the city.
A transparent shopping mall was included to link the various portions of the complex. Its particular arrangement aims to break up the rigidity of the basic pattern by exploiting the vitality and energy coursing through its interior. Just like a river, in fact, the shopping mall threads through the buildings, a new, dynamic element for the four towers that skews the rectangular grid and creates that ‘beneficial’ disorder that enlivens and rounds off the design of the River Gallery.