PORTFOLIO 2022

PORTFOLIO MIKHAIL FRANTSUZOV 2022

IND

DEX:

PROFESSIONAL:

I.

BATH ENTHUSIASM PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

II.

BARRUKOBASOA COMPETITION [ FRPO ]

III.

TORRELAVEGA COMPETITION [ FRPO ]

ACADEMIC:

IV.

LIQUID BABEL THESIS PROJECT

V.

CdCC STUDIO PROJECT

VI.

HONG KONG APPÉTIT SHORT FILM, PUBLICATION

I.

BATH ENTHUSIASM PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT BAKU, AZERBAIJAN 2021 - ongoing

EXTERIOR CONFORMITY + INTERIOR RADICALITY TEAM : ACID PRACTICE

05.2021: A man from Azerbaijan contacts us for a potential project.

We find out he has acquired a large plot of land on the coast and imagines a bathhouse there.

07.2021: Due to the nature of remote work, we design 4 purposefully distinct proposals, from which one is selected as a basis to develop further.

09.2021: We decide to work with the existing slope on the plot, exaggerate it and open up the building to the sea while hiding it from the other side. The main feature of the project becomes the internal patio.

10.2021: We visit the site in person. The landscape is even more Martian than we imagined - deserted, hardly accessible, plain, arid, hostile. Hostility, thus, becomes the context.

11.2021: Work >>> work.

12.2021: Gathering the team & specialists to kick off the construction documentation phase; client unhappy with the entrance descent, otherwise - enthusiastic.

P

S

B

EH

SITE +

CARVE-OUT +

PROPOSED PATIO

PROGRAM

STRUCTURE +

ROOF +

QUADRANTS

POOL

THE PROJECT DEVELOPS IN THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONS: SITE LANDING: The plot is enormous: 140 by 40 meters, strictly rectangular, stretching towards the coast line, almost reaching the sea. It has a gentle slope. Our decision is to land the mass of the building into the slope, making it disappear from the access point and opening it up to the sea.

CARVING-OUT: From the original site placement operation there appears an opportunity to remove a part of the slope. An irregular cut is done to open up spaces which form the first programmatic ensemble of the project, including the main access ramp. Here, the walls expose the carved rock.

STRUCTURE: We decide to radicalize the proposal: close the building as much as possible from all sides, except the front facade, sealing it as a bunker in the middle of the desert. Thick 80-cm masonry walls with concrete polish grow along the exterior of the building, while the sea facade is left open. Suddenly, the patio starts to work as once imagined - an escapist’s controlled environment, the oasis amidst the harsh azeri sands.

PROGRAMMING & QUADRANTS: The building is divided into four main programmatic zones - entrance hall (bottom), sleep (left), bathhouse (right), public (top), with the patio in the middle.

At the intersection of these zones are the 4 quadrants. Each quadrant features a distinct agent (object / action) that tries to activate the residential space, simultaneously making the perception of the interior less familiar.

ROOF: Lastly, the roof lands onto the aforementioned techtonic arrangement, thus concluding the operational process.

The roof is a raw, thickened element, acting (1) as a hovering cover, and (2) as an accessible surface. On top, a protective roofgarden coexists with the exterior swimming pool.

UP

ACCESS VIEW: main entrance ramp & the monolith of the roof.

ENTRANCE HALL: central patio with the dining room in the background; main corridor leading to the frontal part on the left & access to the bathhouse area to the right.

MARBLE QUADRANT: the marble element serves as a divider + guide on the intersection of the hall, corridor and the carved area (to the left). Inside is a laundry / service room and the guest bathroom.

KITCHEN QUADRANT: the corridor leads into the kitchen organized around the black island; to the right, as seen from the dining room, the facade opens up fully onto the horizon.

FRONTAL FACADE: thick bearing walls with punched openings gradually appear from the inclined landscape and give way to the glazed frontal facade.

FRONTAL FACADE: thickened roof cantilevers over the public area (kitchen, dining room, living room); patio is seen through the open interior.

ROOF VIEW: the roof swimming pool is accessed by the circular stair from the living room / bathhouse; a view over the horizon concludes the promenade.

