PROJECT RUSSIA №45 - small stuff

In their article 'Notes around the Doppler Effect and Other Moods of Modernism' the American theoreticians Robert Somol and Sarah Whiting put forward an approach they call 'cool' (see Pi13). Borrowing terminology used by Marshall McLuhan, they set this approach against a 'hot' version of architecture. The 'cool' approach does not insist on clarity, universality, ornormativeness of statement. Its language is not only not importunate, but is also aimed at getting users and viewers to participate. An example of such an approach in the field of communication for McLuhan was television, as opposed to cinema. There were, of course, no digital media at the time, but the latter are an even better illustration of the essence of'cool' media. And not just because of their interactive nature, but also because they can be integrated into the most diverse contexts. The long reach of the 'cool' media derives from the way they link up with various devices characterized not just by multi-functionality, but by a tendency towards miniaturization as well. The connection between 'cool' and miniature is only to be expected. Like 'cool' architecture, the 'cool' media are oriented not on a static and monolithic user's environment, but on a fluid socium interwoven from a large number of micro-communities. This explains the fact that the key size as far as the 'cool' approach is concerned could be denoted as S, if not XS. Similar thoughts are to found in Andrea Branzi's concept of 'a weak and diffuse Modernity'. According to the founder of Archizoom, the force and integrity characteristic of Modernism will give way to flexible forms of understanding and assimilating space, and megaprojects and macroeconomics will be replaced by microeconomics, which functions, to use a metaphor from electronics, using 'weak currents' and 'autonomous energy sources'. Small structures are a kind of gadget that has much in common with micro-devices of a technical kind. They are 'smart', since they rely upon intellectual effort to extract maximum effect from a minimum of resources. They are shaped by the logic of saving-saving of space, time, and resources. 'Small stuff' is a field that's open to experimentation. Finally, these structures are aimed not at contemplation, but at activity. Like other gadgets, they 'play a part' in assimilating the most inhospitable places. In Russian architecture, however, small structures remain a marginal genre. One factor that may bring change is effective implementation of the national project 'Affordable and Comfortable Housing'. It is a good sign that discussion of the project has focused on mass construction of low buildings, high-density mid-height development, and construction of blocks of apartments for letting- i.e. everything that could lead to a diminishment if not of the building itself, then of its constituent parts, which should conform to the principle of the 'optimal minimum'. All this is good reason for interest in 'small stuff. The principal characteristics of this kind of architecture - its rational economy and innovativeness -make it a much-needed ferment for evolution within the architectural profession, a testing ground for new ideas. Ideas that have a much greater chance of being needed if victory goes to the approach which American theoreticians call 'cool'. Alexei Muratov. editor-in-chief.   CONTENTS NEWS Architecture is, above all, a social phenomenon In brief MARKhl: where to go? Sochi On form and content Competition for the National Library building New theater Rehabilitation of empty space Summer event in Shargorod Nikola-Lenivets: in search of vocation. Play and win World of Vladimir Tiurin Russia and the West: new perspective Reflections in the Baltia waters ABC of commercial spaces 'Vertical City' at Arch Moscow Tutti office system by Haworth Manufacturers award the winners 'Kitchen House': new opening Ligne Roset: showrooms in all Transcaucasian countries BTichino: equipment for luxury homes Old technologies for new architecture Paola Navone's city of cities asse architects Renaissance Park village on Novorizhskoye Shosse Vitruvius & Sons 'Barcode' shopping mall on Narodnaya Street in St. Petersburg Atrium Residential school for parentless chuldren in Kozhukhovo SMALL STUFF Editorial Midget architecture OBJECTS AND DESIGNS Small problems in a large system Alexander Kuptsov Origami. Little houses for the homeless Small houses Concept Design 'House for a Friend' near Moscow Totan Kuzembaev Architects House with landing stage Exercise on a given subject Yachtsmen's houses at Zavidkin Mys The legacy of Khrushchev era smart homes AK-Reflection Object: Form_Zoi Feodor Dubinnikov Interior of the apartment on 5th Monetchikovsky Pereulok in Moscow Gabhan O'Keeffe Apartment on Prechistenka Street in Moscow XYZ architects Design for Megafon mobile-phone operator showrooms Panacom architects Design for Megafon mobile-phone operator showrooms bureau BERNASKONI Grand Cru, wine boutique on Novy Arbat From a machine for living in to a time machine Kamen' art group Museum of Konstantin Melnikov Andrey Asadov Vertical parking - Russian version bureau BERNASKONI Penthouse VILLAADVERTISING Iced Architects Outdoor suspended device for a twenty-four-hour stay Lar'ki [kiosks] as ambassadors of luxury Andrey Chernov Summer cafe in Novosibirsk nps tchoban voss Mirax Plaza, exhibition pavilion, Moscow Ivan Shalmin Tea ceremony pavilion in Zhukovka dacha settlement XYZ architects Tea pavilion at 'Lis'ya Nora' shooting club 'Vitruvius and Sons' Cafe 'Parkking' in Aleksandrovsky Park, St Petersburg Architectural trips to the countryside Yury Avvakumov and Igor' Pishchukevich Pavilion 'Matryoshkalce' West 8 Pine-Cone House. Festival ArchStoyanie-2007 Objects made for Festival ArchStoyanie-2006 TEXTS Le Corbusier's hut Nature's Mirror. The Architecture of London Zoo MONITOR AFFORDABLE HOUSES TECHNOLOGY PROJECT RUSSIA CATALOGUE