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Sochi: The Latest Architecture and News

UNStudio's Masterplan Reshapes Sochi Waterfront into an Inclusive Neighbourhood and a Year-Round Destination

UNStudio has won the competition to redesign Sochi Waterfront with a masterplan that creates the framework for a vibrant urban environment for the local community while shaping a new identity for the notorious leisure resort on the Black Sea coast. Dubbed SoCo, the proposal seeks to create a year-round destination that would provide visitors with new attractions within Russia’s most important holiday destination, building on existing natural and cultural resources. At the same time, the design strategy focuses on shaping a close connection to the landscape and natural environment, building the foundation for inclusive neighbourhoods that would bring together various social groups.

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The Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0

The Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0 - Exterior Photography, Park, Facade, Arch, CityscapeThe Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0 - Exterior Photography, Park, Garden, BenchThe Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0 - Exterior Photography, Park, FacadeThe Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0 - Exterior Photography, Park, Facade, Arch, BeamThe Riviera Park / Architecture Bureau ab2.0 - More Images+ 15

Sochi, Russia
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  9942
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2021
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Lumion, SketchUp, Archicad, Gigalight, Выбор, +1

Discover Russia's Dagomys Sanatorium Tower Through the Lens of Luciano Spinelli

Photographer Luciano Spinelli recently captured the futurist Soviet elevator tower of the Dagomys sanatorium. Located in the microdistrict of Sochi, Russia, the project was part of a larger recreation and hotel complex belonging to the State Committee for Foreign Tourism of the USSR. Spinelli's photos document the atmospheric qualities of the tower and views out across the landscape.

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Actor Galaxy / SPEECH

Actor Galaxy  / SPEECH - Apartments, Facade, CityscapeActor Galaxy  / SPEECH - Apartments, FacadeActor Galaxy  / SPEECH - Apartments, FacadeActor Galaxy  / SPEECH - Apartments, Facade, CityscapeActor Galaxy  / SPEECH - More Images+ 18

  • Architects: SPEECH
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  131260
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2015

Why Putin Likes Columns: 21st Century Russia Through the Lens of Architecture

In August 1932, Stalin, holidaying in Sochi, sent a memo containing his thoughts on the entries for the competition to design the Palace of the Soviets, the never-to-be-built monument to Lenin and center of government. In this memo he selected his preferred design, the colossal wedding cake of a tower topped with a 260-foot (79-meter) high statue of Lenin, designed by Boris Iofan. Just over 80 years later, Sochi again hosted the architectural whims of a powerful Russian leader for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. An oversimplification? Probably. But it’s got nice symmetry to it.

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Sochi 2014: Asif Khan Greets Spectators with "Architectural Mount Rushmore"

The Olympics are in full swing and, although the "Coastal Cluster" of stadiums has attracted a considerable amount of attention, there is one installation demanding interaction from every spectator. Built at the entrance of Sochi's Olympic Park is Asif Khan Studio's "MegaFaces," a pavilion that "contorts itself to recreate 3D images of the faces of visitors relayed via digital face scans made in photo booths installed within the building."

Comprised of 11,000 actuators sitting underneath the cube's stretchy fabric membrane, the installation allows for three, eight meter tall faces to emerge from the wall at a time (the faces that emerge from the side of the pavilion are enlarged by 3500%). According to the designers, this feature of the building "has been likened to a giant pin screen and a digital, architectural Mount Rushmore."

The Stadiums of Sochi

The 2014 Winter Olympics has commenced in Sochi within the shell of Populous’ Fabergé egg-inspired stadium. Built solely to host the opening and closing ceremonies, the Fisht Olympic Stadium's translucent polycarbonate roof bears a slight resemblance to the nearby, snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. Once the Games are complete, the stadium’s 40,000-seat capacity will be expanded to accommodate the 2018 FIFA World Cup, before retiring as a scaled-down, 25,000-seat home venue for the local football team.

