Economic crises and conflicts — global and regional — lead to the appearance of unfinished construction sites in cities. The question "what to do with unfinished business?" more often it sounds like rhetoric, especially if it is by no means a masterpiece of Gaudi or Zaha Hadid and not a Siena Cathedral worthy of museification.
But it seems that something is changing in the air of the Ukrainian capital. SAGA Development announced that they are the initiators and customers of the renovation of one of the unfinished buildings in Podil. Architect Oleksiy Pakhomov, co-founder of BURØ architects, spoke about the details of the project and the peculiarities of the jewelry design process.
Reconceptualization, redevelopment or renovation?
Redesigning an unfinished building is a serious challenge to the professionalism of an architect, but today it is one of the most sustainable solutions in line with the circular economy trend (we wrote about the circular economy and "closed loop" urban projects in the article "Planetary Scale Redesign. Cyclical cities as a model of the city of the future" in volume #05).
A similar path is followed not only in rich and successful megacities, but also in the cities of Eastern Europe. For example, in Krakow, the idea of renovating the Szkieletor tower was recently returned to. This 24-story building has undergone about 37 reconstruction attempts in the 15 years since its construction, but all of them were unsuccessful. The GD&K Group corporation has been reviving this symbol for the past three years. The facility was renamed Unity Centre. However, despite the announcements, it was not possible to complete the tower in 2019. The grand opening is postponed to 2020.
The location of the reconstruction object in Podil — 22 Andriivska Street, Kyiv. Image source: BURØ architects
Not only in Krakow - in every city there are areas that have fallen out of the city life for an indefinite period, where its "skeleton" hides behind the fence, and Kyiv is no exception. Some objects are so large-scale that separate state programs are needed to solve the problem. But they seem to be in a blind spot: ministers, mayors and ordinary officials postpone the troublesome and resource-intensive task for later.
Until the fate of the "Tower of David" in Venezuela threatens the "Dnipro Towers" in Trojeshchyna, which was turned into vertical slums by the authorities, so be it. The reconstruction of the computer center "Hiprovodhosp" on Solomyanska Square and its adaptation to the building for the Kyiv Court of Appeals became a rare exception to the rules.
Redesigning unfinished buildings is one of the most sustainable solutions that meet the circular economy trend
SAGA Development's decision to turn one of Podil's unfinished buildings into a modern mixed-use complex seems ambitious and, at first glance, very risky. But, as the company explained, this was preceded by painstaking due diligence — assessment of prospects, investment risks, research into the technical condition of structures. And the reconceptualization proposed by BURØ architects makes you look at the flimsy frame with turrets in the right part of Podol, on Andriivska Street, in a completely different way.
An inconvenient legacy
The incomplete construction in one of the Podil neighborhoods, planned by engineer William Geste, was inherited by the city during the pre-crisis construction bubble. The designers of BURØ architects had to guess about the original architectural concept and what determined the shape and details of the building.
Oleksiy Pakhomov, architect, co-founder of BURØ architects
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "On the documentation that was given to me, the name of the architect was indicated, which did not tell me anything. Although the puzzle itself is quite simple. The strange shape of the building in the plan is due to the desire to use the area of the plot as much as possible. Judging from the initial project, the facade was planned to be built flush with Andriivska Street, close to the red line. But in fact, if you pay attention, there even appeared a small curdoner — although almost symbolic. As far as I understand, at some city council, the designers were asked to step back, and as a result, a small square was formed in front of the entrance.
By the way, this commercial complex originally consisted of two buildings. One of them — on Naberezhno-Khreshchatytskyi Street, 9 — has already been completed. A two-story historical mansion once stood there. However, it was demolished and a four-story pseudo-historical fake was built instead. And the initial project of the building also claimed historicism. This can explain the appearance of strange turrets and a belvedere on the roof.
At the turn of the century, many Kyiv architects followed the recommendations of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection, which called for the use of traditional XNUMXth-century architecture. elements - some bay windows, arches, columns. It was assumed that such a flirtation with history would allow the project to go more smoothly through the approval of the city council. This explains both the motives of the architect and the appearance of the building, which seems to be trying to mimic the historical environment. And this, taking into account its considerable dimensions, seems absurd."
"Vienna Memorandum" against historicism
Although it was not possible to find documentary confirmation of the existence of recommendations to "build more historically", this assumption explains the mass appearance of pseudo-historical objects in Kyiv. However, it does not fully explain why fascination with pseudo-historicism in architecture suddenly turned out to be a characteristic feature and even a fashionable trend in the post-Soviet space. Despite the fact that only a century ago in Europe and America, pseudo-historicism was recognized as a symptom of stylistic unprincipledness and decline.
