The development plan for the Skolkovo Innovation Center is characterized by its archipelago structure closely linking together a complex of five dense urban “clusters”, the whole built around the Setun river valley located to the southwest of Moscow. The diverse, heterogenous elements of the complex, whose construction was entrusted to a number of internationally renowned architects, come together within the continuity of a distinct landscape. Accentuating the site's geographical particularities, such as it topography, its forested surroundings, its waterways, is at the heart of this process of broad territorial transformation.

In parallel to the development of an overall landscape design for the university campus, the creation of a landscape prefiguring the completed landscape was proposed for the interim. The aim was to begin a series of useful interventions as soon as possible, which would serve not only in prefiguring the future campus, but in enhancing the quality of the various terrains immediately. These interventions correspond with a preparatory phase, the phase in which the general framework and servicing of the site are laid out. Drainage and trail networks, as well as storage areas for materials, are set up. Meadows are created and tended to in order to bring the ground area and the general appearance of the gigantic construction site under control. The pilot landscape serves as the first established component of a relay system allowing the site to be used as a controlled public space, throughout the various stages of its development.