A Grown-Up Dorm For Russia’s Silicon Valley

Moscow-based Atrium Studio envisioned an interconnected complex for the talent at Skolkovo. Skolkovo--officially, but infrequently, called the Scientific Centre for Development and Commercialization of New Technologies--is billed as Russia’s take on Silicon Valley. The “technopark” on the outskirts of Moscow is structured around a quintet of “clusters” that focus on the following industries: information, biomedical, energy efficiency, nuclear, and space technologies. Earlier this year, a competition was held to imagine community living quarters for Skolkovo employees, and the entries were presented as part of the QR-code wonderland that was the Russian Pavilion at the recent Venice Biennale. Moscow-based Atrium Studio’s plan revolved around a townhouse-style typology, situating five main green-roofed structures in a circular arrangement flanking ...