Project piece

Associate Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Architectural Environment Design, Chief Architect and Director of the University Design Studio Svetlana Bochkareva and Associate Professor at the Department of AED, General Director of Kremlin Studio LLC Aleksandr Demin received gratitude letters from the Governor of the Novgorod Region Andrey Nikitin. The award ceremony took place on 27 June at a meeting of the SPbGASU Academic Council.

The teachers received awards as leaders of the project team that developed the concept for the improvement of Freedom Square in the city of Valdai, Novgorod region. In 2020, this concept was among the winners of the All-Russian competition of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation to create a comfortable environment in small towns and historical settlements.

The project called “Valdai_CENTER” provides for three stages of implementation. The first has already been completed - the lower (southern) part of Freedom Square has been landscaped. The second stage involves landscaping the upper (northern) part of the square. The third stage will be the improvement of the territory of the former street market.

“Such projects are important for educating the future architectural elite. Freedom Square plays a significant role in the development of the system of public spaces in Valdai. In the course of our work, we were able to identify where and how this system is formed. We stood at the beginning of the transformations and became a kind of catalyst for these processes. In less than five years, we won’t recognize Valdai!” – commented Svetlana Bochkareva.