On 29 November 2025, the Shchusev Museum of Architecture opened MUSEUM LOCI. Architects’ Interpretation exhibition, a project experimental in terms of both scale and content, whereby contemporary architects presented their own visions of the museum through graphic works and small-scale installations.

The project was curated by Anna Martovitskaya.

Our practice’s contribution was titled Elusive Architecture.

Katerina Levyant, Partner and Principal Architect at ABD, explains the concept:

“We introduce the term “Elusive architecture” as today’s response to the phenomenon of “paper architecture” that was impossible to realise due to technical complexity, cost, scale, or censorial Paper Architecture'—architecture unrealisable in reality due to technical complexity, cost, scale, or censorship constraints. As a concept, it has no chance to be seen. But it is within our power to reinterpret such architecture: extract its essence and place it in a new, imaginary context, enhancing the original idea.”

For ABD architects, the museum is not only a space of memory but a collection of contemporary works—a place where the professional community reflects on its own legacy and the role of architects today.

The MUSEUM LOCI project inspired numerous architects to make bold creative statements while simultaneously raising an important question: what might an architecture museum be in the twenty-first century, and what role can it play in the development of the profession?

Authors: Katerina Levyant, Mikhail Komandovsky, Irina Obukhova, Alena Chuvilina