PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: Is it possible to create "resort" oasis islands on the scale of a residential complex or quarter? Or is this the prerogative of point city-wide projects from the resort category?
Dmitry Vasiliev: It is possible and necessary if the developer wants to follow the trend. Recently, there was a request for a new housing format, which we at archimatika called "house as a hotel".
Living in a metropolis is convenient and profitable for many reasons. The city provides maximum opportunities for development, contacts, communication and various ways of spending time. But it is impossible not to notice the negative sides of urban life - noise, traffic jams, visual chaos, disordered navigation, crowds on the sidewalks. All these irritants, information flow, violation of personal boundaries and constant haste throw into stress. And by the end of the working day, fatigue accumulates not so much from work, but from the triggers of the big city. By the way, the syndrome of emotional burnout, burnout, is already an official diagnosis in many countries. For example, in the Netherlands, to recover from such a stress disorder, a person receives free treatment and paid leave for three months.
So, in the evening, through the traffic jams, they made their way home. We are used to living in the "my home is my fortress" format. But if you take it literally, then this fortress is limited to the area of the apartment. In order to fully recover, we need not just a roof over our heads, but a set of functions similar to those inherent in a high-class hotel. The concept has changed - today we don't need a fortress, but a hotel with well-kept green territory and a whole range of services.
Dmitry Vasiliev, chief architect and co-founder of the architectural company archimatika
PM: What exactly should become integral components of such a "home-hotel"?
D.V.: In order for people not to leave the garden, we need to satisfy three important requests within the framework of the project, to respond to three main trends. A modern citizen needs order, relaxation and fulfillment.
The first, oddly enough, the most significant trend is the demand for order. Citizens are tired of chaos, insane advertising, noise, cars, broken and damaged sidewalks. They want rules that work; that the environment was predictable and aesthetic. They want beautiful facades, high-quality landscape. And of course, when they get all this, settling in a new complex, they want to keep everything. The inhabitants of the Ukrainian megalopolis themselves are now becoming the main followers of rules and order. It is required not to drink alcohol near children's playgrounds and to smoke only in specially designated places, to clean up after dogs. Remove the garbage in general. Order will be achieved in the whole city, no matter how they try to influence the city government, in our case it is not possible yet. Therefore, citizens allocate a limited territory, where it is possible to maintain cleanliness and monitor compliance with public norms - a residential complex or quarter.
In practice, the demand for order is expressed in the fact that real estate in residential complexes with closed or partially closed access is in high demand. Here, people feel their influence, as they are able to demand from the management company that violators, for example, parking lots, be fined, that the plants be cared for properly. The tenants themselves are the direct customers of the services and control their performance and quality. As a result, a model of self-organization of citizens is formed, but, unlike the city-wide model, it is effective.
The second trend is that the home space should be focused on relaxation and recovery. Nature copes with this most successfully. That is why green zones, the integration of elements of wild nature and water into landscapes are in such demand. When designing, it is not by chance that we add grasses, flowering perennials, and rare trees to the landscape, and create areas for both public gatherings and solitude — hidden secret places. On the territory of the complex there is furniture for recreation - deckchairs, hammocks. We also feel a growing demand for outdoor terraces and balconies.
After a person has rested and regained his strength, he wants to receive positive bright emotions. Now he strives to communicate with family and friends. And it is important that we give people the opportunity to get all this without throwing them back into the metropolis. As part of the concept of "housing as a hotel", we are obliged to provide opportunities not only for rest, but also for leisure. To do this, we design multifunctional areas with swimming pools, sports grounds, barbecues. Here, a person can get not only emotional, but also physical relief.
A beach complex with swimming pools and an open-air recreation area in Faina Town residential complex.
Recently, we opened a swimming pool in the Faina Town residential complex — and this topic was well received. Barbecue areas are very popular. In this sense, we partly "take away bread" from city cafes and restaurants, since many residents of complexes liked the opportunity to cook something outdoors themselves so much that they go out into the city less and less. And after the pool was opened, the vacation was in jeopardy. It is possible not to go anywhere, and it is good here! At the same time, we strive for people to communicate with each other, we even have barbecue grills installed in such a way that companies communicate with each other, so that they make new acquaintances. We also design common areas where you can host some shows in the evenings. We form a diverse landscape - we fill up slides so that children can sled there in winter. All this forms an emotional attachment among residents.
I would also like to indicate the trend towards deautomobilization. The fewer cars in the yards, the more prestigious and expensive the residential complex. The most expensive is the one where people see cars only when they go down to the underground parking lot. Automobilized space is the lot of the economy class. People will be ready to pay extra to get rid of the car.
As a result, the combination of all these factors gives a person opportunities for rest, relaxation, communication and compensates for the negative aspects of the metropolis, leaving only its positive sides.
PM: Will the transition from the "house-fortress" concept to the "house-hotel" concept affect the real estate market as a whole?
D.V.: Today, urban centers are losing their role, cities are striving for polycentricity, and all this should give a signal to investors, developers and designers: it is not so important where exactly to build a new residential complex, but to form a small city with its own center within the boundaries of the housing complex. If we provide all urban functions within the residential complex, the location no longer plays a role. An apartment complex located far from the center may be more in demand than one located in the center, but it is not able to provide people with functions that smooth out the discomfort of life in a big city.
Interviewed by Iryna Isachenko
