A Russian Architect’s Ethereal Glass Houses Have Captivated the Internet

Futuristic, minimalist, and fantastically rendered, the conceptual houses of architect Alex Nerovnya have captured the imagination of many an architecture buff. The Russian designer, who leads a team of five in Moscow, recently catapulted to Instagram stardom with his modern glass-roofed proposal for the Notre Dame, which was devastated by fire in April 2019. However, the main focus of his Instagram feed of architectural eye candy are the glossily rendered homes he creates for clients around the world—from mirrored-glass cabins to Tesla Cybertruck–inspired dwellings—all set in sublime and remote scenes of nature. We talked with Nerovnya about his beginnings, the Wrightian inspirations behind his  designs, and the tools of his trade.

How did you become interested in architecture and 3D artistry? 

AN: I have always enjoyed the general professional sphere of architecture and construction. When I was in high school, I would spend hours watching massive construction sites in Moscow. It was not until I enrolled into one of undergraduate programs in the Moscow Architectural Institute that I managed to solidify my passions into a somewhat definite direction of architectural design. 

I began work as a full-fledged architect no more than three years ago. Before that I was essentially still in training, and was developing my own designs while performing irregular projects for local customers in Moscow. I was also running a small school of 3D graphics with my primary partner Andrey Kozyrev. Later we became cofounders of an architectural design studio, employing a team of five architects, designers, and engineers. Some of them actually graduated from our 3D school, and we were so confident in their ability that we decided to create something much bigger together. 

Can you talk about your nature-centered design approach and your focus on conceptual design?

AN: First of all, I pay attention to something all people, not only architects, notice in the first place—the beauty and harmony of the building’s exterior and primarily, the main facade. The ergonomics and a good experience of people using the building is my second—but not any less important—focal point of attention.

I adore using architecture to interact with the natural environment. By utilizing glass walls, we are able to visually erase the separation between the indoors and the outdoors. One of the beautiful effects of this approach is that throughout the day, the mood and feeling of the interior changes drastically due to a massive role of natural light penetrating through the glass.

Our main focus is conceptual design, and we understand that the construction documents needed to actually realize our designs require the involvement of local architects and engineers in countries that differ from Russia in terms of legislation. In terms of final construction that we have been involved in, there were about a dozen private houses, a boutique hotel in suburban Moscow, and twin Airbnb villas in Kuwait. 

Where do you get inspiration for your conceptual designs?

In terms of design thinking, we sympathize with Frank Lloyd Wright. Even while studying at the Moscow Architectural Institute, I was fascinated by his thought process and drew my first ideas inspired by his work. Fallingwater has become  a key example of how to build in spite of stereotypes. When Wright designed this house, the customer’s family refused to live in this house because they did not believe that such a solution was possible, comfortable, and safe. Thus, Wright became the main teacher for me, and in many ways, thanks to him, we manage to do something exciting for our clients today.

In many of our works there is a reference to the thought of Alvar Aalto. Our team of architects even visited several of his sites, and he became one of the inspirers of our architectural style. To the greatest extent, this, of course, is manifested in our desire to visually and physically connect the internal and external areas of the house. Speaking generally about our inspirers, the primary one has to be Wright, and not only because of what he did, but how he did it. Turning to history, we will see that his design idea was not understood and accepted by his contemporaries for a very long time. Despite this, he did not turn to the path of mediocrity.

Another example of my personal inspiration is the fictional architect Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead. I am inspired by his life principles, his path and fortitude. I often try to transfer the emotions and impressions that I draw from my favorite books into my work, creating a metaphorical monument to a particular writer.

How has your work evolved over the years? 

They say that if you’re ready to learn and are open to new ideas, you’re not the person you were yesterday. The same happens to me – if you follow my conceptual portfolio on Instagram, it will become quite obvious how my approach to shapes, materials, and light have been changing throughout the last couple of years. I have accumulated more experience and increasingly started to utilize modern engineering techniques to support seemingly impossible ideas. One thing, I believe, stays the same—this is something that we like to call "a principle of naked minimalism." 

We don’t really strive to create extremely detailed and 100% photorealistic renderings of our ideas. In this regard we tend to create imagery that is beautiful, believable, but still simple enough, so that the end product looks like something out of a dream. Our minimalism is "naked" in terms of its freedom from mundane elements that would make it too realistic and boring, and as a result it strikes the viewer with its core qualities—the shapes, angles, and reflective surfaces.

What software do you use to create your work?  

Our standard toolkit includes AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, 3DS Max, and a host of rendering plug-ins for the latter. 

How has your practice been doing with the global pandemic? Has it affected your workflow at all? 

I have to say that we have been very lucky in terms of the impact that the pandemic has had on our professional sphere. Initially we were a little fearful of the general economic slowdown and the prospect of our clients refusing to work on larger, more luxurious projects. It turned out that almost all of our clients are absolutely ready to continue working on their future designs. 

The only thing that was adjusted were the deadlines. Essentially, we received more time and extended deadlines to work on the projects that are already in our pipeline. In terms of organizing our work, the introduction of quarantine measures in Moscow hasn’t affected us too much, since the majority of our team was already working online. 

What are some projects you’re currently working on? 

Since the beginning of year 2020, we have almost completely switched to working on foreign markets. We are currently busy with four simultaneous projects based in United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, Oman, and Romania. We can not really disclose the exact features of these projects, but I think it will suffice to say that among them are two private villas, one little village of five modern Airbnb properties, and a massive villa/resort compound of five buildings (slightly over 4,000 square meters in total) on the seashore.

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