Aleksandra Polyanskaya and Anastasia Perlina, authors of the winning project "Kirovsk: the bank of the Neva behind the Mayak trade center"

The III Leningrad Region Architectural Competition for Landscaping among students of specialized universities was a triumph for SPbGASU students: two projects were recognized as winners and four were prize winners. A brilliant result is not only recognition in the profession and at the regional government level, but also a good chance to implement projects: the competition was held by the Leningrad Region Competence Center and the Committee for Housing and Public Utilities of the region with information support from the Committee for Urban Development Policy of the Leningrad Region. The final took place on 1 April.

Government members, experts, and teachers in the jury

At the initial stage of the competition, the participants chose the sites for design and nomination by lot. Then they surveyed the territories, listened to the preferences of local residents in order to make the areas not only beautiful and well-groomed, but also comfortable. And only then did they start designing. The finals of the competition included projects by students from our university in three nominations: "Large cities (up to 80 thousand residents)", "Medium cities (up to 40 thousand residents)" and "Small cities (up to 20 thousand residents)".

The participants presented their projects to an expert jury, which included Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Government for Construction and Housing and Utilities Evgeny Baranovsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Urban Development Policy – ​​Chief Architect of the Leningrad Region Sergey Lutchenko, President of the St Petersburg Union of Architects Vladimir Grigoriev, Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Government Vladimir Tsoi, Chairman of the Leningrad Region Committee for Housing and Utilities Egor Mishcheryakov, Director of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization “Competence Center of the Leningrad Region” Igor Yurin, Head of the SPbGASU Department of Landscape Architecture Aleksandr Demin, Associate Professor at the Department of Landscape Architecture Nadezhda Kerimova, and representatives of other universities.

A triumphant victory!

The mentors of our university teams were teachers of the Department of Landscape Architecture Daria Barkeeva and Elena Kutaliya.

In the nomination "Cities up to 20 thousand residents" the second place was taken by the project "Boksitogorsk: Cherry Orchard". It was worked on by Elizaveta Devyatykh (second year), Aleksandra Kutolkina (third year), Ekaterina Renzhina (fourth year), Lyubomila Spiridonova (second year) and Maria Zubova (second year).

The project "Syasstroy: territory on Kosmonavtov Street, 7" was awarded third place. It was completed by Daniil Sinyakov (second year), Polina Tambova (third year) and Polina Ryabova (third year).

The winner in the nomination "Cities with 20 to 40 thousand residents" was the project "Kirovsk: the bank of the Neva behind the "Mayak" trade center. Its authors: Anastasia Perlina (third year), Daria Antipina (third year), Maria Oshchepkova (first year master's student) and Aleksandra Polyanskaya (second year master's student).

The project "Kommunar: the territory along the river from the Izhora park "Quiet Harbor"" is in second place. It was developed by Elizaveta Kalashnikova (first-year master's student), Maria Shirokova (fifth year), Evgeniya Tereshchenko (fourth year), Ekaterina Romanova (fourth year) and Maria Baran (fourth year).

The winner in the nomination "Cities with 40 to 80 thousand residents" was the project "Sosnovy Bor: the territory along Solnechnaya Street, 14". Its authors: Aleksandr Khon (first year master's student), Artem Chernov (second year), Aleksandr Stulnikov (first year master's student), Arina Boyko (second year), Ekaterina Shumanskaya (first year master's student), Anastasia Kurakina (second year) and Nikolay Shavrygin (first year master's student).

The project “Vyborg: a park near school No. 6” by first-year master’s student Valeria Filimonova was awarded second place.

Identity and comfort according to the wishes of residents

The authors of the winning project “Sosnovy Bor: the territory along Solnechnaya Street, 14” tried to take into account the wishes of the residents of the house whose courtyard they were designing.

"Residents asked to preserve the existing landscaping as much as possible, increase the number of parking spaces and create separate recreation areas for the elderly and young people. During the inspection of the site, we noticed a large number of large stones. We integrated them into the quiet recreation area, creating a natural atmosphere and preserving the identity of the courtyard," the winners said.

The winners of the project "Kirovsk: the bank of the Neva behind the "Mayak" trade center" consider participation in the competition a very interesting and important experience, including in the process of project sessions and communication with residents.

"We had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in a fairly detailed design process in a short period of time, right down to finding out the prices for elements and landscaping work, in order to draw up an estimate. That is, we were not just creating some kind of image, but also working out possible implementation. The territory is notable for its relief, in connection with which we proposed interesting solutions, incorporating an amphitheater and various zones into it," the winners explained.

The winners' projects will be implemented next year

According to information posted on the VKontakte page of the Leningrad Region Administration, the works will be presented at the federal vote on the national project "Infrastructure for Life". The projects supported by residents will be implemented in 2026.

"The improvement projects were developed by students: they walked around the territories in nine cities and met with residents. The work was carried out jointly with architects, urbanists, specialists from the Competence Center and our committee, manufacturers of equipment and materials. We took into account everything: from communications and funding limits to trees, from the history of the cities to the predominant industry," said Egor Mishcheryakov, Chairman of the Committee for Housing and Public Utilities of the Leningrad Region.