II.

BARRUKOBASOA TORRESOLO POLIDEPORTIVO COMPETITION LEIOA, SPAIN 2021

AN ATHLETIC BOX TEAM: FRPO

Barruko Basoa - Interior Forest in Basque, was a finalist competition proposal for a new large sport complex in the north of Spain.

Our design was centered around a vertical atrium, that would run from the existing park level and up to the highest spectator decks of the new complex. The extensive program of the various sport activities and all the necessary auxiliary spaces would be organized on the two adjacent sides of the atrium. The proposal is, thus, imagined as an open-code infrastructure that connects the city with the landscape and offers a powerful public image.

Delivering a comprehensive proposal for this important competition was tricky because of a series of factors: (1) abundance of program (2) high specificity of programmatic requierement and (3) limited site area.

Each of these factors was researched and examined closely individually. Such highly iterative method allowed for a great volume of research and production of material while methodically advancing the design.

All work presented here is the property of FRPO.

Level 1 Large sport spaces

Longitudinal section

LIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE: This compact infrastructure is composed of three main ingredients: (down to up) (1) open-air ACCESS and low-ceiling services / sport facilities, (2) lifted technical SOCLE, (3) light ETFE SKIN envelope with large sport halls.

OPEN PLAN: Such infrastructure allows for a generous open plan of LEVEL 1, where large sport events and activities take place. This upper box - the space for the pools, the fronton and the sports courts - is closed with a light envelope: a double skin ensures a diffused perimeter light in all orientations, through ETFE cushions on the outside and glass on the inside. Between both sheets of the façade, a chamber with controlled ventilation acts as a thermal break between the exterior and the interior.

CIRCULATION: A forest extends from the Pinosolo park, occupies the heart of the complex and ascends towards the upper levels. It is a public atrium -with the possibility of overhead ventilationthat puts the lower plane in relation to the level of the Torresolo pools; the park and the street with the cafeteria and its terrace; and the access of athletes with public entrance.

Accessed typically from underneath (LEVEL -1 and LEVEL 0), either on foot, from the forest or coming by car, the atrium helps various agents (spectators, athlets, passers-by) ascend to the LEVEL 1, which is where the majority of sport activities take place. The upper decks of LEVEL 2 host the bleachers for the spectatorship and have a bridge access to the Torresolo pools.

FRONTON COURTS: these courts for the traditional Basque sport were designed following the strict guidelines and yet allow a certain degree of flexibility in one of the elements - the ‘rebote’ wall - while ensuring the rigidity of the ‘frontis’.

SWIMMING POOLS: soft, diffused light and acoustical dampening of the ceiling create a functional and balanced space, equally apt for a late evening swim or a state championship.

III.

TORRELAVEGA CULTURAL CENTER COMPETITION, REFURBISHMENT TORRELAVEGA, SPAIN 2021

ONE CAMPUS - THREE PLAZAS TEAM: FRPO

The competition task was to refurbish and expand the existing La Lechera factory, taking into account its multi-layered history: the complex was originally designed to serve as a sugar factory, then transformed in the 1920s into a dairy factory, and was later shut down, preserved, and used as a Trade Fair site up until recently.

The most exciting part, however, was the proposed change of use the complex was to become a new educational and exposition hub.

The program was asking to house 5 new art schools and a vast exhibition space for a permanent collection of Cantabrian art.

Our approach was to clear out the exisiting warehouses - leaving the skeleton and exterior skin intact - then reimagine the interior arrangement - populating the new shell with programmatic content and finally, add a new circular building for the circus school. This new arrangement would create an open campus operating simultaneously as an educational facility and also as an activated public space.

Perfomance spaces would coexist with public institutions, their activities intertwining, creating a hybrid model of use.

All work presented here is the property of FRPO.

PROGRAMMATIC ORGANIZATION: The new open campus of culture and art is composed of 11 independent buildings that articulate an intricate public space.

