Museum of History in Yaroslavl

Competition Project for

Museum of History in Yaroslav (UNESCO)

Design Team: Francesco Adorni

                     Nikoloz Lekveishvili

3rd Place

Competition official page: http://cih.ru/wp/bie/2013/12/results-of-the-competition/

Francesco Adorni Architetto page: http://www.francescoadorniarchitetto.it/yaroslavl.html

Existing Situation

A BUILDING AS A LANDSCAPE

Design principles

From our point of view, the proposed competition site is part of a larger park and of an articulated system, already rich with the monuments of interest, places of leisure and green routes coming up on the banks of the river. The built part of the city of Yaroslav it is the "scenic backdrop" and the border. We propose a building that belongs to this landscape system and it implements the connections and potentials of tourism and leisure. The project was therefore intended as the first proposal for  public relations and full of possibilities. Not only a place of access to the new exhibition and conference guests, but also the square where you can organize shows, events, outdoor art exhibition, markets, commercial areas etc. ... according to the needs of the municipality.

The idea behind the project was to use the existing morphology of the land to create a large square around which are organized, partly underground, all the functions: exhibition, conference or business. According to the isoghipses lines of the ground the square is open on one side to the view of the Church of Spasa Na Gorodu, while the other ends in a large amphitheater / staircase. In this way not only the building becomes a space that connects the park system and its various attractions rather than becoming an obstacle, but it also would keep the historical memory of the place fully preserving  the existing morphology, in an attitude to great respect of  the place.

The architecture that ensued, explores the potential of the plastic section of the  "ravine" reshaped in reinforced concrete and its variations in the form of stairs, steps, wall or slope. It 's easy to see the charm and power of the alternation of solids and voids that alternate or blend into the mass of concrete. The search for clarity of expression has alternated with surrender to the lure of spatial solutions that the project offered.

Precisely the characteristic of the site to be avoid in the urban context as well as an imprint in the ground provides the ability to connect visual relationships with important monuments and churches of historical and natural interest. In preserving this feature we wanted to emphasize it by designing the system of connections with the park. For example, the staircase that leads to the church of Nikolas Rublenni constitutes an axis of perspective; the south-west side of the square was left free from impediments of any kind to leave a clear view towards the church of Spasa Na Gorodu.; coming from the parking area to the south-west of the site we have chosen to place the entrance to the museum permanently aligned with the access road.