Zaha Hadid Architects has won the Admiral Serebryakov Embankment competition, an international master planning contest for Novorossiysk, a Russian city on the Black Sea coast with the nation’s largest shipping port. Created in collaboration with local architecture firm Pride TPO, the winning master plan aims to reconnect the city with its coast and celebrate the region’s rich industrial history and relationship with the sea. The master plan will introduce a diverse mix of programming and facilities that prioritize non-vehicular circulation. As the nation’s main port on the Black Sea, the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk connects the country with the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and the Suez Canal. The city is the third-busiest port in Europe by turnover and is the leading Russian port for exporting grain. Zaha Hadid Architects and Pride TPO tap into Novorossiysk’s rich history and traditions as a center of trade in their master plan. The 13.9-hectare master plan is a phased development of nine principal buildings with a total floor area of approximately 300,000 square meters. Applying the concept of “instancing”, in which nine iterations of a single form evolve in a gradient across the site, the configuration of each building is established according to its unique function, conditions, and requirements. The master plan’s first phase will include facilities for civic, cultural, and corporate events as well as a hotel. More than 40 teams from 13 countries took part in the competition. Construction of the master plan’s first phase is projected to start in the second half of 2019.

If you’ve been dreaming about living a new life under the Tuscan sun, now you can in Michelangelo’s former villa — currently on the market for US$ 9.3 million. The famed artist bought the sprawling 1200 square meters home located in Chianti, Italy in 1549, and it remained in the family until 1867. Today, the ten-bedroom manor — which is surrounded by the region’s iconic rolling green hills — was recently renovated to retain the historical character of the property. It even includes a copy of the original deed. The massive villa has been renovated to pay homage to its historic past, and the result is an idyllic property straight out of a fairy tale. A sturdy brick cladding covers the home, which sits on nearly 24 thousand square meters area covered with cypress and olive trees. Inside, the home includes 10 bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and a guest cottage is located on site. A brick vaulted ceiling opens up the main living room space, which also comes with a central stone fireplace and several seating nooks. An adjacent sitting room features beamed ceilings and another grand fireplace. Beautiful arched doorways and terracotta floors run throughout the interior and blend in nicely with the additional rooms’ white walls and ceilings. The home’s large kitchen comes with the original stone hearth and basin, as well as a backsplash made out of Tuscan ceramic tiles.