An international summer school in drawing has opened at SPbGASU

On September 12, the international summer school "Architecture, design and constructions: from a sketch to a 3D model" started at the St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, which brought together students and young researchers in the field of construction and architecture. This time, the participants were students from SPbGASU and our partner-university, Henan University (China).

The event is being held in person for the first time: last year, due to coronavirus restrictions, it was held online.

“I am sure that the school will be for you, students from different countries, an excellent chance to meet, make friends, and the result of your fruitful cooperation will be unique creative works”, said at the opening ceremony the curator of the program, associate professor at the SPbGASU department of architectural and engineering constructions, PhD of architecture Olga Pastukh.

The participants were also greeted by SPbGASU Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Irina Lugovskaia, who noted that our university turned 190 this year, that it is one of the oldest technical universities in Russia. “Many graduates of the university glorified it in the past, many glorify it now, during the cultural program of the School you will see their creations,” she noted, adding that Chinese universities are among the most important partners of our university.

Students will have a rich two-week program. Under the guidance of SPbGASU curators with extensive practical experience, they will get acquainted with the diversity of the architectural heritage of Saint Petersburg, listen to lectures, attend excursions with the possibility of sketching architectural monuments from classicism to constructivism, modernity and contemporaneity, undergo workshops on the creation of small architectural forms and develop three-dimensional models of real urban objects in the SPbGASU digital laboratory.

During the first week of the summer school, at Olga Pastukh's lectures, the participants learned about the uniqueness of the architectural styles of Saint Petersburg, the basics of composition, colouring, the role of light and colour in graphic sketches.

Professor at the department of urban planning, DSc in architecture Andrey Vaytens gave an overview lecture on the history of the urban development of the Northern capital and the features of the renovation of the industrial heritage of the so-called metropolis' "gray belt".

The students highly appreciated the classes in the format of the urban plein air on thematic routes. Route No. 1 "Golden Axis: Palaces and Embankments of St Petersburg, Monuments of Sacred Architecture" was led by teachers of the department of history and theory of architecture – PhD of Architecture, associate professor Milena Zolotareva and senior lecturers Aleksandr Ponomarev and Igor Khramov. "Everything was wonderful! The excursions were useful, we, together with colleagues from China, learned a lot of new things here,” shared the second-year bachelor's degree students of urban planning direction.

The routes "Monuments of northern modernism" and "Examples of renovation of industrial territories" were held under the guidance of the teachers of the department of architectural and engineering constructions Aleksandra Glukhova and Olga Pastukh. The participants visited the territory of the former warehouses and territories along the Obvodny Canal, reconstructed today, the building of the Vitebsk railway station (architect Stanislav Brzhovsky) and the apartment house of the merchant Bazhanov with interiors and fireplaces painted by Mikhail Vrubel (located on Marata street, 72).

The walk along the route "Soviet constructivism and monuments of the Stalinist Empire style" was led by senior lecturer at the department of architectural and urban planning heritage Yury Oblasov. According to the students, the lesson was fun and interesting: they learned about the difference between these two styles and managed to work in a team.{gallery name="ппп"}

The school participants made several sketches of the landmark architectural objects of the city, and then, using various graphic materials and sketching techniques, showed them in the form of presentations. Having received professional comments from teachers and recommendations for further work, the students decided on areas for design. In addition, they were given a tour of the mock-up studio of the faculty of architecture and the Museum of the SPbGASU history.

Text: Aleksandra Podolnikiova, International Relations Division;
Olga Pastukh, associate professor
at the department of architectural and engineering constructions, PhD of architecture
Photo: 1–2 Ekaterina Nikiforova; 3–11 – presented by Olga Pastukh

Learn more about the SPbGASU summer schools