Herzog & de Meuron Go Horizontal

A tower would not be unexpected: the site is just across the river from Moscow International Business Center (aks Moscow City), home to numerous skyscrapers including Federation Tower, the tallest completed building in Europe. But the abandoned brewery's landmark status and a height limit of 75 meters pushed the Swiss architects to design what they describe as a "horizontal skyscraper" – but one lifted 35 meters above in the air to create parkland and maximize views over the brewery buildings that will be restored and rebuilt as part of the mixed-use project.

According to Jacques Herzog: "Moscow is a city with a rich and controversial cultural and political heritage, with architectures reflecting avant-garde as well as conservative trends in the course of history. Our project for the redevelopment of Badaevskiy factory inserts itself in this very history and tradition of Moscow urbanism – it respects and re-uses existing industrial buildings while adding and overlaying them with radically contemporary structures."