In 1974, the King of the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan announced to the world that his country would no longer pursue rapid economic growth like all other nations. Instead, Bhutan would measure its success in terms of gross national happiness. However, the king did not explain how he was going to measure national happiness. Anyway, the initiative was welcomed, and today we see how the concept of happiness has moved from the spheres of poetry and philosophy to the sphere of real politics and economics. The flow of various studies on happiness is increasing. The project “World Happiness...
The connection between the work of the architect and the citizens’ happiness was discussed at a round table in the editorial office of the Project Baikal journal. Does the professional ethics of an architect and an urbanist include concern for the “amount of happiness” of the inhabitants of the city? What approaches and methods are used by architects to increase this amount? How can we be sure that we do not increase the amount of happiness of some groups of the population, while infringing on the “right to happiness” of other groups? Both young architects and experienced masters have...
The news announces the theme of the World Architecture Day and the winners of the International Architecture Competition for the European Parliament Building in Brussels and Kaira Looro 2022.
The article is devoted to the 23rd experimental design session of the International Baikal Winter University of Urban Planning Design. The teams presented the projects on connectivity of natural, recreational and public spaces in the cities on Baikal. The main experiment of the session is to increase the feasibility of the teams’ project solutions and ideas while maintaining the best traditions of the Winter University methodology by introducing a step-by-step approach to the session, as well as involving the expert team into the process. The session participants worked with four...
It is the first attempt to comprehensively study the professional activities of the Irkutsk architect K. V. Mital. The author follows typical features of life and artistic journey of a provincial architect during the change of historical epochs in the first third of the 20th century. The author reveals the specific features of adaptation of provincial architects to the new aesthetic aspirations of the time, their ability to reconsider their creative views on the basis of political and ideological factors. The article allows to expand the historical knowledge about the period of formation...
The perception of the city as a living organism raises the question of its symbiosis with citizens. Like any living organism, the city has its own needs and development goals, which must be consistent with the needs of its inhabitants. Theoretical psychology has formulated a hierarchy of needs. They develop from the simplest, universal for all living things, to the highest existential needs inherent in the most highly developed personalities. Most urban theories consider the city at the level of primary needs no higher than the second stage (the need for security). At present, attempts...
Architecture has not served consumption for millennia; the “functions” it fulfilled were rather nominal: it was not the function but the mission that prevailed. A mission to organize the afterlife. The fact that all cultures considered burial as a way to eternal and blissful life contributed little to the happiness of the living derived from architecture. The problem of organizing happiness is very “young” in architecture. And it still raises more questions than ready answers. However, this problem uncovers the layers of architectural consciousness and tradition which are difficult or...
The article discusses the impact of urban development and planning on the life and happiness of the population. The ratings of the best cities in the world in terms of quality of life and level of happiness are analyzed. Depending on the goals of urban planning, a happy city is defined by the following concepts: a “smart” city, a city of digital technologies, an eco-city. The criteria for classifying cities as “happy” are considered. A number of demographic and social indicators affecting the level of happiness of the urban population are formulated. The authors discuss the conceptual...
The article attempts to give a typology of existing university and interuniversity campuses. The authors conduct an interdisciplinary study and consider the object not only in the field of architecture and urban planning, but also in the field of urban sociology. The analysis of public opinion is presented as a method of identifying the expectations, needs of the academic community and citizens, which subsequently form the basis of the design specification, making it as realistic as possible and focused on improving the “quality of life” of Khabarovsk residents.
Creative self-expression is one of the highest forms of happiness. At least that’s what many authoritative sources claim. After the release of The Creative City by Charles Landry, the phrase became a trendy meme and a beacon for urban planners. It is believed that the opportunity for creativity can attract the most valuable, educated, efficient and productive residents to the city. How reasonable is this attitude to creativity? How realistic are the hopes for a ‘creative class’ (R. Florida) in the development of cities? Or is it a poetic myth, a dream of some ‘blue cities’ from an...
According to the humanitarian urbanistics, one of the most important indicators of the quality of life in a modern city is the level of happiness of its population. The article seeks to clarify the meaning of the relationship of the city and urban culture with the concept of happiness, with historical changes in the happiness images and their place in the contemporary practices of urban life. An attempt is made to analyze the mythopoetic discourse of happiness in the context of the city.
Creativity as a real stimulus for modern development responds to the challenges of time, contributes to the generation of innovative ideas and the creation of new products and environments. A creative city and creative environment, being immanent properties of the modern world, are the key strategies for the development of cities/territories/environments and manifestation of their authenticity, contribute to the formation of a new way of life, and serve as symbols of success. Creative clusters are actively used for the renovation and gentrification of degrading territories and...
The article reviews projects of reconstruction of historical monuments of industrial architecture, which were worked out in Moscow during the last two decades. By the example of presented projects, the author considers two approaches to the problem of their preservation: restorative and radically reconstructive. The first one is the most compliant with the Russian legislation in the field of heritage, while the second one is hotly debated. The author gives examples of radical reconstruction from foreign practices, which show competent and rational methods of this approach, making it...
The article considers a design solution for the spatial transformation of the city of Heidelberg, Weststadt district, using the method of synchronized typologies in the conditions of a former industrial area, as well as a proposal for a new production system for the area.
