Photo: Dmitry Beliakov via the New York Times

Watching a remarkable historic building gradually weaken is slow torture for preservationists and architecture aficionados. In Moscow, Konstantin Melnikov’s famed cylindrical home is in danger of collapsing, say preservationists. The house, completed in 1929, served as both a home and studio for the Russian avant-garde architect. As a monument of design—and a piece of private property built in Soviet Russia—the house survived the tumult of the 20th century. But now it could fall because of disturbances brought on by 21st-century development. Read more.

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Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas along with Speech have won the prestigious international competition for the design of the Moscow Polytechnic Museum and Educational Centre in Moscow. The new complex—slated for completion by 2017—will occupy a 31,403 square-meter plot of land in Sparrow Hills, about 10 km from the Red Square, which includes several monumental buildings built in the socialist classical style, such as Moscow State University.

The project comprises four elements that make up a sculpture of irregular geometry that is entirely covered by pre-oxidized copper in bold shades of green and blue. The first level includes several conference and auditorium rooms, as well as the Science and Technology Center with support services. The second level has exhibition halls, a science and art gallery, an exhibition area of ​​the museum’s collection, and a cinema and auditorium. The top floor houses several laboratories, a library, a workshop, and the exhibition area of ​​the Science and Technology Museum Center. According to FUKSAS, the project idea came from the desire to communicate with the architecture of the past and at the same time come into conflict with it. Keep an eye out for this exciting project!

Images courtesy of FUKSAS 

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Project: New Mariinsky Theater (Mariinsky II)

Architect: Diamond Schmitt Architects

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia

Function: In May, Diamond Schmitt Architects is set to complete a new home for the Mariinsky Opera, Orchestra, and Ballet, directly across the street from the old Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Complementing the city’s 19th-century architecture while adding a distinctive contemporary element, the new building will be one of the largest opera facilities in the world. Features include a main stage and rehearsal stage with multiple support areas; rehearsal rooms; dining and production space for 2,500 staff members; and a rooftop amphitheatre. Read more about this project in the Architizer database.

Images courtesy of Diamond Schmitt Architects

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Have they no fear? There is a new trend among the young and brave in Russia called “Skywalking,” where groups of teens are climbing to the top of towering structures and buildings to capture heart-racing images from above. Two such daredevils are Vitaly Raskalov and Alexander Remnov, who have created a portfolio of photographs from their vertical ventures. These two men have scaled some of Moscow’s greatest heights, from bridges and water towers to skyscrapers, posing in nail-biting, dangerous positions. Oh, did we mention they do it all without any safety equipment? Gulp! Read more.

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Last fall we wrote about the Capital Hill Residence, the extravagant spaceship-like house designed by Zaha Hadid and located in the hills of Barvikha, just west of Moscow. New details have emerged concerning the concrete villa, namely the subject of the home’s intended future resident, none other than international supermodel (and reportedly colossal diva) Naomi Campbell. Read more.

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We’ve featured our fair share of small, but absurdly tedious projects (remember the LEGO Batcave anyone?) but this latest venture into the world of paper folding might just be the cream of the crop, or should we cream of the Kremlin? Teacher and origami enthusiast Sergei Tarasov has in fact recently completed a detailed model of Saint Basil’s cathedral in Moscow entirely out of pieces of paper. Read more.

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Russia’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture has just launched its latest pop-up exhibition in Moscow’s Gorky Park. The center, known for creating temporary spaces and educational experiences, commissioned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban to build a 25-foot-tall pavilion out of locally sourced paper tubes. (Now that’s an A+ Award-worthy use of materials.) The oval structure, an artwork in itself, will house a number of exhibitions for the rest of the year, starting with “Temporary Structures in Gorky Park: From Menikov to Ban,” a celebration of the park’s many public art projects. Read more!

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Dacha’s Origami, an all-white summer house outside Russia, includes everything, from a teeter-totter to a sunken bathing area. Well, almost everything. It appears to have no windows or doors. The home was designed by Peter Kostelov as part of the Russian TV program Dachniy Otvet, in which clients and designers meet only once to exchange ideas. Kostelov’s clients wanted a structure that could accommodate their active lifestyles, giving the architect only one real limitation: no basketball courts! Read more.

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Photo: Daily Mail

The race is on again.

Russia has released plans to build an outpost city in the Arctic Circle to colonize the vast oil and gas reserves allegedly stored under the polar ice caps. Located on a remote frozen island 1,000 miles from the North Pole, the city will take the form of a domed mega-structure housing laboratories, farms, factories, schools, houses and various attractions, including sport facilities, hotels and an Aqua complex. Read on.

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All images: Zaha Hadid Architects

New construction photos of what may be Zaha Hadid’s first built house reveal that the project is nearing completion. Capital Hill Residence, so called because it is perched on a hillside in Barvikha, a village west of Moscow, takes the idea of the singular villa as extension of architectural manifesto to new heights! Click to see more architecture for the 1%!

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