The conference opening
On 24 March, SPbGASU has opened the V National (All-Russian) Scientific and Practical Conference with International Participation “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage” (RRAH-2025).
The partners of the conference are the Government of St Petersburg, the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of St Petersburg, the Non-Commercial Partnership “Russian Association of Restorers (Rosregionrestavratsiya)” along with the companies “Friedlander Paints”, REMMERS LLC and RUNIT LLC.
Nadezhda Akulova, member of the conference organizing committee, Associate Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Architectural and Urban-Planning Heritage, reported that these conferences have been held at our university for more than 10 years. For the last five years, they have been held with international participation and are called "Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage", which corresponds to the official names of the federal state educational standards, according to which specialists in the restoration industry are trained. Professionals from St Petersburg, Moscow, Baku, Tashkent, Kazan, Vladivostok, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Pskov, Vladimir, Tomsk, Astrakhan, Karelia, Irkutsk, Crimea and many other cities and regions of Russia and abroad have participated in the conferences.
"I am glad to see specialists of various restoration specialties, representatives of state protection agencies, restoration architects, restoration process managers, restoration work producers, managers of restoration materials organizations and managers who train personnel at the level of higher and secondary education. Such symbiosis has a beneficial effect on the preservation of our restoration industry," said Nadezhda Akulova.
At the plenary session on 25 March, Svetlana Golovina, SPbGASU First Vice-Rector, addressed the participants with a greeting. Svetlana Gennadyevna outlined a wide range of topical issues that would be at the center of discussion for five days: monumental restoration, engineering aspects of restoration, construction restoration materials, preservation of cultural heritage sites, as well as training of specialists - both in basic and additional professional programs, retraining and advanced training programs.
Andrey Ermakov, Head of the Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the Northwestern Federal District, shared his point of view that restoration is a branch of culture, and the preservation of cultural heritage sites is a necessary component of self-identity.
Vladimir Tsoi, Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Government and Chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, made a welcoming video address. Vladimir Olegovich wished the conference participants fruitful work and close introduction to the monuments of the Leningrad Region and St Petersburg.
The welcoming message from Aleksey Mikhailov, Chairman of KGIOP, was read by Yulia Bogacheva, Deputy Chairman of the Committee. Aleksey Vladimirovich noted the high level of involvement of SPbGASU in current issues of urban development and adaptation of cultural heritage sites and the importance of exchanging practical experience.
Tatiana Chernyaeva, Chairperson of the Russian Association of Restorers, Acting Director of the State Autonomous Cultural Institution of the Leningrad Region "International Restoration Center", emphasized the need to involve the scientific community in the development of legislative initiatives. Events such as the conference are necessary to develop a common consolidated opinion and promote it to the state level.
Sergey Semenov, Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Urban Planning, expressed confidence that at least two thousand architect-restorers need to be graduated annually for St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, and another thousand for the rest of the North-West. Sergey Vladimirovich also reminded that the professional standard "Architect-restorer" expires in 2028, and it is time to start preparing its new version.
Ekaterina Vozniak, Dean of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture, called colleagues from Russian universities and representatives of the professional community for cooperation.
Rufat Guliyev, a practicing architect and lecturer at the Department of Restoration of Architectural Monuments of the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, shared his joy that he could not only participate in the conference, but also admire the unique beauty of St Petersburg.
Mikhail Mamoshin, chief architect and project manager of OOO Architectural Workshop Mamoshin, called for not differentiating between restoration, reconstruction and new construction. In his opinion, this is a single process, and graduates of architectural specialties need to have restoration skills.
The conference will last until 28 March. The program includes sections, round tables, master classes, and excursions.
