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Architects from C+S to redefine Moscow’s Metrogorodok Area, which is an initiative to redesign the architectural image of housing stock across 31 sites in Moscow. The competition sought to improve the experience of the urban environment through the renovation of urban blocks, fostering a sense of identity through individuality. In redesigning the Metrogorodok area (lot no. 13), the two architecture studios focused on overcoming the uniformity and repetitiveness of the prefab housing estate while also enriching the public space through the plasticity of the facades, the use of colours and the creation of intermediate spaces.
The design proposed by C+S Architects and Citizenstudio creates a system where colour becomes an orientation device, found at the façade level, but also marking the pavement of public squares and community spaces. Two complementary colours signal the two main of the Metrogorodok site: green defines the spaces and buildings in the vicinity of the Losiny Ostro National Park, and red marks the areas along the Otkrytoye Shosse Boulevard, with the areas of interference rendered in neutral shades of light and grey.
In refurbishing the facades, the design carves out loggias, intended as greenhouses, or expands the floor area of the apartments with protruding volumes, depending on the spatial relationship of the building with the forest or the boulevard. The project makes use of fibre-cement panels with ceramic tiles, as well as various brick solutions.