Populous’ stadium is just one of eleven purpose-built venues within the “Coastal Cluster” Olympic park. Check out a few others that caught our eye, after the break...

Another Round of Human Rights Violations for the Sake of the Olympic Games: Sochi 2014

Imminent domain has a new justification and it's called the Olympic Games. Once again, the anticipation of the Olympics brings to light the slew of human rights violations that are permitted by countries as they prepare to host the games. So what is the real cost of hosting the Olympic Games? We posed this question on ArchDaily last year in regards to Rio de Janeiro's pick for hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Summer Games. http://www.archdaily.com/214726/rio-de-janeiros-favelas-the-cost-of-the-2016-olympic-games/ And here we are again, looking at the controversies that surround building the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia which has been preparing for the games for six years now since it won its bid in 2007. If Brazil's practices with the favelas struck a nerve with human rights groups, Sochi's is sure to spark more controversy. Every time the International Olympic Committee sits down to choose the next host city, cities all over the world jump at the opportunity to impress, hoping that they will be chosen for the global celebration of human feats and accomplishments. As spectators, we are assured that cities can only benefit from being chosen to host the events. They bring tourism, new architectural projects, and global recognition. They encourage city infrastructure to develop and upgrade. They inspire measures that clean up a city, make it "presentable"; and eventually they raise the standard of living for residents. However, they also have the capacity to infringe on the rights and dignity of the very people whose land is being leased to this global event. The massive buildings that host the events have to be built somewhere, and often they are built in the disadvantaged neighborhoods that haven't the political leverage to fight against imminent domain. We've seen this happen in different versions to varying degrees, and we're seeing it now in Sochi as neighborhoods are destroyed, homes are razed, and life becomes unbearable for those still living among the construction and pollution with no means to relocate. The global community looks on in horror as reports like Anna Nemtsova's for ForeignPolicy.com (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/11/russia_s_olympic_city) reveal the treatment of citizens to make room for the infrastructure that supports the Olympics. Nemtsova gives some insight into the status of these projects and their affects on communities: The rising concrete wall (set to be 12 feet high upon completion) is about to cut off Acacia Street's view of the mountains -- and, indeed, of the rest of the world. During rainstorms, bulldozers push mud into residential courtyards, where the dirty water floods residents' basements, destroying floors and furniture. Mold is creeping up the walls in homes, filling the air with a rotten-garbage smell. Last month, Sochi City Hall filed a lawsuit against Acacia Street inhabitants who haven't been willing to demolish their own outhouses, kitchens, and water pumps that happen to be in the way of the construction of a new federal highway. But what happens here is not just a human rights issue that leaves people disenfranchised. This otherwise idyllic get-away city has been transformed by the massive construction undertaking and in some cases has become an ecological disaster as well. Greenpeace an World Wildlife Fund have both expressed concern over the construction that is poisoning the lakes which are a crucial ecological site for migrating birds. And community protest and activism in regards to their own condition has gone unregistered by President Putin, according to Nemtsova. The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/12/sochi-2014-an-olympic-preview/100422/) posted some progress photos from the construction late last year. These images are bittersweet. On the one hand they show growth, construction, progress and the majesty and grandiosity that we associate with this celebration. On the other hand, we see photos of demolished, scattered rubble, and construction sites where there once were neighborhoods. It's sad to think that this global celebration has so many casualties. Is this something that was always the case, the unmentionable part of the Olympic Games? Or has it become more acceptable to bulldoze neighborhoods for the sake of the games and declare imminent domain without regard for the people or the place? And what can we do differently next time? While the global community watches and comments, it largely turns a blind eye to these developments, permitting them to perpetuate year after year.

Ice Dome Bolshoy / SIC Mostovik

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Sochi, Russia

2014 Winter Olympic Games Stadium / Populous

2014 Winter Olympic Games Stadium / Populous - Featured Image

The global design practice Populous announced this week that they have been selected by the State Corporation ‘Olympstroy’ to design the main stadium for the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.