First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Urban Development Policy of the Leningrad Region, Chief Architect of the Leningrad Region Sergey Lutchenko gave a lecture “Leningrad Region - Territory of Opportunities” for students of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture.

Sergey Lutchenko have graduated fr om SPbGASU, and last year he completed his PhD studies with honors, so for university students he became an example of a graduate who succeeded in his profession and career. The format of such a meeting allowed the lecturer to receive feedback: it is important for officials and specialists to understand the goals of future architects and urban planners, to know what areas of activity interest them and to tell them about the opportunities that the region is ready to offer. Moreover, the lecturer recognized the students' active work: last summer, 43 SPbGASU students completed their internship at the Committee on Urban Planning Policy of the Leningrad Region.

Sergey Ivanovich prepared an informative presentation about his activities in different periods. As part of his graduation project, being by that time the graduate of the Kaliningrad Municipal Construction College, he designed renovation project of the tombstone of Duke Albrecht of Brandenburg in the Kaliningrad Cathedral. This work served as an impetus for obtaining investments for the restoration of the historical site. When an SPbGASU fifth-year student, Sergey Lutchenko worked part-time at the Spetsproektrestavratsiya Research Institute; in the workshop of Vladlen Lyavdansky, together with his friend Yaroslav Soldatenkov, he was engaged in 3D visualization, preparing facades and perspectives of buildings and structures. First work placement internship at the Scientific and Design Institute of Spatial Planning "ENKO", and then work there, led him to territorial planning - the development of master plans and territory planning projects. Today's work of the chief architect is solving current urban planning issues in the region. The lecturer spoke about his responsibilities and demonstrated several large-scale projects.

From the lecture, the students learned valuable advice: to succeed in the profession, it is important to participate in architectural competitions as students in order to make a name in the professional environment; at any stage of design, you need to construct mock-ups - this concentrates attention on every detail and allows you to see shortcomings in the image of an architectural object or the territory planned for development. And no less important: the more practice and internships in your specialty, the higher the chances of professional success.

– This is the first time I have practiced this format of communication with students, but I always perceive everything new as a new challenge, and therefore new opportunities. In addition, I consider it an honor to speak at my native university, wh ere I studied for nine years, to tell current students about how it all began in my profession, how everything is going now, and how I plan to continue my activities in public office. I’m glad that the lecture was held in front of an almost full audience; the guys asked a lot of correct and competent questions. Feedback is important, because this is the only way to evaluate the effectiveness of any activity, in this case lectures: giving and receiving knowledge, said Sergey Lutchenko.

SPbGASU Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Irina Lugovskaia and Professor Andrey Vaytens

The chief architect of the Leningrad region added that he is constantly looking for new ideas. So, after the lecture, SPbGASU professor Andrey Vaytens suggested that at the next meeting he should focus on the prospects of the entrusted region in the field of territorial planning. Sergey Ivanovich himself believes that lectures on topics that often form the basis of coursework and dissertations will also be of interest: those relating to the development of the residential sector, industry, transport and tourism.

The SPbGASU Vice-Rector for Youth Policy Irina Lugovskaia presented Sergey Lutchenko with a symbolic gift: a souvenir plate with an image of the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt, which was built in 1903–1913, designed by architect Vasily Kosyakov, the first director of the Institute of Civil Engineers (now SPbGASU).