House-egg in Moscow: The most original and prohibitively expensive symbol of the Luzhkov era

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When you walk along Mashkov Street and suddenly you see this bright red egg, you want to stop and rub your eyes: is it a dream? It looks, of course, beautiful, but it is painfully unexpected. No, this is really a residential building, and incredibly expensive. In the people and even in the sphere of urban planning it is called so - "House-egg". This building is also considered a symbol of Moscow architecture from the time of Luzhkov.

The maternity hospital had to be reduced to the size of a mansion

The authors of the spherical house are architects Sergey Tkachenko, Oleg Dubrovsky and gallery owner Marat Gelman. Initially, the project of the house-egg was planned to be implemented in Bethlehem with the participation of the Patriarchate - this is how the new Israeli maternity hospital was supposed to look like. Such a building would look fashionable, unusual and, as the architects assumed, symbolic in all respects. However, for some reason, this idea was abandoned in Israel, and then a few years later the authors of the project decided to bring the idea to life in Moscow - only on a smaller scale. A group of young architects helped them in this.

At first, it was planned to erect an egg on Patriarch's, but in the end, Mashkov Street, which is not far from the Chistye Prudy metro station, became its location.

Guided tours

Work on the project took three years. It was very difficult to go through all the approvals and obtain permission from the authorities for the construction of such a mansion, but nevertheless, all the issues were settled.

The spherical red house, attached to a completely ordinary rectangular eight-story building (formally considered part of it), was finally completed in 2002. The brick monolithic building on a metal frame is faced with beautiful ceramics from the outside, as well as covered with copper and plaster.

The building immediately caused a lot of controversy. Some considered it tasteless kitsch, others - a breakthrough in architecture and almost the only bright spot among the "boring" Moscow buildings. And the obvious external resemblance to a souvenir egg even gave rise to associations with Faberge eggs and tsarist Russia of the 19th century, famous for its extravagant merchant mansions. But whoever says anything, one thing is clear: the building is very unusual and can rightfully be considered a Moscow landmark. Some guides even include it in the excursion route for tourists as a symbol of the "Luzhkov era", marked by architectural permissiveness.

Looking for a new master

The name of the first owner of the "egg house" was not disclosed, but it is known that he did not live in it, and soon after the purchase he put the building up for sale. However, according to the website of the Moscow Government, no one has yet been found willing to buy the "egg". Indeed, the owner is asking for more than 676 million rubles for him - this is the price for the house that is in the ad on one of the real estate sites!

They say that soon after the construction, when the house was not yet so expensive, even the artist Nikas Safronov was offered to buy it, but he refused, considering the price too high. However, later, when the price for it skyrocketed, the painter regretted not taking advantage of this offer.

Is it good to live in a shell

Whether it is convenient to live in such a round building is difficult to say for sure. On the one hand, the "egg" is stuffed with modern attributes - a transparent elevator, a spiral staircase, a sauna, a gym, a kitchen with a large dining room. The interiors are finished with marble, natural wood and Venetian plaster. In addition, there is a garage for several cars on the ground floor.

The house stands on curly legs, the lower floor with round porthole windows is reserved for the entrance hall and storage rooms. In total, the cottage has three floors and a warm attic-hat with rounded windows.

Brick walls with insulation are very thick, and the building also has an air purification system, which is also important for the center of Moscow. All these qualities make it quite comfortable for some moneybag to live.

On the other hand, the building is in plain sight, as if on a showcase. The rooms in it are round in shape, which is very unusual and not the fact that it is convenient. In addition, with a huge area (342 sq. Meters), there are only five living rooms in the house, which is also not very practical.

Another inconvenience in the house is that the attic floor does not have a separate bathroom, so it is hardly possible to use it as a living space. It is only suitable for holding some kind of exhibitions, photo shoots or official events. Moreover, the room is very beautiful - the ceiling is painted for angels in the style of the Renaissance, and the general romantic atmosphere is complemented by a chic crystal chandelier and massive curtains, as if it were a hall of an ancient royal palace.

In any case, the buyer who has moved into this house will immediately become the object of general attention, and he will certainly not rest from the journalists.

But in the old days in Russia, the concept of expensive mansions was somewhat different. Take for example Kolomna Palace.