Russia’s northern capital, St. Petersburg, is famous for its many attractions, and not all of them are the classic museums, bridges or palaces characteristic of the city’s imperial past.
One of the unusual architectural finds of the Northern capital are residential high-rise buildings, which at first glance may seem ordinary, but upon closer examination turn out to be something unique. We are talking about houses standing “on chicken legs”, which are located along the even side of Novosmolenskaya embankment, writes FederalPress.
Residents of the area adjacent to the Primorskaya metro station nicknamed these residential buildings “houses on chicken legs.” This is the name given to the four buildings numbered 2, 4, 6 and 8. These structures are residential buildings, and despite their unusual appearance, they do not have public access to the interior.
More than fifty years ago, these territories were unremarkable wastelands. The Smolenka River did not serve as a special decoration of the landscape. However, in the second half of the 1970s, an active process of development of Vasilyevsky Island began, and urban development plans included the idea of filling these vacant lots with residential high-rise buildings. Construction began in the mid-1980s.
Architect Sergei Evdokimov presented an original concept of houses, in which the number of storeys gradually increased as they approached the Gulf of Finland. Initially, plans also included the construction of a “skyscraper-lighthouse,” but this idea was never realized. Instead, four 22-story buildings were built between 1987 and 1993.
Architectural critic Maria Elkina considers this project atypical for St. Petersburg. The buildings have a monolithic frame, complex polygonal geometry and represent a rare architectural design for that time. The design of such houses in Leningrad was carried out by specialists from N.M. Zakharyina’s workshop at LenNIIProekt, as well as at LenZNIIEP, a specialized experimental design institute.
“Soviet architects were in a difficult situation. They had to comply with strict economic restrictions and use certain technologies. There was no private architectural practice or private clients, which greatly limited their creative possibilities,” notes Elkina.
Thus, the houses “on chicken legs” on Novosmolenskaya embankment represent an interesting architectural experiment and a unique element of St. Petersburg urban development.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
