A New Eco-Town in Russia?

Young architects from the Moscow Architecture Institute have shared their vision of the future of Kaluga, a city on Oka river not far from Moscow.

The plan is to lay out an all new part of the town on the right side of Oka, overseeing the historical centre, hence the name Pravgorod or “city of the right”. Although the new settlement will be ultra-modern, the architects have drawn inspiration from the historical part of the town; even using some of its layout ideas. So that the new part forms a sort of a reflection of the old town.

The young architects have tried to diversify the typology of the houses. It is very easy to create a boring place with myriads of unified terraces (as we unfortunately see it across a range of new British developments 🙁 ) but boredom wasn’t an option for Pravgorod. Some of the larger buildings are designed to look like trees in order to blend in with the surrounding landscape.

And the landscape is something! Almost 1000 acres of woodland and unique nature zones. It is estimated that 50,000 will live in the new eco-town and although it is still just an idea, Kaluga has been looking to expand across the river for some time. If they actually manage to build at least some of the showcased homes, Pravgorod will become a worthy destination for any architect looking to drop the boxy-terracy approach.