Mecanoo has won the international competition to design the new campus of the National University of Science and Technology (MISiS), one of the leading technical universities of Russia. The 100-acre campus will be located in a new district of Moscow, where 300,000 new residents are expected over the next 20 years.
The campus includes housing for 10,000 students and 3,000 academics, and is home to seven departments, several research institutes, a library, business center, hotel, sports park, cinema, cafes and shops. As a condition of the project’s financing by President Medvedev, construction must begin by year’s end. More images and architect’s description after the break.
The National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) is one of the leading Russian technical universities and will lead the country in its transition into an innovative knowledge economy. MISiS grew out of two prominent players in the industrialization of the Soviet Union in the last century, the Moscow Academy of Mines and the Moscow Steel Institute. The Nobel Prize in Physics for Professor Alexei Abrikosov’s work in the field of superconductivity launched the University into the international spotlight in 2003. The new 100 acre MISiS campus will form the core and catalyst for the development of Project A101, a new 13,000 acre district of Moscow where 300,000 new residents are expected over the next 20 years. The campus comprises housing for 10,000 students and 3,000 academics, seven faculty buildings, several research institutes, a library, business centre, hotel, recreation park, cinema, cafes and shops. A condition of the project’s financing by President Medvedev is that construction shall begin by year’s end and the campus realised within 7-10 years.
Location The 100 acre site was donated by Masshtab development with the strategy of creating a strong catalyst for Project A101, with the University campus at its heart. The campus is strategically located only three kilometres from the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) just east of the Kaluzhskoye Shosse highway which links Moscow with southern Russia. A future tramline will run parallel to the university linking with Moscow city centre and Project A101.
Urban campus The campus holds a natural beauty with forest and valley lake as prominent features. The campus plan embraces this quality through a central campus park as the campus core. The park becomes the central public meeting place for staff, scientists, students and professors to share ideas or socialise. The faculty buildings open out onto the park, furthering the atmosphere of openness, innovation and cross fertilisation of ideas. The urban grid design provides planning flexibility to allow for future growth and the two-phased construction. Building’s themselves shall be flexible so as to adapt to growing student numbers and to the most advanced communication and media technologies that are sometimes difficult to anticipate. Facing the lakefront and main entry to campus, the Student Centre and Library function as gateway buildings, each with their own identity, and create a brand for the new MISiS, exhibiting the latest in sustainability and technology in order to attract international students and top researchers. The campus residence typology is based on the principles of the courtyard and is divided into townhouses, patio and courtyard, with each with green spaces featured strongly. The campus heart is car free, providing a cohesive, safe and pedestrian friendly campus.
Sustainability The MISiS campus plan reflects the innovative character of the university through smart sustainability measures including a 45 degree building orientation which avoids full north exposure, maximum of natural light, use of local materials, prefabricated elements to save on construction time and energy, future proofing through flexibility of the urban grid, climate walls, thermal heat and cold storage, natural lighting and ventilation and rainwater storage.
Program 100 hectare campus masterplan developed in two phases (195,200m2 and 204,800m2) with 400,000 m2 of building area including 36 000 m2 of administrative and service buildings and business centre 112, 000 m2 of educational and laboratory buildings, 100 000 m2 residences for teaching staff, 110, 000 m2 dormitories, 40 000 m2 of public, cultural, recreational and other facilities and 5,000 parking spaces.
