Reflection of verticals: Kiev and Minsk
In the new century many of former Soviet states covered by the desire to build their business areas traditionally called “City”. The emergence of high-rise architecture, much changing the overall silhouette of the city, should symbolize the visible changes in the political and economic development of these countries. The need for new offices, desirable having premium class status and fundamentally different from the existing buildings are intended to identify ambition as governments of independent Ukraine and Belarus, as well as their business circles, and also the creation of modern apartment complexes with a new level of comfort – is an urgent task for these states.
SKYSCRAPERS ON RYBALSKY
On the map of modern capital of Ukraine are not too many tall buildings. Most of the existing there skyscrapers were built in 1980, still in the period of Soviet Ukraine and, of course, they fit the needs and style of that time. A significant part of the visual landmarks of modern Kiev, as it was in past, are the towers and campaniles of ancient cathedrals. As for new detached high-rise buildings, they have not yet developed into a holistic urban planning ensemble, capable of giving to the city landscape the up-to-date high-rise scale.
However, Ukrainian architects and their foreign colleagues are determined to change the status quo and give its appearance a more contemporary look. And a significant role here assign to a high-rise building construction as the actual basis of the modern image of the capital. Some new buildings in Kiev have easily overcame high-altitude mark of 100 meters, but it has not yet become common practice, although the functionality of these buildings can be very different.
For example, the building of the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine has 28 floors and rises up to 120 m and the staged house on the Knyazhi Zaton Street (LC «Crown») is towering up to 36 floors (128 m) above all the surrounding area; today it is the highest residential skyscraper in Kiev. The building of The Ministry of Transportation on the Prospect of Victory was built in 1986. It was the first experience of Ukrainian designers in the construction of huge scale buildings.
As often happens, it became the «worst-first» and many utilities of a new high-rise building had deteriorated rapidly. As a result, the building stood empty for some time, and only in 2003, after a radical renovation, has taken into its walls the Ministry staff. High-rise building on Melnikov Street, which earned him the nickname «pencil», is made more in the tradition of Soviet high-rise construction. This tower is used as the TV center for over 10 years, but construction has not been fully completed yet.
The monumental prismatic in it forms building is based on the square foundation, put on an extended horizontal 6-storey podium with a pyramid-shaped top at it end. Cladding the fragments of facades with natural stone and accented darker corners of the tower fully return us to the past and favorite for the Soviet architects’ variations on a theme of late postmodernism. Attached later fragmented glazing of bright green color gives the skyscraper the more modern sounding appearance.
Then, in late 1990, the skyscraper was equipped with the most advanced at that time, electronic machinery and facilities worth 13.5 million dollars, which allowed three Ukrainian television channels: «1+1», UT-1 TRC and «Era» very successfully accommodate and operate in the tower. The continuation of the theme of construction of apartment high-rises in the Ukrainian capital for a new era is a massive complex «Olympic» on Big Vasilievskaya Street, rightfully claiming the title of a multifunctional skyscraper.
This residential tower has 28 floors (105 m, 2003); the staged gable of the facade is stepped into the street, and under its fronton acts shopping mall and office space height of 10-12 storeys. According to the builders, the complex is made using the most advanced technologies and advanced materials designed specifically for high-rise buildings, which is a unique experience for the Ukrainian architecture in general.
Significant role in formation of ideas about the future appearance of the Ukrainian capital has played Sergei Babushkin, a person for a long time used to be a Chief Architect of the city and continuing actively working in the country now (Bureau «S.Babushkin»). He is the author of a skyscraper «Parus» (“Sail”) on Vladimirskaya Street, performed in a more contemporary aesthetic neomodernistic trends of the new millennium.
The office building height is 136 m, it has a streamlined shape and faced with smooth glass from top to bottom, that greatly contrasts with the more ordinary type of surrounding buildings. The skyscraper has many positions that are required for every modern high-rise building: a multilevel underground parking, free planning office floors, smart engineering «stuffing» and, also, stunning views in almost all the see sights of the historical center.
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MARIANNA MAEVSKAYA TEXT,
PHOTOS ARCHITECTURAL BUREAU “ARCHIMATIKA”, “S. BABUSHKIN“, LLC” DESIGN INSTITUTE № 2 “