TATLIN NEWS #52

Reflection of the past | Moscow, Russia | AS «Sergey Kisselev and Partners» | reorga- nization of the factory of «Krasnaya Roza 1875» | photos by V. Labutin, A. Rusov, A. Shamparov | text by Evgenia Bakhturova Reconstruction of the territory that formerly belonged to the «Krasnaya Roza» factory was one of the first steps in the conversion process Moscow-based developers took. Back in the 1990s transfer of industrial facilities started with this territory, later the ArtPlay designer centre, which was the first attraction for mem- bers of creative circles, was located there. In 2003 rehabilitation of the territory started based on the design by Sergey Kiselev and Partners, with an intention to build a multi- functional office facility. High density of construction along with discontinuity of functional contents seem to have not matched the desire of the develop- er to create an attractive space for investors, however, historical buildings, which are many at the territory, have blended well with the project, which tries to form a place with a ge- nius loci, a complex with respect to its histori- cal surroundings instead of building a scamp- ish remake. And its context is rich: the facto- ry is an example of a district, which formed for years, if not ages, and bears a reflection of many historical times. The vast lands be- longed to Dolgoruky, the Zasetsky and then the Vsevolzhsky family, and one of the family members took the courage to establish a print shop in his patrimonial estate. The history of the factory in this area, which started at that moment, is known to have ended in the late 90s with a wreck of a filature factory. Many buildings, two of them having a status of mon- uments of architecture, remained at the site at the beginning of the 21st century: the Vsevol- zhsky homestead of the late 18th century and an art gallery of the Zhiro factory designed by Roman Klein, not to mention the many exam- ples of less valuable, but solid samples of red- brick industrial architecture of the late 19th century. In order to preserve the historical environ- ment and make continuity more pronounced, customers and investors took a decision to partially preserve and restore old buildings. Besides the complex is presented as a histor- ical site, into which volumes with contempo- rary facades and modern functionality are in- stalled. As a compromise between intellectu- al and cultural needs of urban areas and the customer’s request for renting space of A class, factory buildings (No. 7 and 9) have only been overhauled, while on the two opposite sides of the site new buildings emerge – they are large- scale, but at the same time cultured and par- tially imitate the historical buildings. The building No. 8, which was build along the longitudinal axis at an angle to the build- ing No. 1, does not raise as many disputes as the building No. 1 (whose saw-tooth roof be- came a subject of active disputes at a certain moment of time). Perhaps it was what add- ed to its integrity: architects decided not to frame its glazed main facade with blind vol- umes, which made the surface less tense and dissolved the building to blend with the envi- ronment and brought it in scale with the com- plex. However, the surface of the facade, which reflects the surroundings, does not seem to be monotonous, its relief creating an uneven rhythm of sunken parts. The inner yard of the building is as interesting as its main facade: it features diagonal stairways put out on the facade, cantilevered panels animating smooth

ТАТLIN news 4|52|75  2009  81