The architectural society has formed a stable opinion: if you build something new in an already developed area, you can’t blend it in unnoticed. Often there is a contrasting glass box, in which “the surrounding architecture is beautifully reflected”, or which “is framed as a gem by historical buildings”, etc. You really cannot do the same as the surroundings; the architecture should be reinterpreted in the context of contemporary construction technologies and a modern way of life.

The building site includes a small garden, but it wasn’t there forever.

The proportions of horizontal and vertical articulation and the principles of making a composition suit the historical surroundings, but the details vary greatly.

The ground floor is accented using a different material, as in the historical buildings of Moscow.

Borrowing the shape of the facade elements.

Borrowing the rounded corners of the neighbouring buildings.

There is less Moscowness deeper into the site, while closer to the edges, at the crossroads, there is more.

Visualizations

The second floor of the main facade is made of glass blocks. When it’s dark, it turns into an opaque glowing wall.

As for the opposite facade, it is high-end modern architecture with a light touch of historicism.