space can inspire

ATRIUM’s individual architectural language began to take shape in its first private house and apartment projects, where the key principle was the creation of complex form and spatial structure. Inspired by the discoveries of the Soviet avant-garde and its abstract aesthetic, the architects sought to create spaces governed by a single architectural idea — one that unites the entire project and shapes both its key images and the design of individual elements and details.

The philosophy of abstract form found its clearest expression in private house projects. They brought together the ideas of deconstructivism and parametric architecture that were relevant at the time, and laid the foundation for the studio’s later architectural experiments. The creation of a distinctive form that reflects the qualities of the contemporary world — dynamism, complexity and multiplicity — remains one of the key aims in ATRIUM’s work today.

At this stage, ATRIUM moved beyond a local Moscow practice and established itself as a studio capable of working with complex architecture, urban environments and major competition briefs at the same time.

Alongside the delivery of landmark projects in Moscow — Barkli Park, Vodny and Planeta KVN — the studio began to work actively in other Russian cities, from Krasnodar to Yakutsk. An important milestone was its collaboration with leading international studios, including MVRDV, Maxwan, Massimiliano Fuksas, Atelier PRO, and later Antonio Citterio and ARCHEA.

This period marked ATRIUM’s shift from the authorial plasticity of a single building towards a more complex and layered approach, where architecture was understood as part of a wider urban, cultural and public context.

In the second half of the 2010s, ATRIUM significantly increased the scale and complexity of its practice. The studio increasingly acted as general designer, taking responsibility for the full cycle of work — from concept to completion. It was during this period that educational architecture became one of the studio’s key areas of expertise. The defining project was Letovo School, where ATRIUM acted as Russian co-author and general designer during the implementation stage.

At the same time, the studio developed major residential and public complexes, public spaces and elements of new urban infrastructure: the quarters and Green River Park within the Symbol Residential District, Four Points by Sheraton in Krasnodar, and projects in Kazakhstan, Yakutia and other regions.

During this period, ATRIUM’s architecture became not only an expressive form, but also a tool for programming spatial scenarios — residential, educational, public and landscape.

In the first half of the 2020s, ATRIUM fully established itself as an interdisciplinary studio working at the intersection of architecture, research, digital environments and cultural initiatives. Alongside new residential, public and educational projects, the studio systematised its experience in the research book Architecture of Development, dedicated to the design of contemporary schools. At the same time, ATRIUM began to explore new formats of architectural expression — from the ATRIUM Virtual Gallery in the metaverse to the anniversary pavilion Meta-formation at ARCH Moscow, where architecture was presented as an immersive and interactive environment.

During these years, the practice expanded both internationally and typologically, with projects in Central Asia and the MENA region, new residential quarters, cultural spaces, schools and kindergartens.

Today, ATRIUM is a large author-led studio with a strong research-based and technological position, capable of working both with the real urban fabric and with new digital formats.