Gingerbread houses in pastel colors and pathetic high-rises with gables and foam stucco in the historical areas of the cities of Ukraine and Russia quite worried UNESCO experts. The "Vienna Memorandum" of 2005 calls for the rejection of fakes in architecture that compromise the historical nature of the city. This document contains short messages from UNESCO conventions and charters from different years. It clarifies the conditions for managing the historic urban landscape and the desired relationships between World Heritage sites and modern architecture.
Future residents have a separate entrance to the apartments from a quiet courtyard with a garden. Image source: BURØ architects
The "Vienna Memorandum" declares: "In urban planning and preservation of historic urban landscapes, modern architecture must avoid all forms of pseudo-historical design, as it meets neither historical nor modern requirements. One historical view should not supplant the rest, as the history should remain clear, and the ultimate goal of the project should be the preservation of culture through high-quality intervention techniques."
It is difficult to say how quickly the architects and developers of Kyiv would react to the most specific requirements of international experts, but the economic crisis of 2008 played a cleansing role in a good way, stimulating a return to clean forms, dictated in particular by new requirements for energy efficiency. And yet, the period of fascination with pseudo-historicism managed to form surprisingly strong emotional ties in the worldview of the people of Kyiv. How to explain this? Nostalgia for the mythical era of general well-being, sadness for "expensive-a lot", tiredness from the monotony of sleeping quarters?
Pseudo-historical forgeries reduce the value of historical buildings
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "People who are not specialists often mistake a fake for an original. I myself heard how passers-by, apparently non-locals, shared their impressions of Kyiv's Vozdvizhenka: they said how wonderful it is that the entire historical district has been preserved! Our problem is that this approach does not allow contemporaries to express themselves. Entire generations of architects are deprived of the chance to leave their mark, their opinion, the results of their trials and errors, if you will... No matter how one feels about modern architecture, it is dynamism that creates the same architectural wealth and diversity that we like in European cities.
Kyivska Vozdvizhenka is an example of pseudo-historicism in urban development, which contradicts UNESCO's "Vienna Memorandum". Photo: Oleg Guvelyakin for Wiki
It doesn't work that way in Ukraine. Fortunately, we have preserved a layer of pre-revolutionary heritage, then an array of uniform Soviet architecture. And now we are trying to play with historicism again! Time and time again we try to artificially return to the past. However, it turns out frankly bad. Pseudo-historic buildings nullify the value of historical ones."
Jewelry solution
The desire of specialized specialists for pseudo-historicity can be taken as a distorted understanding of the term "context". Sometimes even restorers make attempts to contextualize the heritage object — to align it with a template, a canon, depriving it of unique characteristics. When BURØ architects were screening the environment around the object on Andriivska Street, they drew attention to the building of the first Central Power Station in 1898, distorted by restoration. The colorful, slightly smoky brick walls were plastered for some reason, and then painted green. It is difficult to say whether the architectural monument has retained its value and authenticity after such restoration.
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "Considerations on this topic served as a kind of restraining factor for us. Despite the fact that we are dealing with an object designed relatively recently, maybe we should not rush to improve everything? Maybe you should take a closer look at what is there?
First of all, we evaluated the architectural framework. Looked for some key, anchor points and advantages to highlight. After looking at the unfinished building with a fresh eye, they came to the conclusion that this skeleton is basically not bad. In principle, any building erected in Ukraine is not bad at the frame level. Aesthetic problems arise later.
View of the right part of Kyiv Podol. Photo: © Yuriy Buriak (www.pizzatravel.com.ua)
That's why we followed the path of simplification — we cut off unnecessary protrusions, bay windows, turrets, in order to bring the volume as close as possible to its essence. In essence, this is honest and concise boxing. Therefore, in verticals and horizontals, we emphasized the base, the frame.
On the upper floor, as I understand it, there was an attempt to make an attic in accordance with the "Podil-2000" fashion - the upper slab has a recess from the roof slope, which was planned to be beautifully decorated with tiles and cut through the skylights. We decided that there was no place for a mansard here, but we listened to the logic of the frame, keeping this small faceted diagonal.
The contrasting grid on the facade, the pylons, which we used to break the initially disproportionately large window openings into rhythmic squares, allow us to somewhat "knock down" the scale, make the building more commensurate with the place and the person. In combination with glazing, such an opening visually forms the edges. It is no accident that we associated the entire redesign process with jewelry cutting."
