English Summary
Editor’s letter
“It’s a small world” — that’s what we usually say if we encounter people that are somehow connected to us in an unexpected place. We say it with a smile — we are pleased that there is always a chance to find someone familiar in a crowd of strangers. Yet when we start discussing living spaces and mention the word “small” our smile disappears. We like the idea of a small world, but not a small flat — it is uncomfortable.
We have done many issues of AD dedicated to small spaces, and every time we are preparing one of them I become convinced that our prejudice against small apartments is unjust, to say the least. Yes, they are tiny. Yes, they require very careful planning and disciplined life. But they are so diverse — so interesting! They give us wonderful examples of various design solutions of organizing and visually expanding available space. And there is one more important point — in a small space, just as in a small world, everything that is important is so very close to us — just a touch away.
Big houses can be quite awful, by the way — badly organized and uncomfortable. Disorderly — just like a big world.
Eugenia Mikulina
Riedijk Сhronicles
Dutch architect Michiel Riedijk, co-founder of Neutelings Riedijk Architects company, spoke to AD about his creative life and most recent projects — including a big residential complex in Moscow. Michiel’s life creates an impression that it was guided by a series of lucky coincidences. He studied restoration at the Delft University, but became bored — but luckily the architectural department was right next door and the transfer was easy. After graduation he almost immediately met his business partner Willem Jan Neutelings: they won one architectural competition for an office building and founded a company. They never built their winning entry, but built a lot of other interesting things all over the world. “We try to create remarkable architecture that, at the same time, would be in harmony with the city landscape”, Riedijk states. “People sometimes say that our buildings are anthropomorphic. We do that on purpose, to make dialogue with human society easier”. A lot of projects that Neutelings Riedijk Architects realize are public spaces — perhaps their approach helps. Their openness to ideas — for example, they like to invite artists to contribute to their projects — definitely is a factor of success too. Neutelings Riedijk Architects has been working in Moscow since 2002, mostly taking part in different competitions. Their most current work, and the one that is going to be built, is a mixed-use building in the new development in place of the historical ZIL car plant. It consists of five interconnected towers that would stand on a three-story plinth. The towers will be residential, the plinth will house shops, fitness facilities, etc. The facades of the complex are unusual and appealing — it resembles a friendly space ship. It also looks futuristic, which is a perfect fit with the rest of ZIL development, where streets are named after great contemporary artists such as Malevitch. And this is no lucky coincidence, but the result of careful and clever architectural work.