What gave the inspiration for this project was knowing the role movie theaters play in the city of Moscow, and their well-defined and eventful history. This remark led to the decision of not modifying the facade of the
typical movie theater since its look is by now part of the urban context and part of the collective memory of the city's inhabitants.
Furthermore, the remarks we made about the surrounding context, made up of buildings whose colors faded over the centuries, led us to to consider the possibility of keeping the preexisting building practically intact. In fact, we chose to remove only those elements that piled up on each another on the original building, and to subsequently “freeze” its architecture in a completely transparent glass sheath so that anyone who observes the construction can see the movie theater in its original state,with no metal structures interfering.
We thought to enclose the steps on the three sides of the building in a covering made of opaque Corian®. The Corian® covering's colours are blue,red, and white : the colours of the Russian flag. The coverings may look monolithic and dark when observed from long distances or from the sky; in reality these architectonic elements are pierced by small hexagonal holes through which the light can penetrate.
The SentryGlas® glass case is made up of large trapezoid-shaped sheaths supported buy
stratified glass pillars which are strong enough to support the weight of the structure.This same concept applies to the covering.
In the summer, the entire building is cooled down thanks to the presence of openings on the roof, which allow air to flow into the structure.
The transparency of the glass and the presence of light and temperature-sensitive film guarantee an inside temperature correctly related to the outside temperature.
The glass structure allows the reflection of the surroundings, becoming even more adequate to the urban context; in the evening the inside lights, thanks to the glass transparency, empathize the preexisting building, while during the night, when all the lights go out, it will look like a diamond in the moonlight.