The life of a space depends on numerous variables: political, cultural, economic, and social. Fixed long-term forecasting decades ahead has lost its meaning, but we create flexible and open masterplans that set realistic goals and adapt easily.
A good masterplan is not a deed approved once and for all, but a development vehicle, a way to kickstart change. A territory development plan can and should encompass changing circumstances: the plan must be able to change with them, constantly adjusting visions to fit reality. Essentially, it represents a detailed brief for transforming the territory, a roadmap in the hands of the owner or manager of the site. One of the objectives is to reconcile the interests of different stakeholders—that is, people with a stake in the territory’s future: city administration, investors, local residents, and ecologists. Working on the project is typically two-thirds negotiations, attempts to bring together different visions of the future.
Development companies, private landowners, industrial anchors, and municipal authorities approach us with requests for masterplans: some need to work out how to transform a former industrial zone into a vibrant attraction, others need to create a pleasant city or suburban community, still others require a scenario for a palace and park ensemble that would preserve the ecosystem while recreating historic environment.
Masterplans are equally relevant for territories of different scales: we work with sites from ten to several thousand hectares—heritage landmarks and new residential developments, vacant plots and existing metropolitan areas. Our masterplan for Ecopolis on Sakhalin is an example of new life in a new place, while strategies for Tobolsk, Nizhnekamsk, the Arkhangelskoye estate outside Moscow, the Russian capital’s Nagatinsky Zaton district, and Gorskaya resort in Saint Petersburg exemplify transformations of existing settings.
Regardless of scale, when developing a masterplan we primarily strive to make it a convenient and reliable tool for addressing the client’s challenges: effective placement of developments, investment opportunities, and co-financing for territory development projects.
Wowhaus believes in holistic design. While thinking big, we always remember the details: how new buildings will blend into the surrounding landscape, how new construction will affect the perception of historic landmarks, and which street furniture is most ergonomic. For Wowhaus, a masterplan is not a paper exercise divorced from reality, but rather a strategy based on scientific data and the lay of the land, shaped by who intends to implement it, how, and for what purpose.
Oleg Shapiro: “A masterplan is a comprehensive document, the outcome of a major multidisciplinary effort by economists, transport specialists, sociologists, sometimes ethnographers, environmentalists, anthropologists, and many others. Architects, who think simultaneously through structures and visual forms, typically lead this project. For us, creating such consortiums is standard practice—and yet one of the most fascinating challenges.”
Wowhaus acts as a mediator between stakeholders and the client. Together, we develop an effective, comprehensible, and user-friendly tool for urban transformation.
