As Italian architects, we are used to looking at our cities as 'urban interiors'. We exported this simple and beautiful concept to Moscow and, by studying the evolution of the housing tipology of the city of Moscow, with our Russian friends of Citizenstudio, we have combined the materiality and plasticity of the facades with the design of the public space. The project almost magically creates a grid of colors and materiality that determines the new identity for the citizens of Metrogorodok with the ambition that they can recognize it and call it home

"We have inherited from the past buildings of generous dimensions and structures that today we could hardly afford to build. We have limited resources and less abundance of land to consume, as land itself is a non-renewable resource. We believe it is necessary to regenerate ancient buildings and obsolete urban systems because they are special spaces available to communities, banks of energy and raw materials, resources rather than problems to be solved. - say Cappai and Segantini 

"Abbiamo risorse limitate e meno abbondanza di suolo da consumare, in quanto proprio il suolo è una risorsa non rinnovabile. Crediamo sia necessario valorizzare edifici antichi e sistemi urbani obsoleti perché sono spazi speciali a disposizione delle comunità, banche di energia e di materie prime, risorse invece che problemi da risolvere. Il retrofit è uno strumento resiliente per tradurre il passato più o meno recente e trasformarlo in una risorsa per la comunità"-dicono Cappai e Segantini