Michelangelo's principle of approximating the form by cutting away the excess is just as true for sculptors, minimalist architects, and jewelers. When it comes to the hardest of minerals, diamond, cutting is preceded by the stage of studying and finding a point that allows you to "open" the stone with one blow, cutting it into several fragments suitable for further work. The process of finding the point of attachment to the legendary Cullinan diamond took several months for the cutter and founder of the Asscher Diamond jewelry company Joseph Ascher, after which the world's largest diamond was split into 9 large and 96 small pieces.
If you look closely at the new project from BURØ architects, you can draw parallels both with the octahedral shape of the crystal and with the famous step-cut of Usher - with a low "crown" and a massive "pavilion". Modern architecture can borrow the principle of the "three Cs" from jewelry practice — the evaluation of precious stones according to the harmonious rule of Cut, Clarity, Color.
Stages of architectural "cutting" of the object: original volume, dismantling, assembly, new volume. Image source: BURØ architects
However, in their latest collections, large jewelry houses are increasingly abandoning the classic cut for stones of the II-III order (according to the classification of M. Bauer - A.E. Fersman) and are betting on the natural beauty of the mineral, its authenticity. Textures, fractures, the presence of impurities - behind all this there is a powerful philosophy.
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "In the exterior decoration, we plan to use a fairly archaic material - gabbro rust. Some of the blocks will be smooth and polished, but most will retain the coarse surface fractures that occur when the block is cut in the quarry.
We plan to alternate the textures of treated and untreated stone. And in order to increase the diversity, we will make a selection of dark gray and black Ukrainian granites from different deposits that are similar in color. As a result, we want to get not a checkered mosaic-inlay, but a somewhat "quivering" uneven tone - so that despite the overall monolithicity, fragmentation can still be seen. During the day, light and shadows on the facade will create a dynamic pattern.
Handrails, profiles, fittings will be brass or, more likely, steel anodized to a greenish, somewhat patinated brass.
The new architectural image, integrated into the multi-layered eclectic Podil patchwork, into this thundering mixture of constructivism, Soviet neoclassicism, industrial architecture, Ukrainian baroque and postmodernism, according to the authors of the project, will become one of the anchor, key points in the general coordinate system. For those who like to "read architecture", the building will evoke associations with the works of David Chipperfield and Gottfried Boehm. A less experienced observer may perceive it simply as an example of modern European architecture — laconic and restrained.
Architecture can borrow the principle of the "three Cs" from jewelry practice - evaluation according to the rule of Cut, Clarity, Color
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "Regular verticals, similar to the ones we used, in particular in the form of sun slits on the roof, are often used not only by Chipperfield, but also by the English architects of the new wave, Adam Caruso, Peter St. John.
We did not focus on any specific architectural style. They did not try to determine time frames. On the contrary, we wanted to bring this object to a certain timeless zone, so that the year of construction was not obvious at first glance. This building could have been built both today and 50 or even 100 years ago. The main thing is that it will remain relevant both tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Timeless architecture has a great supply of relevance.
In terms of details and materials, we are not limited to the retrospective of the XNUMXth–XNUMXth centuries. — we refer to the granite shield, which is hundreds of millions of years old, on which, in fact, Ukraine stands. And to certain archetypes — Scythian women, basalt cromlechs.
The result was a building that will become at least an accent of the southern quarters of Podol. This meets the high bar set by the customer. In my opinion, this object will make friends with the environment, in particular with strange, postmodern houses. Nearby on Andriivska Street is a remarkable former school building. It seems to me that there will be a kind of dialogue between her and our object."
Function
Functionally, the new object fully corresponds to the mixed-use format, which is still rare for Ukraine. After the redesign, a residential one was added to the originally planned commercial function: 17 apartments with 3-5 rooms. However, apartments occupy only 25% of the total space, and 75% is reserved for co-working spaces, offices, cafes and retail.
Area distribution within the design area. Image source: BURØ architects
The increase in business activity in Kyiv in 2018–2019 led to an increase in demand for office space. According to Colliers International, it is formed by the IT sector in the Ukrainian capital. IT companies absorbed 58% of vacant space, industrial — 16%, business in the service sector — 11%. As of autumn 2019, the vacancy rate of office premises in the center of Kyiv and in Podil has decreased to 1–2%.
SAGA Development believes that today we can already talk about an acute shortage of modern and high-quality office spaces, which will only increase in the coming years. But not only this factor, but also the typology of the unfinished building determined its functional load.