Its components are: (1) Colección Norte (2) Arts School (3) Theater & Dance School (4) Circus & Physical Theater School (5) Audiovisual School (6) Music & Folklore School (7) Library (8) Administration (9) Exposition Hall (10) CIMA (11) Cafeteria

EXTERIOS SPACES: There are three main exterior spaces that stitch the architectonic ensemble together: (A) La Lechera Plaza (B) Chimney Patio (C) Schools Patio La Lechera Plaza (A) becomes the frontal facade of the new complex, grand and exposed. The Chimney Patio (B) connects the Theater School (3) with the Library (7) and the Colección Norte (1) and acts as a back entrance. This patio also features the original chimney that becomes a strong reference point. Finally, the School Patio (C) is opened up after demolishing one nonoriginal warehouse. It acts as an impoortant connection between the street and all the five schools, acting as a nucleus of activity and inviting an expansion of uses.

NORTH ACCESS

SOUTH ACCESS

LA LECHERA PLAZA CHIMNEY PATIO

SCHOOLS PATIO

COLECCIÓN NORTE EXHIBITION HALL: a translucent roof with thin structural metalwork provides adequate uniform lighting for the exposition of the collection pieces.

ART SCHOOL: the free height of the warehouse space benefits the worshops taking place there; in the back, the moveable partition creates a direct link between the Art School and the multipurpose spaces of the Colección Norte.

CIRCUS SCHOOL: the translucent envelope of the structural drum together with the double-height industrial curtain configure a contemporary practice / perfomance space openable to the exterior patio.

THEATRE SCHOOL: as the rest of the existing warehouses, this one is cleared out and restored to its original state. The only new insertions would be some light partitions and curtains on rails.

Section CC Detail: a cut through the theater and dance school on the left, the colección norte on the ri

Section DD Detail: the new addition of the circus ´drum´ structure on the left, arts school on the right

ight (with a lower mixed-use floor).

THE WAREHOUSES: In the majority of cases, the warehouses are emptied out and left open, maintaining their generous ceiling heights. Such strategy for the interior allows for an extensive programming of art and perfomance spaces. In some cases, parapets are inserted into the warehouse carcasses to allocate the administrative cores and add a degree of seclusion and privacy. and the schools patio in between.

IV.

LIQUID BABEL UNDERGRADUATE THESIS PROJECT HARBOUR OF VALENCIA, SPAIN 2020

A SPECULATION ON BIGNESS, COEXISTENCE AND TEMPORALITY

The industrial horizons of the harbour are soaked with potential.

Yet, nobody is able to claim it. The territory injected with architectures of different kinds keeps rejecting them, leaving them to slowly decay into non-existence. There is a great paradox to this maximum usable surface area produces minimum usable architecture.

By now it is quite clear that a traditional architectural scale does not have the capacity to work rigorously with the potential of the harbour.

The ambition of this thesis project is to take the paradoxical notion of scale and tackle the territorial problems of the industrial harbour by introducing a time variable. Hence, the tongue-twisting motto becomes: ‘intensity in a void through temporality’ The project, therefore, is a Big building.

Its program - to intensify the void.

What comes out is a speculation on the conditions of intensity, mass, temporality and use while questioning the limits of what is considered to be a building.

CITY: Valencia is a city strongly characterized by two historically interconnected elements: water and infrastructure.

In 1957 Valencia became a victim of its close relationship with water. The catastrophic flood signaled a major urban change: the River Turia was to be rechanneled into an artificial megastructure canal to the south, while its riverbed was turned into a park.

PORT: Arguably an even stronger impact on the city (although maybe less apparent because of its slow transformation) has been exerted by the port.

After multiple additions, annexations and expansions, the port has grown to become the largest in the country. Thus, it stands out especially as a major element in the urban narrative, that has outgrown every other agent and now almost exceeds the city itself a progression from a satellite into the dominant figure.

bigness : The project is seen as something between a building and an infrastructural element in the city, irrigating the area with potential rather than defining a clear objectual stability.

Judged by the scales of infrastructure, the building simultaneously enters the domains of mobility and monument, thus being held responsible for the movements it encourages and the image it creates.

