ZOYA Museum

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was a Soviet heroine during World War II, becoming a symbol of partisan defiance and the Russian military. Designed by Architectural Buro A2M, the Zoya Museum was named in her honor and in memory of her actions.

It is located in Petrischevo, which is about 100 km outside Moscow and is where this Russian heroine was captured and executed by German troops in 1941.

The building consists of a series of independent modules connected by a long colonnade that runs along the side and a “shared” roof that creates the effect of a solid composition. This sense of unity is reiterated by the reinforced concrete panels along the façade, recalling the typical shape of local village houses.

The actual museum covers 2,500 sq. m with exhibition space, a café, a gift shop and other functional rooms. Each room was designed to be stylistically independent, with its own exhibition and entrances. Such an approach adds to the sense that each unit is directly connected to the surrounding landscape, with no need for intermediate areas or hallways.

Outside, walkways provide access to the various monuments on the site from Russia’s Great Patriotic War, obviously with a statue of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

Inside, natural materials in neutral colors were selected to exalt the items on display. As part of this approach, the architects turned to Ideal Work^® to provide contemporary solutions that give
the interiors a sense of uniform harmony.

The floors were coated with Nuvolato Architop^®, which is a very durable, long lasting and abrasion-resistant blend of cement and other ingredients, while for the floors and the bookshop, Microtopping^® was selected as it is an ideal, innovative coating for continuous surfaces where an elegant, material look is the order of the day.

Both these options contrast well with the chosen furnishings to convey the desired formal identity of the entire museum.