SPbGASU students became winners and prize-winners of the HackCitySpaces hackathon
On March 22, in St. Petersburg, the results of the HackCitySpaces 2.0 youth hackathon, organized by the Competence Center of the Leningrad Region with the support of the Regional Committee for Housing and Communal Services and the St. Petersburg Union of Architects, were summed up. Among the winners and prize-winners are students and undergraduates of SPbGASU.
✔ The goal of the tournament, which is being held for the second time, is to stimulate ideas for the development of settlements in the Leningrad Region.
1. "Veles" project team Savely Zagrebin, Vitaly Grigorenko, Alena Svoekoshinova, mentor Evgraf Plotnikov, Veronika Bratsikhina and Vladislav Odinets, 2. "Komsomolsky park" project team Maria Druzhinina, Viktoria Piskunova, Viktoria Pupentsova, mentors Ekaterina Basai and Tatiana Dmitrieva and Anna Goldobina, 3. Team of the "Gatchina Yard" project and jury members: Andrey Polskikh; director of the Competence Center of the Leningrad Region Ekaterina Manzhula; Taisya Kirianova; Polina Lizunova; Daria Barkeeva; Chairman of the Committee for Housing and Communal Services of the Leningrad Region Aleksandr Timkov; Elizaveta Androsova; mentor Ksenia Ivantsova
The main sponsor of HackCitySpaces 2.0 is Comfort City LLC, the general sponsor is the SAROS group of companies, the official sponsors are Vybor-SPb LLC and Adanat TM.
The jury included architects, representatives of authorities, experts in the field of urbanism and a comfortable urban environment.
For three weeks, the participants listened to expert lectures, under the guidance of mentors (supervisors) traveled to the territories for pre-project studies, met with local residents for participatory design sessions and worked out concepts for the development of cities and towns.
The main component of all projects was the creation of new points of social attraction and the disclosure of the natural and cultural potential of the region.
Slavic paganism and zoned space: what will be the "heart" of the city of Volosovo?
The team, which included undergraduates from the Department of Urban Planning of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture Alena Svoekoshinova, Savely Zagrebin and Vladislav Odinets, won in the category "The best solution for a city of 10 to 20 thousand inhabitants." Together with students of the Academy of Arts named after I. E. Repin Veronika Bratsikhina and Vitalia Grigorenko, they developed a concept for the improvement of the Veles park in Volosovo (the mentor was the architect and digital artist Evgraf Plotnikov).
The park with an area of 9.5 hectares is proud of its good location: there is a railway station, a bus station and several public transport stops nearby, a city library, a cinema are next to it, and the distance to all necessary infrastructure facilities does not exceed a kilometer. There are exercise machines, tennis tables and a volleyball court, a children's slide, a shop and an alley. In summer, the park hosts many events, including a festival of colors, a celebration of Slavic cultures, an exhibition of folk art and a sports marathon.
The general concept of the "Veles" park
However, a trip to Volosovo and a meeting with its residents for a joint design session also showed the shortcomings of the area. It turned out that young people lack comfortable sports areas, children lack landscaped playgrounds for outdoor games, and middle-aged and elderly people lack places for quiet rest. In addition, residents complained about the lack of litter bins on the territory, due to which the containers for collecting garbage remain overflowing, the impossibility of walking in the forest part of the park due to the untidy paths, monotonous vegetation, and also that there are no public toilets and dog runs. A separate issue was the lack of a single theme of the park.
According to Alena Svoekoshinova, the design session of the city was a vivid experience: residents actively shared their opinion on what the park should be like.
After analyzing the existing problems, the authors proposed to divide the park space into a children's play area, a recreation area, dog runs, sports and street art, as well as an animal feeding area, build a skate area and an obstacle course. In each of the zones, landscaping with different species of trees and shrubs is provided. Thanks to the equipped pedestrian and bicycle paths, students expect not only to separate the flow of visitors, but also to fix several separate routes: transit, forest, ring, sports, additional walking and zoo routes.
1. "Veles" park project. Visualization. Entrance zone, 2. "Veles" park project. Visualization. Rest zone
The design decision of the park is connected with the place identity: despite the fact that Volosovo has its official history since 1870, the first settlements appeared on these lands as early as the 6th–3rd millennium BC. They belong to the Neolithic Volosovo culture. There is a belief that the name "Volosovo" came from the sanctuary of the mythical god of the Ilmen Slavs Volos (Veles) – the patron of cattle breeding, which was located here in pagan times.
It is in the "Volosovo" style that it is planned to decorate all small architectural forms (art objects in the form of animals), as well as functional objects: the entrance group, wooden poles and signposts, benches, poles for feeding birds and squirrels, birdhouses made by residents, wooden benches. At the same time, the natural resources of the park will be used to the maximum in the improvement: forest swings will be placed between the growing trees, fallen trunks are used to create paths, and seats will be made from stumps.
“After the draw, we were a little confused, because we didn’t know anything about this city and its history,” says Alena Svoekoshinova, “but after studying the information, we realized the value of Volosovo and understood in which direction to work. And, of course, we had an amazing mentor, Evgraf Plotnikov, who was always in touch and helped. Our team wholeheartedly invested in this project to create the "heart" of the city."
The working process. "Komsomolsky park"
project team
Recreation and memory: revisiting the historical space of Shlisselburg
Students of the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design Maria Druzhinina, Anna Goldobina, Viktoria Pupentsova and Viktoria Piskunova came second in the same category with the concept of "Komsomolsky Park" in Shlisselburg (team mentors are Ekaterina Basai and Tatiana Dmitrieva, founders of Formanorma company).
