The House with the Bridges

This housing complex is part of an innovative development European Riverfront in the largest city of Siberia. As all socialist cities that were built or expanded after WWII, Novosibirsk offers urban fabric weaved out of monotonous rows of multistore rectangular buildings. Since the 1960s, the so-called “micro-rayon” (a group of housing slabs around a public facility) remains the most basic and the most ubiquitous urban form. Even today the housing estates are created within the same logic. With just minor improvements in the apartment layouts and ornamentation of the facades, housing of the twenty-first century reincarnates all major characteristics of the twentieth-century mass-produced architecture. The obsolete urban form defines the everyday routines and to a certain extent the mentality of the inhabitants.

The House with the Bridges project announces a radical departure from this type of city making and introduces the logic of an urban block elevated on a plinth with an inner communal courtyard positioned on the parking underneath. What was originally intended as a composition of four independent buildings is now merged into the holistic ensemble of elements interconnected by the continuous ground floor and the terraces-bridges at the top level of the complex. While micro-rayon negated the very concept of a street, House with the Bridges activates the ground floor with public functions and offers much more intricate spatial choreography to both inhabitants and visitors.

The Dutch tradition of urban grid with blocks around inner courtyards is being reinterpreted here to provide views onto the city from the open elevated courtyard. Multistore wings of the block shield the courtyard from harsh winds and the grand “portals” let in the sunlight throughout the day in various seasons, creating a comfortable microclimate. In an area with a drastic lack of public functions the community of the inhabitants gets the opportunity to use this central space for formal and informal gatherings, while keeping the courtyard open for all other citizens.

Project Area & Programme
24 231 m2 — total area
13 721 m2 — accommodation
9 444 m2 — offices and retailers
245 apartments
12 offices
89 storerooms
70 parking spaces

Realization
2018–2021