Infobox / project eleven

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: project eleven
Area: 30 m²
Year: 2013
Photographs:Ilia Ivanov

Text description provided by the architects. The Infobox information pavilion at the park Muzeon is a compact temporary structure consisting of a dark looming sculptural mass with large white lettering on its high facade.The unusually acute angle of the roof slope, along with the diminutive size of the building serve to emphasise its dominant wall - the main facade.The pavilion is austere, unexpected and robust.Yet it is also unassuming:metal framed, finished with various types of panelling. Laminated moisture-resistant veneers that are more usually used as shuttering in the fabrication of concrete block structures have been employed, and the interior is birch wood ply, painted grey.

The Infobox marks the entrance to the expanse of the Muzeon. On the opposite side of the Garden Ring there is the entrance group for Gorky Park, works by the Soviet architects Yu. Schuko and A. Spasov. The information pavilion is across the way. They are divided by the busy Garden Ring and yet their function is to enter into a dialogue with each other, linking the two parks. The columns and pillars of the main entrance with its semi-circular sweep certainly dominate the simpler shapes of the wooden structure. But on the other hand, the black mirror-like surface has a silent and monolithic effect that reflects, and ultimately even overwhelms.

Infobox / project eleven - Shelving, Windows — © Ilia Ivanov

The minimalist dark block calls you to leave the noisy, overcrowded and pompous Gorky Park and come into another park, where, if you’re lucky, there is quiet.

The main facade of the pavilion with its square shape and louring dark colour brings to mind Kasimir Malevich’s Black Square, which now hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery, just 500 metres away.The pavilion speaks of simplicity, a clean geometric form and its development and this is what is remembered.