Kristina Dmitrova, Daria Miroshnichenko, Olga Smetanina and Aleksandra Yugay
Ten finalist projects were announced for the student competition for the best concept for the SPbGASU main building's lobby, announced by the university in the early autumn. The expert committee included First Vice-Rector Svetlana Golovina, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture Ekaterina Vozniak, Chief Architect Svetlana Bochkareva, Head of the Department of Architectural Environment Design Maria Granstrem and industry representatives. While summing up the results, practicing architects tried to focus on the best of the ideas presented and gave the contestants advice on preparing for the final.
"The participants not only approached the design quite professionally, but also tried to express warm feelings for their native university, turning the lobby into a modern space, while fitting it into the overall concept of the building and emphasizing the historical architectural value. Therefore, the selection of finalists was complicate. But, in any case, all participants received invaluable experience," emphasized Aleksandra Yugay, Director of the SPbGASU Educational Center of Project-Based Learning.
The finalists of the competition are: Elizaveta Koteenko; Daria Pakhomova; Elizaveta Roshva; Daria Grigorieva and Valeria Barchan; Sofia Plekhanova; Laura Nanieva and Anastasia Popova; Ekaterina Tsyrulnikova; Darina Meltenisova and Yulia Emelyanova; Olesya Elagina; Anna Zamkova; Vladislav Samoilov and Vadim Bobukh; Anastasia Fedorova; Azamat Javatkhanov; Fedor Zhdanov and Artyom Ikonnikov.
The meeting with experts was not limited to the award ceremony and summing up the results of the competition. An interactive discussion between practicing specialists and students can be considered words of encouragement in professional activity. All of them are graduates of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture. The co-founder of the architectural bureau "KLAUZURA" Daria Miroshnichenko, architect Kristina Dmitrova and the architect of "Da bureau" Olga Smetanina spoke about their path to the profession, about successes and difficulties, about the current situation on the market. The topic of the discussion was "The path of an architect: from student to professional".
Kristina Dmitrova runs a private business related to design and architecture. She collaborates with developers, investors, private and commercial clients. She started working in her second year of study, and after receiving her diploma, she opened her own business.
Daria Miroshnichenko chose to first gain experience in hired work. She explained that in this way she not only grew professionally, but also learned management processes. She considers opening her own agency a logical step in career growth.
Olga Smetanina has worked both in different companies and as a freelancer and is convinced that such diverse experience is also valuable and gives the opportunity to find yourself. In addition, the need to acquire new skills serves as a good motivation for work.
Aleksandra Yugay, having received her diploma, remained at her native university as a teacher. She admits that she acquired amazing experience, including the ability to work in multitasking mode.
All experts emphasized that an architect must have not only professional competencies, but also flexible skills. Their experience shows that a specialist with a positive mindset and communication skills is always more successful and more often brings projects to implementation.
"Project implementation is a kind of situational management. You can design everything down to the last screw, but get confused during implementation in case of force majeure. Therefore, it is worth choosing a field of activity according to your character. In my practice, there was a specialist who was well versed in private details, private projects, but could not work in a constant rush, multitasking. There is no single recipe for success, a precisely defined successful activity. Some people are comfortable working for hire, and some run their own business, some work more effectively only at a leisurely pace, and for some, tight deadlines are the driver of development. Here you need to listen to yourself, otherwise burnout cannot be avoided," says Kristina Dmitrova.
Olga Smetanina added that the architectural field is multifaceted, so if you wish, you can choose a direction that suits you and the level of responsibility that suits you.
One of the students asked how to successfully interact with chief engineers?
Daria Miroshnichenko reminded that on the same site architects build beauty, and engineers – functionality. The result depends on their clear interaction.
"It has become easier to interact with design in Revit: fewer problems arise when an object can be seen in a 3D model. Besides, is it really necessary to have a beautiful interior if the room will be, for example, stuffy? That is why communication between the parties is important," explained Daria.
She added that today an architect should also know the basics of marketing. Thus, her bureau offers the client a master plan of the object with the functionality described and consults on attracting potential investors. This approach is productive, since often the owners themselves cannot understand how to use their object. And here we are no longer talking about an architectural concept, but about the concept of an architectural product, which is many times more expensive. “We studied design, but it turned out that architecture is much more than design. The client, as a business representative, will always appreciate a good idea. I remember our teacher Fedor Viktorovich Perov said: to draw a beautiful, but non-functional object is worse than an ugly, but functional one. In practice, I understood the truth of his words: a functional object brings in money, so it will live. Entrepreneurs do not change what brings them money,” Kristina explained.
The discussion was joined by the head of the product department of the development group "GloraX" Aleksandr Kosogorov. As the expert specified, his professional tasks include design of a development product from an idea to a sale.
"To create a development product, you need to interact with both colleagues from your department and potential buyers, the target audience that has already purchased our products. You also study the competitive market, synchronize the facts you receive, and then create a technical specification for the product and monitor all stages of its implementation and realization," Aleksandr said.
According to him, specialists of different professions come to the product area: architects, sales managers, marketers. The boundaries of product definition are still blurred, and they are only just being formed. Each developer has their own understanding of the product, their own requirements for it. Sales managers have a single sales technique, and they can use it to sell both a ballpoint pen and an airplane. Product managers cannot work within one standard, because each developer has their own approaches.
Summing up, Aleksandra Yugay emphasized that the invited graduates showed by their example: SPbGASU is raising responsible specialists who successfully combine a high academic load with work, are not afraid of new challenges and are focused on further professional development.
