The summer PB issue is a perfect time to talk about the relationship between nature, landscape, scenery and the artificial environment of the city.
The word ‘park’ originally had the meaning of ‘enclosed space’. Indeed, the structure of traditional parks includes a clear boundary with the urban environment. Such ‘protection’ is often necessary: it is able to protect parks from continuous development. For Irkutsk residents, many recreational facilities – the Academic Forest, the Kaiskaya Grove, and the Aviator Hydropark – remain a source of anxiety and concern being constantly...
The news section announces the theme of the World Architecture Day 2025, the appointment of the former President of the UIA Gaetan Siew as Ambassador of Mauritius to China, and also presents the winners of the Kaira Looro 2025 Competition.
The author draws attention to the novelty of Slavina’s approach, emphasizing the dialogue with the reader and the principle of rchitectural inheritance. Slavina examines the history of architecture in the context of Russian history, highlighting the role of individuals in culture and the importance of avoiding political interference in the development of architectural styles.
The article presents the exhibition in memory of Yu. P. Gnedovsky prepared by architects. It contains the following sections: projects, scientific work, graphics, and public activities.
The information contains an overview of the architectural universities that provided the students’ final works for theexhibition held during the RAACS General Meeting.
The monograph presents a model of the evolution of the principles of form making, as well as the changes in the basic concepts and categories of professional consciousness in architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The diversity of contradictory phenomena is shown as a result of the interaction between two polar architectural and artistic paradigms. The book is intended for art historians, architectural historians, and a wide range of readers.
The park is viewed as the result of a dialogue between man andnature and as a product of urbanization, like the city. Its nature isambivalent both in relation to the city and in relation to the natural elements, which makes it a tool for communication between nature and culture and a means of reconciliation between them. Currently, urban culture and lifestyle are shifting towards the city park, suburbia, and the idea of the garden city is becoming dominant in urban planning practice. The megastructure and the gardencity create a balanced system that serves as a model for...
The article considers the history of creation of the park “Yermakovo Field”, its volumetric and spatial plots, layout, and symbolic filling. Architectural objects, engineering structures (pedestrian bridges) and park sculptures are presented as elements of a single system. The author emphasizes the importance of the principle of multiple walking routes as a basis for the planning structure of the park. Sculptural memorial objects are presented as independent and dominant central accents in architectural structures. The thematic cluster of Yermak-Tobolsk-Siberia-Russia became the main for...
The implementation of the Water Landscape Park in Achinsk on the Chulym River began this season. In search of solutions, the authors cover the scale from the use of methodological and intuitive models to the scale of node design and architectural details. The basic guideline in the process of formation of the city as an organic sustainable mechanism is “man, their activities and their living environment as an integral part of the natural environment”.
The bachelor’s degree thesis “Reconstruction and adaptation of the former cadet corps for a secondary school in Irkutsk” was completed in 2022 on behalf of the Irkutsk regional organization of the Union of Architects of Russia. The main goal of the project was to preserve the cadet corps as an object of cultural heritage of regional importance.
Historical memory has been formed since the arrival of Russians in Siberia, because written memory appeared only from that period. Almost everything related to the ancient history of the region is not supported by sources. There is a historical memory of more ancient periods due to the fact that a sufficient number of ancient peoples live on the territory of the Irkutsk region. One of the most important problems is that historical toponyms should be recognized as an object of cultural heritage. This is a huge and most important topic, which implies an audit of the state of affairs and to...
In a series of notes, the author discourses upon the relationship between architecture, nature, landscape, scenery and the artificial environment of cities. Architecture is thought of as an extension of the landscape. In cities, nature loses its natural qualities, and, inthe form of parks and lawns, it falls into the category of organized amenities. The artificial environment of cities, which claims to bea second nature, is so far only a clumsy imitation of the natural environment. However, a human being does not feel comfortableeven in a man-made artificial environment.
The article examines the relationship and difference between two garden typologies, generally understood as spaces for mass recreation and entertainment, an alternative to everyday life in the metropolis. The first typology focuses on the sensual, tactile perception of natural forms, often of natural origin, associated with the Garden of Eden, as illustrated by Baroque artists. The second is defined by a predetermined scenario of an invented ritual (performance) and is therefore constructed based on socially accepted norms. The article proposes a concept of a New Eden – a post-industrial...
The article describes the ideas for the “Park-Theater” project in the city of Cheremkhovo, Irkutsk region, which won the All-Russian competition for the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment in 2022. The key idea of the concept is the revitalization of the central city park based on the cultural code of the city and the energy of local communities. The article presents a brief retrospective of the city, justifying the theme chosen for the concept, as well as the results of the implementation after two seasons of the park’s operation.
The concept of a business park with a seventy-year history, having been successfully implemented in different countries, has not lost its relevance today. The considered examples of world experience demonstrate the main approaches to the design of business parks in different periods and allow us to judge how the range of their functions expanded, how they adapted to the needs of society, reflecting the trends of modern urban planning and landscape architecture. Particular attention is paid to the park component of the object under study, the content of which is focused on the sustainable...
