Description

The Capital City is a multifunctional complex, including twin tower

skyscrapers, located in the Moscow International Business Center in Moscow
designed by Erick van Egeraat. The Capital City, symbolizing Moscow and St.
Petersburg, was completed in 2009.
More than half of the top floors are taken up by an entertainment
complex, office suites, and large apartments. The Capital City consists of two
towersthe 76-level "Moscow Tower" and the 65-level "St. Petersburg Tower".
Floors 17 and 18 of both towers are offices. The entire complex sits on a main
lobby consisting of 6 underground floors and 4 aboveground floors of public
space. The upper floors of the base structure contain shops, a fitness center,

presentation
halls,
and
restaurants.

Plan Shape
The shape of the plan takes as an inspiration from the CounterCorner in 1914 by Vladimir Tatlin. Tatlin is often heralded as the father of
Russian Constructivism. His experimental work in 20th century marked an
attempt to redefine sculptures relationship to built space. His works are
slung between two perpendicular walls. It breaches the orthogonal shape of a
typical room in order to create a taut, an interstitial geometry.
This has a similar effect on the plan shape of the Capital City wherein
the segments undergo an offset rotation which creates a dynamic departure
from the stability of the square.
The plan showcases a slender, elegant massing that maximizes the
floor area ratio enhancing the views and natural lighting. The setup of the
rooms eliminated the usage of the corridors, thus, providing spacious units
suitable for a luxury housing.

1Corner-Counter by Vladimir Tatlin

3D Form

The
Architectural approach to the complex is rooted in 20 -century Russian
Constructivism, with its clear and distinct geometric forms. The square towers
are twisted on axis at the technical floor levels, adding motion to their
silhouette. It creates a rotational effect to the building.
th

In contrast to the rectilinear tower segments, the podium has an

inclined faade and curvilinear ground plan. It alludes the Moscows
concentric ring roads.

Building Skin
Russian Constructivism can be seen not only in the proportion of the
sizes of the podiums and the towers, but also in the design of the faade.
Basing on the original design of Egeraat, the building envelope has vertical
lines that are highlighted by a mosaic made of dark and light terra cotta
tablets. The tablets also emphasize the residential part of the building, where
there is again a combination of smooth and rough surfaces on the podium
faade.
However, basing on the outcomes of the project, the towers are
enclosed in a unitized panel system with four-sided structural-silicone glazing.
The panels are also shifting in plan. Others are protruding outward while
some are slightly inset to accommodate LED lightings. The curtain wall also
integrates electronically operated windows in all apartments.

The podium, on the other hand, uses two systems: a structural silicone
and a point-supported planar glass system.

Bibbliography:
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Binder, G. (2006). Tall Buildings of Europe, Middle East, & Africa.

Images Publishing.
Starodubtsev, Y., Myers, J., & Goetz, L. (2011). Case Study: Capital City
Towers, Moscow. CTBUH Journal, (II).
Hernandez, J. M. (n.d.). Capital City Towers. Retrieved from
http://www.jmhdezhdez.com/2013/06/capital-city-towers-moscowgroup.html
Russian Constructivism. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/constructivism/