The silver badge of the international festival, awards from the Council of Chief Architects of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, diplomas of laureates - such convincing recognition was received by master's students and graduates of the Department of Urban Planning of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture at the XXXI International Architectural Festival "Art of Building" in Moscow.

Head of the SPbGASU Department of Urban Planning Yulia Yankovskaya; Alena Svoekoshinova; Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Council of Chief Architects, Advisor to the President of the RAACS Natalia Klimova; Sergey Lutchenko

For her final bachelor's work, master's student Anastasia Atamuratova was awarded the Silver Badge of the festival, a badge and a certificate from the Council of Chief Architects of the RF Regions and municipalities named after A. V. Kuzmin, silver diploma of the Union of Architects of Russia. She presented a thesis on the topic “Eco-reconstruction of disturbed territories of the Kerch Peninsula in the zone of influence of the Crimean Nuclear Power Plant”.

“I wanted to draw attention to abandoned territories and developments of the Soviet period in my region and country. Now all experts treat red brick industrial architecture with care, but they believe that it is easier to demolish concrete objects in the zone of influence of the Crimean Nuclear Power Plant, leaving a wasteland. In my work I wanted to show that it is not at all necessary to put a stigma on such territory. It can be turned into a new educational and technological cluster, designed according to environmentally friendly principles, while developing new areas of tourism,” explained Anastasia.

The high marks from the experts convinced the master’s student that she had chosen the right direction for her research. “Now I have an idea to propose my project to local authorities. Perhaps they will be able to implement it,” she shared her plans.

Andrey Zima, Maria Kolobova, Arina Shilo and Nionella Urvan turned to the topical issue of the development of peripheral territories of the St Petersburg agglomeration. The team proposed a concept for the development of the urban environment of the new “mini-city” of Novosaratovka, a former village that could become a new pearl of the right bank of the Neva. The bachelor's thesis "Comprehensive development of the territory of a peripheral region of the St Petersburg agglomeration using the example of the village of Novosaratovka" was defended at the Department of Urban Planning last year, and this year it was awarded the diploma of laureate of the "Art of Building" festival.

“As part of the overall concept, we divided into four areas for further detailed design. I chose the plot adjacent to Oktyabrskaya Embankment and the Utkina Zavod industrial park. The district development program is based on the development of a favorable public urban environment. We proposed a project for a multifunctional city center for the new “city” of Novosaratovka with a system of sports, business, cultural and scientific clusters. It is important for us that our team work was noted at such a high level. I would like to thank our supervisors – Anastasia Alekseevna Galaktionova and Viktoria Sergeevna Makarova. I continue to raise the problems associated with the development of the urban environment of peripheral territories in my master’s thesis,” said Andrey Zima.

Svetlana Levoshko at the exhibition of works

PhD of Architecture, Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning Svetlana Levoshko emphasized that the International Architectural Festival “Art of Building” is the oldest competition in our country, at which winners are determined in many categories, and a landmark professional event.

“As part of the big festival, the already popular BUILD SCHOOL festival and the BIF Architecture and Design Festival took place. The program was very intense: over 100 events were held at six venues, and more than 300 speakers spoke. In the review-competition “Creativity of architectural universities and colleges” there is a nomination “Creativity of students of universities in Russia and abroad in the direction of “Urban planning””. Among the ten best projects presented within its framework, five works are projects of students and graduates of the SPbGASU Department of Urban Planning. This is an unprecedented case! And they all received awards,” said Svetlana Levoshko.

Several laureate and PhD students came to the festival. The festival gave the guys the opportunity to communicate with famous representatives of the architectural world and hear their opinions on current issues. Svetlana Sergeevna believes that the guys received no less valuable information in three days than at lectures at the university.

First Deputy Chairman of the Urban Development Policy Committee, chief architect of the Leningrad region, SPbGASU graduate Sergey Lutchenko is a regular participant of the festival, because he believes that this event is significant for industry specialists, business, government officials and students.

“The festival provides business, government agencies and industry with the opportunity to find partners, and students and young professionals - to gain experience and demonstrate their professional competencies to potential employers. SPbGASU master’s students showed good work, which makes them especially proud of their native university,” commented Sergey Lutchenko.

Artem Agekyan, Gleb Agenorov and curator of the "Art of Building" festival, architect Aleksey Komov

The laureates of the festival were also SPbGASU master’s student Gleb Agenorov and a 2023 graduate of our university Artem Agekyan for the thesis “Revitalization of the territory of the large port of St Petersburg”, Savely Zagrebin for the thesis “Strategy for the post-industrial development of border Russian-Norwegian territories”. Alena Svoekoshinova, a graduate of the Department of Urban Planning, was awarded a diploma from the Council of Chief Architects of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities for her thesis “Transformation of territories with scientific and technological potential using the example of the city of Dimitrovgrad”.

In the business program, speakers were professor at the department Andrey Vaytens and associate professor at the department Pavel Scriabin.

Congratulations to the festival participants and the SPbGASU Department of Urban Planning on their successful participation in the international festival “Art of Building”!