The park with an area of 1.35 hectares is located at the entrance to the city between the Malaya Nevka duct and the Malonevsky Canal and is in disrepair: now there is no lighting, unsurfaced paths are in poor condition, and due to the difference in relief (during the Great Patriotic War, a bomb hit here) the area is flooded from time to time. Meanwhile, local residents and tourists use the park as a transit zone: a path to architectural monuments and infrastructure facilities of the city runs through it.
The authors decided to base their concept on the historical identity of the place, preserving the existing points of attraction and connecting two routes: transit and historical.
The park attracts visitors not only with its microclimate (due to its location, even in the heat it feels cool here), but also with historically important places: a monument to the victims of the occupation, where veterans gather annually, a funnel from a shell that fell into the ground and an old oak tree preserved from pre-war times. It is through these points that a path paved with red tiles will run, which, according to the plan, refers to the name of the park.
"Komsomolsky park" project. Visualization of the square near the monument to the victims of the occupation
On the way, the pedestrian will pass areas for quiet rest and a playground for schoolchildren, fenced off by bushes. Landscaping is also conceptual in nature: it is planned to set up a lilac garden in the smoothed out recess of the "funnel". The choice of plant is not accidental: lilac symbolizes victory. This place is a vivid example of the intersection of commemorative and recreational functions: walking in the park can not only feel the significance of the place, but also take a photo of flowering plants and enjoy the silence.
When developing the project, practical aspects were also taken into account: lamps and strip lighting will be installed in the park, as well as a drainage network will be laid, which will save it from flooding.
Revival of the Kuprin era: a creative cluster in Gatchina
Daria Barkeeva, Taisia Kiryanova, Polina Lizunova, Elizaveta Androsova and Andrey Polskikh, students of the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design, became the winners in the category “Best solution for a city of 40 to 90 thousand inhabitants” with the project of the "Gatchina Yard" park in Gatchina (mentor – Ksenia Ivantsova, architect of the Competence Center of the Leningrad Region).
At the draw, the group got a plot of 1.7 hectares in the very center of Gatchina. After examining its features, the authors came to the conclusion that the territory has great potential: there are many good viewpoints, it is easy to walk to the main architectural dominants (Gatchinsky and Priory palaces, Pavlovsky and Pokrovsky cathedrals, the Spartak stadium), and a lot of trees grow around – spherical willows, highly demanded in landscape design.
A survey of local residents showed that although they appreciate the advantages of the territory, they rarely spend more than a few minutes here. Among the reasons are the lack of lighting, due to which the citizens do not feel safe in the evening, the lack of a pedestrian crossing from one of the streets, the lack of places for recreation, public toilets and trash cans.
To clarify the needs of the citizens, the students talked to various local communities and found out that the students of a music school nearby would like to see a space for meeting with friends, their parents – a quiet corner for waiting, pensioners – benches and a green garden, guides – a landscaped viewing platform with photo zone, and artists - a creative cluster for exhibitions.
Every year Gatchina hosts the Kuprin Days festival dedicated to the writer and his contemporaries (Aleksandr Kuprin lived and worked in Gatchina from 1910 to 1919); this inspired the authors of the project to focus on the creative and recreational components and try to revive the atmosphere of the Kuprin era, when Gatchina was one of the centers of cultural and social life, where artists gathered. Therefore, students propose to place on the site an area for an open air, an outdoor cinema, a stage for the Kuprin festival and other holidays, a quiet area for relaxation – an amphitheater with perforations for trees, thanks to which most of the willows will be preserved. The entrance will be decorated with a unique object – a restored historical gate with a wicket.
The problem of navigation is proposed to be solved with the help of information stands and multi-colored tiles, which will pave the pedestrian paths and the road for the entrance of cars. Thanks to the barrier-free non-slip coating, the territory will become accessible for people with limited mobility.
1. The "Gatchinsky yard" project. Street cinema. Visualization
2. The "Gatchinsky yard" project. Open stage
The team representatives consider the hackathon to be a useful initiative for future professionals.
“It's an interesting and very intense experience where you immerse yourself in the process of creating a project for three weeks. We worked seven days a week, got together at every opportunity. I am participating in the tournament for the second year, last time our team took third place, and I am very happy that this year we were able to win,” says Daria Barkeeva.
The same opinion is shared by the organizers of the tournament. “This is a great opportunity, while still studying at a university, to get a strong implemented project in your portfolio,” says Anna Kintsurashvili, head of the project department of the Competence Center of the Leningrad Region.
In total, 21 SPbGASU students took part in the competition. In addition, our university was represented as jury members at the hackathon by postgraduate student and assistant of the Department of Urban Planning Sergey Lutchenko and Associate Professor of the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design Aleksandr Demin, and as mentors by Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Planning Svetlana Levoshko and assistant of the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design Olga Zhiltsova. Under their guidance, graduate students Natalia Avlasevich, Arina Russkikh, Daria Yaroslavtseva, Elizaveta Medushushskaya and Vasilisa Kalugina developed a project to improve the territory near the shopping center on Aviatsionnaya Street. in Volkhov. The concept was highly appreciated by local residents and the city administration. “The project was carried out professionally, brightly, the wishes of the Volkhovites were heard. I thank the developers and their mentors for the work done,” says Aleksei Britsun, head of the Volkhov district administration.
All competitive projects will be presented to residents, and they will choose a concept to be implemented using online voting. Implementation is scheduled for 2023. In addition, each nomination has a cash prize. The total prize fund of the hackathon is 630,000 rubles.
Text: Aleksandra Podolnikova
Photo: courtesy of Daria Barkeeva, Alena Svoekoshinova and the Competence Center of the Leningrad Region
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