Perm, Russia
Designed by Speech, the new Perm Art Gallery is an architectural complex formed by preserved and ruined historical buildings, united by a new building.
The newly erected part of the gallery, compositionally connected with the existing buildings with stylized volumes with pitched roofs characteristic of the historical development of the Perm Territory, was designed in such a way as to identify and emphasize the characteristic features of historical buildings.
The construction site is part of the Perm Automobile Repair Plant “Remputmash,” located in the central part of Perm on the banks of the Kama River.
The remains of industrial rails and relics of the existing landscape are integrated as part of the site improvement system.
The design of this new structure was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Speech’s spatial-spatial solution is organized on a “from simple to complex” principle— the composition of the new building is assembled from simple volumes with a gable surface, grouped non-linearly, with displacement and cantilevered protrusions.
The picturesque silhouette of the pitched roofs of the art gallery is designed for perception from various angles, including the Kama River. Roof slopes are formed through the use of glued wooden structures.
The facade of the art gallery facing the River Kama has been designed to be as transparent as possible: the large glazing panels will allow visitors to observe the panoramic view of the river from all floors of the building. In this way, the river, an important part of Perm’s urban structure, symbolically becomes a part of the gallery’s exhibition.
The windowless parts of the facade which protect the exhibition spaces and storage rooms from natural light (as is necessary if the building is to function as a museum) are clad with cassettes of patinated copper. The choice of finishing material derives from this site’s history as a place where copper was smelted.
The gallery facades are divided into three tiers by horizontal bands with vertical pillars placed at intervals which diminish proportionally: the largest interval between facade elements (3 meters) is on the first floor; floors 2 and 3 have a medium interval (1.5 meters), and floors 4 and 5 have the smallest interval (0.75 meters).
The plate-glass elements rhythmically organize the facade plane and indicate the building’s tectonic structure. The vertical elements of the facade construction (these are 50 millimeters wide and project 325 millimeters from the facade line) reflect the rays of the sun striking the building’s panoramic galleries from the east and west. In this way, the glass pillars make this a passive energy-saving facade.
The interior design is entirely in keeping with the facade: the wooden load-bearing facade pillars shape the image and rhythm of the gallery’s interior spaces.
The artistic expressiveness of the building’s public and office zones also derives to a substantial extent from elements of the building’s load-bearing structure (metal columns, the wooden pillars of the plate-glass windows, and the wooden rafters and beams supporting the roof).
The building’s public spaces are illuminated by natural light coming through skylights and the translucent structures of the exterior walls, but also by lighting fixtures mounted in the wooden and metal wall and ceiling panels at intervals matching the elements of the plate-glass glazing.
The building’s first floor will contain public functions, including a café, a museum shop, and a cloakroom. Above, there will be exhibition spaces, a depository, and restoration workshops.
The gallery’s main entrance will face the central square of the museum cluster which is being created on the site of this old factory.
Project: New Building For Perm State Art Gallery
Architects: SPEECH
Client: Perm Art Gallery
Photographers: SPEECH