Yet, the project is not focused on the image but rather on a systematic approach to manage the scale and exert impact on the landscape around. Managing the scale becomes the first battle in which architecture faces urbanism.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW 1:

access from the Turia Park.

coming from the Turia Park, you enter the Linear Forest from which hills a view opens on the building, morning light exposing its tectonics.

perspective view 1

sport activities grow around this Linear Forest strip like mushrooms after the rain and cyclists enjoy the cool of the tunnels under the forest.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW 2:

underneath the Tinglado.

once you exit the forest, to access the building you pass underneath the tinglado skeleton - second compression - to discover a controlled nature garden with building installations spraying mist in the hot air.

access to first level

The sunken carved garden cools down an escape from heat in the belly of the tinglado. Its columns have been substituted with lush trees, their crowns providing shadow.

perspective view 2

The escalator on the side leads up showcasing glimpses of views as the ascent happens. Soon you access the first level of the building, 20 m up.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW 3:

view from the first level.

from the hall, a first glimpse of the port is witnessed as seen from above.

Situation 1: See Garden

Situation 2: Roof Cafe 6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

time

hypothesis: any singular program too small for the area - accelerating fragmentation and temporality.

A big intervention needed.

The project, therefore, intensifyie in the harbour of Valencia with an programs.

Some programs with fixed uses tak Volumes, while Fluidspace acts as provoking more immediate activity This way, the proposal can be seen through fluidspace with uses activ building at various times.

Situation 4: Car Show + Cocktail Party

Situation 3: Manifestation

9 PM

es the most problematic point agglomeration of temporary

ke place in the rigid tectonic the interconnecting tissue y. n as a continuous procession vating different parts of the

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

fluidspace procession map with situations (one day timespan)

Activity from the volumes occasionally spills out into the fluidspace, activating it and triggering new uses and hybrid situations. In the end, this continuous surface can be accessed quickly and easily to bring you to the destination or it can also be wandered around for hours, discovering new views, events and situations.

media information cylinder,

main auditorium, fixed

flexible

public archives, flexible

harbour administration, fixed

event tube, flexible

conference hall, fixed

dark box- double auditorium,

restaurant, fixed

flexible

port administration, fixed

sphere auditorium, flexible

The Volumes house the majority of the programs.

There are 2 types: 1) the fixed type houses a program that does not change through time and has a more permanent presence, such as the Main Auditorium.

2) the flexible type are those volumes that change their use and can accommodate less formal and more immediate activities.

hotel, fixed

Structurally autonomous, hermetic and thermally insulated, the volumes act as programmatic anchors in the building, ensuring their capacity to hold different types of activities, from small to extra large throughout the year.

The dark box is an example of a flexible volume. Its location within the structure and its interior installations are adjusted to adapt to a variety of uses faster than the fixed types.

modulation 1: live jazz with musicians practicing backstage

modulation 2: film screening with ticket hall behind

modulation 3: both auditoriums are used for a fashion show.

The side gates are opened up to expand outwards

In preparation for the next re-configuration of the Dark Box, the maintenance team accesses the thickened structural layer to draw some power from the electrical racks in this part of the volume.

Structural steel elements play a major role in the project and compose all of the 11 volumes. The internal structure of each volume is built with hollow structural steel members (HSS). The HSS 280 x 280 x 12mm stainless steel profiles are then welded together in a workshop and form lattice truss frames that follow the geometries of the individual volumes. The prefabricated frames are then bolted together on site. The assembly results in a structural ‘nest’ - an autonomous structural unit - that is lifted up in place and connected to the superstructure with steel box beam support ‘legs’.

The facades of the volumes utilize two techniques to protect the interior from exterior noise pollution.

First, the exterior façade protective layer (such as corrugated aluminum panel) has an incorporated mass loaded vinyl bonded to the underside of the panel for acoustic insulation.

And second, the thickness of the structural layer (2m) has a multiplicity of materials that reduce the noise , such as the rockwool insulation and double layers of the plywood panels. Further explanation can be seen in the detail to the left.

