Nowosibirsk

In 2018, the Russian property developer Brusnika launched a competition on the theme of ‘Urban Block Collection’, from which Nöfer Architekten emerged as the winners. Brusnika sought to use the principles developed through the competition to combine the tradition of prefabricated and modular housing construction in Russia with the functional and formal principles of the European city, and to create urban spaces modelled on the latter. One of the first completed projects is a complex comprising a tower and a block on Ulitsa Zyryanovskaya in Novosibirsk. One of the principles is to integrate high-rise buildings of varying proportions into the urban fabric in such a way that the human scale of the street spaces is preserved. Optimised modules and grids give rise to blocks that not only create clearly defined public and private spaces, but whose functions also enliven the public realm. The upper floors contain flats of a wide variety of sizes and specifications. The façades consist of a number of different yet recurring elements, which are just varied enough to create diverse spaces. This approach makes it possible to meet the enormous demand for housing in Russia in the coming years without repeating the dreaded monotony of anti-urban mass housing construction of poor quality.

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, we have been forced to end our collaboration with the Russian project developer Brusnika. There is no justification for the aggressive, expansionist attacks on Ukraine’s independence, and we fully support all European and German sanctions. However, alongside the intolerable political dimension of the conflict, there is also the human and professional collaboration with Brusnika’s staff, which was very trusting and productive right up until the start of the war. To protect both sides, we ceased our collaboration with our Russian clients when the sanctions were imposed. Nevertheless, we would like to showcase the excellent results achieved in housing construction – projects built in accordance with our plans – as they bear witness to the friendly cooperation between Russians and Germans.