Architect Nurlan Kamitov reflects on modern trends
INK Architects founder, RIBA Fellow, and Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Architecture, Nurlan Kamitov, discusses how to find a balance between city demands, developer needs, and resident expectations.
Nurlan, in 2019, INK Architects celebrated its 15th anniversary. INK Architects' portfolio includes residential and commercial construction projects, as well as interior designs for public spaces. These include, for example, Hilton Astana, the Aura Business Center, Sensata, the BI City Seoul and Tokyo residential complexes, the Dream City residential complex, and many others. Your company has also designed beautiful residential complexes and business centers in Almaty and Nur-Sultan. Please tell us about the importance of such projects in urban architecture.
A city is, first and foremost, made up of residential areas; they make up the lion's share of architectural projects.
Currently, significant changes have occurred in societal demands: multifunctional and residential complexes, as well as business centers, are the most rapidly developing structures in our cities. They play a significant role in the urbanization of the environment and are being built primarily by developers. The primary goal is to create a comfortable environment.
A developer interested in successfully resolving all architectural issues prefers to work with the most successful and reliable designer. A project author understands the role a building plays in a modern city, as it creates a new image for the city. Therefore, every developer strives, whenever possible, to address aesthetic concerns alongside functional ones.
In our practice, we study both the client's requirements and the needs of modern people: a building must be convenient, comfortable, beautiful, and have a distinctive, memorable façade. These are the most important objectives of urbanization.
Currently, more than 88 residential buildings are under construction in Nur-Sultan, and 80 residential buildings are under construction in Almaty (according to flatfy). Of these, INK Architects' designs account for over 15%. This is a significant market share. Tell us about your latest projects.
This year, we are awaiting the completion of our Track and Field Complex project in Nur-Sultan. Of course, this isn't the only socio-cultural facility in our portfolio, nor is it our first sports complex. Knowing the current state of sports arenas in Nur-Sultan, we carefully developed the complex's concept, based on the premise that sport is a person's eternal striving for the stars. Therefore, the aesthetics of the form implied a stylized image of a star.
A second unique feature of this project is that it is being built according to IAAF standards (the International Association of Athletics Federations) and will be able to host international competitions in the future. When zoning the space, we relied on IAAF standards. Danko subsequently supported the concept and developed the working design, which is currently under construction. In other words, collaboration in project development is a crucial part of working on such projects.
Today, Kazakhstan continues to see active construction of residential complexes and business centers, while Almaty is actively renovating its housing stock against the backdrop of its historical heritage. Tell us about your principles in your work. Does place create architecture?
Competent design in a historical environment has always been a challenging task. First, at the urban planning level, the issue of integrating the building into the urban fabric is addressed. Then, at the compositional level, its volumetric and spatial composition and dimensions are determined, and then, depending on the surroundings, the building's design is developed.
For example, in our Central Avenue residential complex project, we took into account the architectural features of Almaty, but in the composition, we sought to create an image that would represent a new step in shaping the city's environment. The stylistic solution was based on the principles of Soviet neoclassicism and Moscow Empire style, hence the representative monumentality, rationalism, and decorativeness. At the same time, the project meets the criteria of 21st-century construction: maximum living space, effective zoning, plenty of light, and an absence of unnecessary details.