Dark Box Volume interior

Fluidspcase exterior

‘TUBE’ EVENT HANGAR

SPHERE AUDITORIUM

HOTEL

CONFERENCE HALL

MAIN AUDITORIUM RESTAURANT

PORT ADMINISTRATION HARBOUR ADMINISTRATION

CURTAIN HALL

DOUBLE AUDITORIUM ‘DARK BOX’ INFORMATION CYLINDER

MEDIATHEQUE & ARCHIVES

VOLUMES AXONOMETRIC:

FLUIDSPACE AXONOMETRIC:

Levitation is achieved through attaching these structurally independent ‘boxes’ to the superstructure columns that follow the 30 x 30 m extended grid of tinglado 5.

Through a series of ramps, platform creates a continuous horizontal su as a new urban ground floor. Ramps the access and connections, with t South-West facade.

ms and curved slabs, the fluidspace urface of the project which is seen s, stairs and escalators facilitate the vertical cores placed along the

1. North East facade (Port)

3. South West facade (City)

2. North West facade

EXTERIOR SKIN AXONOMETRIC: The final layer of the building’s anatomy is the envelope.

It acts simply as an exterior skin and not a hermetic layer.

5

4

1

6

The elements come together to form an assemblage that anchors itself in the aforementioned problematic area of the port.

(1) the Linear Forest comes underneath Tinglado 4, where the main pedestrian access happens as a culmination of the Turia Park procession.

3

(2) the new transportation hub houses a metro station that brings the visitors up on the square plaza in front of the building. ventilation shafts play with the rhythm of the superstructure and organize the plaza.

(3) the South-West facade works with the city scale by acting as a large perforated screen with holes

2

(4) volumes and fluidspace make up the integral interior of the building, programming it and experimenting with hybrid scenarios (5) the North-East facade responds to the port scale and exposes large portions of the building (6) finally, the bridge over to the port side provides the crucial maritime connection. It also facilitates the exchange in touristic and local traffic, opening up the new port zone to be explored by public.

full axonometric of the project - synthesis.

V.

CdCC STUDIO PROJECT, ACADEMIC MADRID, SPAIN 2018

MASS AND CONGESTION ; MIXED-USE COLLECTIVE HOUSING

The project deals with a renovation of the historically significant site: With the opening of the first metro depot in Madrid in the 1920s, the “Cocheras de Cuatro Caminos” began to symbolize the city’s technological leap - Madrid’s dive into modernity. Almost a century later, the site is mostly abandoned and the only two artefacts that remain are the (1) train tracks and the (2) perimeter wall.

“Las Cocheras” used to sit in a strategic location for the city’s mobility. However, with the evolution of technology and urbanistic models, the location and the facility became outdated and, therefore, created an urban edge- a hole in the fabric of Madrid.

The wall, thus, delineates a gap in the city fabric.

The project proposes to fill the existing site up to the most extreme, injecting the neighborhood with activity and giving new life to the old plot. Essentially, to sculpt a mass in the new attraction point of the residential quarter - exerting a strong gravitational pull through the accumilation of mass and activity.

In the new intervention process, the operations and consequences are interrelated: 1. Extrusion of the site boundary 2. Superblock - supermass is created 3. Circulation connecting the urban tissue is carved out 4. Programmatic fill of the mass 3. and 4. are repeated in a loop, sculpting the density 5. Points of de-compression are further added to the void 6. Megastructure

(1) original railway tracks

(2) existing walled condition

C’ C

+25m mid-level floor plan

section CC’

N

A’ A

critical portion plan

section AA’

The wall that once was a delineation of an empty site, is transformed into the megastructure’s facade.

However, this time its functions are expanded: not only to mark the territory and protect its inhabitants, but also, paradoxically, to invite the outsiders and interact with the city.

The megastructure is a city in itself: Programatically autonomous, it houses residents’ virtues and sins.

its

In the new agglomeration of programs, the city finds a place for productivity and retreat. Here, a theater can be expanded into a dance hall; an archivist’s spinning class is 5 meters above his workplace; a kid watches architects work from his bedroom window.

In this labyrinth, the residents follow their favorite paths. while those coming for the first time, can enjoy the immersive drift.

However, private can remain private here.