In the context of limited space, Japanese megacities are developing new forms of garden and park art. Micro-gardens are being revived in residential areas, preserving the philosophy of unity with nature. Rooftop gardens (on shopping malls and office buildings) are taking on new functions: recreation, branding, and agriculture. There is also a revival of historical garden types, as well as the continued relevance of dry gardens. Parks are evolving into multifunctional public spaces, such as landscape museums and unique eco-parks in wetlands, combining nature conservation, tourism, and...
Targeted transformation of urban territories and their aesthetic appearance have a positive impact on the surrounding environment, contributing to the overall improvement of the quality of life in the city. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the creation of urban spaces as a distinct area of architectural, artistic, and design practice. This study is dedicated to the development of a project concept for the renovation of a park in the city of Aktau, which has lost its social and aesthetic functions. The research methodology includes a pre-design analysis of the...
The formation of ‘green frames’ of cities in the 21st century has become an urgent topic for determining their future development from an environmentally-oriented perspective. However, the existing unsatisfactory ecological and hygienic conditions in cities are caused by a number of factors related to urbanization, such as high population density, large built-up areas, etc. These problems are primarily the result of architectural and urban planning decisions. This study analyzes the architectural and urban planning process in the design of recreational areas and identifies the challenges...
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the “diseases” of large cities with a long history were recognized as incurable. The garden city as a new type of settlement was seen as a way out of the current situation. The life “ins Grüne”, in the bosom of nature, had a special meaning of acceptance of simplicity as an aesthetic category, which affected the architecture of houses in numerous gardencities, where the entire range of stylistic trends of the early twentieth century was represented. For the customer, choosing an architect to build a house in a garden city meant demonstrating...
The article describes the center of Yoshkar-Ola with its unique, but sometimes problematic architectural appearance, which used to contribute to the development of tourism. In response to the urgent problems, the local business initiated a project called the Forest City. The concept is aimed at integrating the Mari identity and returning forest motifs to the urban environment. One of the key features of the project is an entrepreneurial model of the territory development.
Botanic gardens of the 21st century are being transformed from traditional repositories of plant biodiversity into strategically important park elements of eco-cities of the future, becoming multifunctional ecosystems that combine high-tech, social practices and anti-crisis functions, principles of the circular economy. They become factors in the urban environment as they contribute to overcoming environmental, climatic and social challenges. Of particular importance is their contribution to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals-2030, ensuring environmental safety,...
The article considers the phenomenon of the urban European garden and reveals its symbolic and socio-normative content,the interrelation of the social system, and the models of human interaction with the world and society in urban discourse. The author analyzes E. Howard’s socio-utopian concept of the garden city as a social movement, urban planning practice and a method of social reform. Based on the materials about the principles of creation, the history of development and the current situation of the Nizhny Novgorod garden city Krasny Prosveshchenets, the article reveals its...
The urban environment is a complexand multifaceted subject. Ourcollection of articles contains avariety of approaches and interpretationsof the concept of the environment, views on its necessary qualities and processes of its development and transformation. The materials intersect historical approaches based on medieval traditional attitudes to water in the countries of the Arab ‘arid belt’ and the influence of the latest media art technologies, issues of courtyard safety in Bahrain and Kazakhstan, environmental memorialsof Astana and marginal environments of the...
This study aims to identify and substantiate the interconnection between digital technologies and architectural and planning solutions as an integrated approach that meets the requirements of contemporary smart cities. In the context of the active transformation of Almaty’s urban environment, the search for effective methods to organize safe courtyard spaces is particularly relevant. As a result of a comparative analysis and a study of best practices in designing safe courtyard spaces in modern smart cities, a matrix for an integrated approach to safe courtyard organization has been...
At the beginning of the 21st century, examples of integration of cultural heritage objects into the spatial-planning structure of modern architectural-landscape complexes appear in Russia. An example of modern museification is the integration of newly identified cultural heritage objects into the structure of the museum complex in the city of Sevastopol, spatially interacting with the ‘floating architecture’ of deconstructivist architect W. D. Prix, the author of the museum complex. Museification is considered as a method of integrating cultural heritage objects into the structure of...
The flow of information that culture represents contains elements of enduring (invariant) value. One of such elements is the attitude to water formed by the cultures of the ‘arid belt’ in the Middle East, Central and East Asia. Globalisation threatens the loss of the tradition of water conservation and its replacement by wasteful overconsumption of water. In the Arab world, these processes areintensifying due to the growing population and uneven development of the countries in the region. The analysis of campaigns to promote a thrifty attitude to water in Jordan has shown their...
The article considers the connection of media art with the urbanenvironment based on the analysis of Russian and foreign projects. It is determined that media art objects affect urban space both in actual architectural and visual expression and through the representation of the cultural code of the place. The language oftraditional art in the media art is combined with modern trends in accordance with the polyphonism of postmodernism and media culture, which carries out dialogues in different time and cultural ranges.