The author considers the reasons for degradation of the territory of Kedr distillery in Irkutsk and possibilities of preservation of the abandoned territory and transformation of a rare historical and town-planning industrial complex of the Baikal Region. The potential of the territory of the distillery and the Znamensky district is revealed through the formation of a single public centre for the development of creative industries in Irkutsk.
Being an integral and necessary element of buildings and structures, stairs is considered not from the common point of view of regulation and construction, but in the presumption of the existence independent of our will, as if we knew nothing about stairs and, first seeing them, began to master them with surprise and inspiration. It seems that such a view is capable of discovering the new in the familiar.
Modern Arab culture retains many living elements adopted from ancient, now extinct cultures. Using the example of the traditional musical instrument rabab, the connection of modern culture with the cultures of the distant past (starting from the Sumero-Akkadian period of Mesopotamia), as well as with other aspects of the traditional way of life, is shown. The relationship between the emotional and acoustic specifics of the sound of the rabab and the features of a traditional residential building in the Levant region, which are in demand in modern energy-saving housing construction,...
The authors tried to solve the general composition of the quarter and the internal organization of the multifunctional centre in harmony with the surroundings, as well as to realize the main idea: to build a new progressive building for young people in the capital of the Angara region, a centre for intellectual, professional and creative growth.
The dwelling interior is an essential component of everyday happiness. One of the most ancient and effective means to achieve psychological comfort in the house is easel interior painting. The process of creating interior paintings for two very different customers is considered through specific examples. It is shown that the final result should take into account both the personal characteristics of the person for whom the picture is intended and the ergonomic characteristics of the living space, its size, lighting, and so on.
The 14th Dalai Lama Lhamo Dondrub said that one can achieve happiness in two ways. The first way is external. By acquiring a better dwelling, better clothes, nicer friends, we can achieve happiness and satisfaction to a greater or lesser extent. The second way is the way of spiritual development...
But for the architect, spiritual development is inextricably linked to the dwelling, its arrangement and appearance. Probably, only the place where one is happy can be called home. At home even the walls help, my home is my fortress, there is no place like home... The dwelling that...
Mass housing architecture requires special consideration. Both in the historical perspective and in the present, the designer needs to be aware of the factors affecting the design process implicitly, beyond the will of the client and the design brief. These factors lend themselves to systematization, and the main of them are considered in a historical perspective as essential to the formation and existence of the basic types of mass housing.
On the example of modern development of multi-apartment residential complexes, the article studies the quality parameters of the living environment depending on the planning characteristics of the apartments, the number of rooms in the apartment and the percentage ratio of small-sized one-room apartments and studios in relation to multi-room apartments in the complex. Negative characteristics of the layout of apartments are identified on the basis of the POE (post-occupancy evaluation) concept. Taking into account the efficiency coefficient of apartments, the most optimal layout...
On the example of the manor created by Totan Kuzembaev in Latvia, the author develops an analysis of the categories and archetypes fundamental to architecture: space, style, border, substance, time and home. The understanding of the meaning of one’s home is synchronous with the understanding of oneself. In the context of the analysis, the author considers the concept of the border among settled and nomadic peoples, who today exist in close connection. Their metamorphoses are revealed in the understanding of the wall and window, the cult of Heaven, the images of Paradise and Utopia. The...
One of the former meanings of the Russian word “schastie” (“happiness”) was a portion, a share or a part, and it used to be pronounced as “so-chastie”. To be happy, it is not enough to have a warm house with candles lit on holidays or flames flickering in the fireplace. But such a house is a part of human existence, which constitutes brief moments of bliss. Fire has inhabited the human dwelling since time immemorial, but it has a dual nature. It can be good and evil. It illuminates, blesses and warms. The fire sparkling in fireworks creates an illusion of ascendency over the elements...
This article discusses the ecological principles of creating sustainable prototypes and models in order to define architectural and spatial features of territories allocated for low-rise residential buildings as the basis for the eco-development of suburban spaces. It also describes its stages, where the introduction of digital technologies can provide effective management of the development of territories from an urban and environmental point of view.
The article gives an overview of the sources, a description of the locations and a brief historical outline. The author considers an attempt to build a Russian colonial style and briefly analyses the projects of military engineers Gilsher, Dubitsky and Veselago. The final part is dedicated to the festive environmental design of Port Arthur.
The article examines the architecture of the first wooden fortress in the Amur region, which became a kind of outpost on the border with Manchuria. The author analyzes the planning structure of the fortress and its design features associated with the change of the first fort with palisades to a fortress with log walls, and then a timber-earth fortress surrounded by an earthen rampart. The article was written on the basis of a study of literature, archival materials and a field study conducted by the author at the site of the Albazin fort in 2009.
The article discusses the features of the formation of consular institutions on the basis of the principles laid down in the design of consular facilities in the UK and their succession by other countries. The study made it possible to identify the compositional and planning features of the sections of consular offices, which preferably adhered to a certain scheme in the planning structure that has developed in the countries of the representatives. When designing, preference was given to a complex of consular buildings located mainly in a dedicated fenced area with various functional...
The article reflects the interim results of a study carried out within the scientific project “Architects and Engineers of the Eastern Outskirts of Russia (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries)”. Unknown pages of the creative biography of the first professional architect of Transbaikalia, Lavrenty Ivanovich Ivanov, are considered. Brief historical information about the period of his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, as well as the main stages of the master's work as an architect of the Nerchinsk factories are given. The features of the industrial architecture of...