SPbGASU students designed a suburban campus

St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering successfully combines educational and design activities. Students of the Department of Architectural Design majoring in the “Landscape Architecture” have developed design projects for a new university campus, which will be located in Krasnoye Selo near St. Petersburg.

✔ The authors of the projects were supposed to integrate infrastructure into the surrounding natural and cultural context; create a composition unified with landscape elements, and offer an motivating functional program. One of the main elements was to become a training and production site (training garden) for practical schooling.

The work was carried out by a group of teachers of the Department of Architectural Design (associate professor Nadezhda Kerimova; assistant professor Olga Ivanova; SPbGASU graduate consultant Veronika Bulusheva) under the general guidance associate professor Svetlana Danilova in collaboration with the SPbGASU design studio.

The creators of the project outlined the key aspects.

Svetlana Danilova, Associate Professor, Department of Design of the Architectural Environment:

A new area of training, 03.03.10 “Landscape architecture,” was opened not too long ago and has successfully passed the accreditation. Now, the second and third courses are studying under the new educational program. This area combines the knowledge and experience of specialists in the field of architecture and landscaping. Taking into account the specifics of the profession, the program included educational disciplines in botany, dendrology, chemistry, environment, the basics of agricultural engineering, phyto design, maintenance and protection of objects of landscape architecture, lighting design, landscape materials science, landscape construction, social interaction in the industry, and hydro ecology. Although landscape designer is a new profession, it already is extremely popular and promising. For students in this specialization, the new campus will provide for perfect conditions for field studies in direct contact with nature and for the formation of skills in working with "living green material". This will allow students to successfully instill a special culture of attitude to nature and the desire to develop a humane and creative environment around them.

Svetlana Bochkareva, SPbGASU Chief Architect:

The unique experience of creating a suburban university campus can serve as an example for many universities. Gradually, through the efforts of the staff of the design studio and with involvement of students from the "Landscape Architecture" educational program, a concept of further development and functional filling of the campus has been formed. This was the first attempt to realize how the educational unit for future landscape architects might look like made by second-year students of the "Landscape Architecture" specialization. I read the students' proposals with immense interest. I hope that our joint work with leaders and students in this area will continue. Thanks for the great ideas!

Natalia Lazareva, student:

Our task was to develop in Krasnoye Selo a unique campus for students of the landscape architecture specialization. The campus building combines several training workshops, a laboratory and an auditorium. A winter garden, a rock garden, flower gardens, a shady garden, arboretums, educational gardens, greenhouses are located on the design plot; this all should help students to successfully complete summer practical training.

Particular attention was paid to landscaping the site, which should allow students to study botany in practice. It was important to maintain a unified design code for SPbGASU when creating small architectural forms and other objects on campus. Thus, the functional program is executed not only at the account of the internal space of the building, but also based on the external environment.

Ekaterina Konovalova, student:

Pavel Ostapchuk, student:

While creating the concept of the new campus of SPbGASU, I tried to develop rooms full of light and air in which students could work in a comfortable and friendly environment.

Text: Svetlana Danilova

✔ Learn more about the Department of Architectural Design,  its teachers and design projects