A completely modern object from an engineering point of view will be hidden under the rustic outer shell
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "From the beginning, the building was designed as a commercial building. Due to the depth of the volume, it cannot be fully used for housing, since a higher level of insolation is required for apartments. No one needs rooms without windows, and if the apartments are located around the perimeter, then no one needs offices without windows. Therefore, we had to work, assembling the puzzle in such a way as to comply with the lighting standards.
The terraces overlooking Andriivska Street are offices. On the side facing Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska, we have placed several apartments for people who appreciate the view of the Dnipro. For the most part, the windows of the apartments will face a quiet courtyard with a garden. Residents have a separate entrance from Bratska Street.
The highest terrace is a small restaurant with a panoramic view of Podil, the water, and the Dnieper slopes. As such, there is no main facade in this building, and the upper floors facing Andriivska and Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska Streets will be the main points of perception for the view from the water and from the intersection on Postova Square.
General plan of the reconstruction facility in Podil — 22 Andriivska Street, Kyiv. Image source: BURØ architects
For the transport of office employees and residents, an underground parking lot with 68 spaces is provided, which will work according to the park-sharing principle: during the day, office employees and clients will be able to use residents' parking spaces, in particular, if they have gone somewhere.
Under the rustic and even somewhat "archaic", according to Oleksiy Pakhomov, outer shell will be hidden a completely modern technological and energy-efficient object from an engineering point of view.
Despite the fact that the area of the site is almost completely built up, the designers of BURØ architects still found an opportunity to frame the "cut stone" in a green frame.
Scheme of functional distribution of commercial, residential and public areas of the reconstruction object. Image source: BURØ architects
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "We plan to make the technical part of the roof, under which the engineering equipment will be hidden, green - we planned to lay a green cake there, in which some cereals or succulents will be planted. And we will use tub gardening on the terraces.
We will also install tubs with plants in the entrance area on the Andriivska side. The presence of a kurdoner allows us to create a small public here, where it will be possible to place outdoor furniture.
We have a small yard in front of the facade facing Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska. A guest parking lot is planned there, and we also plan to create a small garden. From the pocket park in the entrance area to the apartments, we continue landscaping towards the residential 9-story building, we plan to minimize transit passage and turn the yard into a quiet, private space as much as possible."
Freedom for the user
SAGA Development is determined to complete work on the facility by the end of 2020. The company reported that it had received several commercial offers, including from large international corporations. It is quite possible that the new mixed-use in Podil will be bought out in full before the construction works are finished. And after the new owner or owners form a vision of the specific use of commercial spaces, BURØ architects will start designing the interiors.
Activation of the street and creation of new pedestrian connections is a fundamental point
Oleksiy Pakhomov, architect, co-founder of BURØ architects
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "The interior spaces have a free layout, which leaves room for maneuver. We would prefer to discuss all detailed planning decisions directly with the users in order to avoid a situation where people who enter this building will not find our decisions entirely convenient."
So far, only the lobby and a spacious elevator hall are planned on the first floor. Regardless of who will become the owner of the building, there will be a cafe and a retail store on the first floor, which will activate Andriivska on this stretch. Active facades at street level are one of the key points for SAGA Development. However, as well as the creation of new pedestrian routes and connections in the quarter. In the future, the new accent building is intended to become one of the catalysts of the gentrification of Podil. The presence of this magnet has already been specified in the development concepts of the territory and even takes into account possible changes in traffic.
Entrance to office and commercial premises from Andriivska Street. Image source: BURØ architects
Oleksiy Pakhomov: "There are many restrictions and not much space for freedom of creativity in the work of re-designing and reconstruction of the object. What was already programmed by someone before you and "cast in concrete" significantly limits the flight of fantasy and disciplines. But since then, the satisfaction with the results is even higher. When you receive a set of someone's mistakes as raw data, any improvements are immediately noticeable - both to the customer and even to an outside observer.
But when you create your ideal project from scratch, very often, as soon as something starts to go wrong, you feel deep disappointment, plunge into reflection. The satisfaction from redesign work will be stronger. Yes, it may seem paradoxical, but I have repeatedly experienced similar feelings.
It will be interesting to follow the development of the project, which can become a kind of litmus test of the capital's investment climate, and most importantly, to predict the fate of many unfinished buildings in Kyiv. It is not a fact that the jewelry approach to reconceptualization, redesign and reengineering will be available to development companies focused on the budget segment. However, this is an application for a new standard in metropolitan redevelopment.