Those who dare diverge from the street and pass through the megastructure’s wall, find themselves in the residential ‘stripe’.

A series of ascending courtyards lead to the quieter private area, while the way down reveals a large sunken park. Soon the trees will surpass the remaining iron framework.

Once up on the 7th floor, the wonder of the vertical transportation gives way to the skyline of the city complimented by the roofscape of the neighborhood.

units types:

UNITS IN METAMORPHOSIS: Density manifests itself in the residentia units as well. However, the inhabitant value privacy and some change too, once in a while. The internal partitions slide into each other on a set of axis. Therefore depending on the size of a unit, it can be subdivided into 2, 5, even 9 private areas Thus, each unit is in a constant phase o metamorphosis: the same unit can eithe be a single studio or a large family home.

S

M

L

eS

2xS

2xL

CONSTRUCTION LOGICS: All the untis follow the same principle suspension from the superstructure.

Steel cables run vertically throughout the height of the building, passing through the structural walls of the units, which i where the connection is made.

These thickened walls (2 per unit), also accomodate the MEP systems which are shared with the two adjacent side units Kitchens and bathrooms are, therefore located at these extremities, leaving the central area of the unit for flexible arrangements of inhabitation.

The two longer facades (facing exterio street and interior passages) have window and work with cross-ventilation.

furniture disposition

external walls

internal moveable partitions

single family residential unit L

al ts e e e, e s. of er .

-

e h is

o re s. e, g e

or ws

residential unit S isometric. exploded representation of the construction systems and components.

critical portion axonometric: (top) creation of mass (bottom) north entrance + sunken gardens and the existing iron structure - voids.

The city within itself, the carved mass, the metamorphosing density, however exciting it may appear, it can also be overwhelming.

But there are solutions for those who are anxious: The megastructure is in a constant relationship with the city. It concentrates and processes the urban activity. It invites residents but also passers-by to experience it. However, it is never forceful.

The voids are just as valuable as the mass.

Without the void, there is no mass.

VI.

HONG KONG APPÉTIT SHORT FILM, ACADEMIC, GRAPHIC DESIGN HONG KONG 2019

TOWARDS AN IMAGE-BASED CINEMA URBAN COMMENTARY + MAGAZINE PUBLICATION

The project starts from refilming a restaurant scene from Peter Greenaway’s ‘The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover’ in the context of Hong Kong. The scene is reimagined in, what is arguably, the most crowded back alley in the city. Spaces, activities, and characters are bound by symbolically assigned colours, while food acts as the allegory for Hong Kong’s built space. The film comments on the greedy urban metabolism, taking Greenawaynian allegorical fiction and merging it with Vertovian documentary about a city. It is also reflecting on rapid development and devouring capacities of dense urban areas, while maintaining interest in such density offsprings as the back alley.

The short then evolves to explore the strengths of a film medium through visual language - as Greenaway said: ¨all film writers should be shot. We do not need a text-based cinema … we need an imagebased cinema¨. With a similar degree of irony the film is strongly color-coded, assigning meanings to various scenes and spaces sequentially: from raw blue static to steaming green preparation, greedy red consumption and finally, the white aftermath.

It is, hence, with the same idea that the short is taken from the moving image medium into the print medium. It is further developed/ adapted into a series of colorful spreads for a publication in Prologue Magazine, which are presented in this portfolio.

FULL FILM HERE

BI

Mikhail (b. Moscow) is an architect and designer internationally in various studios, from an artist in Paris and New York, has allowed him to sharpe spectrum of fields; thus, contributing to a prolo graphic design, scenography and VFX, among othe of certain dichotomies [ physical-virtual, built-u truly exciting realm to work in.

Currently, Mikhail is running a collaborative pra synthesize spatiovisual arts while maintaining a

IO

r with a growing interest in filmmaking. Working t’s atelier in Moscow to architecture firms en his professional grip over an expanding onged fascination with architecture, film, ers. For him, operating within the liminal space unbuilt, object-city, image-text ] opens up a

actice - ACID - that enables him to further focus in architecture.

THANK YOU.

MIKHAIL FRANTSUZOV 2022