The article explores the architecture of three significant memorial complexes in Kazakhstan, which have become symbols of regional identity and carriers of collective memory. The purpose of the study is to analyze the architectural solutions that shape the image and semantics of these objects. The methodology is based on a comprehensive analysis of literary sources and visual materials to examine the form, composition, and decorative design of key elements: monumental groups, steles, arches, staircases, and ritual platforms. The results demonstrate that a semantic approach allows for a...
This article presents an analysis of the marginalization of urban areas, which is considered as a multi-stage and complex procedure that has both socio-economic and socio-cultural significance for the life of the city. The purpose of the article is to determine the essential features and identify the features of the marginalization of urban space. The final part of the work emphasizes the importance of forming a strategic set of measures aimed at transforming marginalized areas, bringing them to the urban rhythm, and improving the general standard of living of the population.
The article analyzes the problems related to the processes ofmarginalization of spaces, objects, and relationships in the urbanenvironment. Using the example of Far Eastern cities and specific facilities, the authors consider the emerging social practices and strategies for overcoming marginalization, as well as the possibilities of their inclusion in the urban environment. The authors conclude that marginal spaces are not limited only to their negative significance, as they have sufficient potential to overcome marginalization and can create a new image of cities in the context...
The article presents the materials and results of the study conducted by the author with the support of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation “Methods of Integration of Historical Development Zones and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Objects in the Conditions of Development of Modern Cities in North-East China”. Brief historical information is provided regarding the process of formation of the planning structure of the city of Dalian and its central square – Zhongshan (Nikolaevskaya, Grand). The compositional, space-planning and stylistic features of historical and modern...
The articles in this section deal with such objects that preserve the memory of military traditions. Researchers of the FarEast once again bring us back to the topic of military towns and the architecture of the military department. And graduates of INRTU join the movement to protect barracks in Irkutsk from demolition and offer their own options for modern use of this building. Built in the early twentieth century, it was intended for a cadet school, and a few years ago it was unreasonably excluded from the ensemble of the military camp. Meanwhile, military buildings carry the...
In June 2025, a diploma project entitled “Preservation of part of the historical complex of buildings of the IVVAIU (Irkutsk Cadet Corps) with adaptation for a multifunctional cultural and educational centre for patriotic education of young people” was defendedwith honours at the INRTU Institute of Architecture, Construction and Design. The project was worked out by graduate student Sofia Mikailova (student of group RRb-20-1).
Written on the basis of materials identified in the collections ofthe Russian Scientific Library, the State Public Historical Libraryof Russia and the State Archives of the Russian Federation,the article presents the interim results of a study conductedwithin the framework of the Russian Science Foundation grant“Military Theme in the Architectural and Spatial Developmentof the Far East”. The authors provide a review of sources that reveal various aspects of garrison and barracks life in the 1900-1930s. Red Barracks, which are the main object of the study, are...
The article is devoted to the history of the creation of the defensive linear structure of the Amur basin (1906–1914). It was written on the basis of new materials discovered in the archives of the Russian State Archives of the Navy, the Russian State Archives of the Far East and the Russian State Military Historical Archive with the support of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation “Military Theme in the Architectural and Spatial Development of the Far East”. The article examines the prerequisites for the creation of the Amur River Flotilla (ARF), the leadership role of the...
The article presents the results of the first year of research conducted within the framework of the Russian Science Foundation grant “Military theme in the architectural and spatial development of the Far East”. The main part of the text is devoted to the organization of the Amur River Flotilla (ARF) base in the Osipovsky backwater near Khabarovsk (1908-1918). Using this particular case as an example, a number of issues related to the spatial and social hierarchy of military towns, the effectiveness of military construction commissions, the problems of finding high-quality building...
The article presents the results of the study conducted by the authors with the support of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Khabarovsk Territory. The article examines the professional activities of one of the graduates of the Leningrad School of Architecture Evgeniy Borisovich Serebryakov in the Far Eastern region. He worked as an engineer-architect in the military construction department of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) in the 1930s and left a significant mark on the architecture of the Far East and the city...
The study of the defensive fortifications of Ani founded by King Smbat II Bagratuni (977–989) is based on the results of studying medieval sources and searching for ways to reveal the architectural features of this monument of fortification architecture. Its image, developed by the ceremoniously presented lapidary building inscriptions, reliefs and inlaid images, by the khachkars inserted into the walls and crosses lined with polychrome masonry, reflected the concept of the royal capital city, the union of secular and spiritual authorities. The article comprehends the dynamics of the...
Recently there has been an increasing interest in the history of the Russian province, includ-ing the study of the architectural heritage of villages and hamlets, its quality, preservation and originality. Scientific research of the processes of formation of historical settlements of the Middle Priobie, identification of valuable architectural heritage and formation of a scientific database on the development of these settlements is an important task for the preservation and sustainable de-velopment of the historical and cultural environment of the Siberian region.
The author explores the history of creation of theater groups, the formation of theaters and the construction of theater buildings in small towns from the beginning of the 19th century to the present, as well as the nature of financing. The analysis of the history of theater construction and design practice in recent years has been carried out in terms of compliance with the standards of providing the population with theatrical and entertainment buildings. For the first time, attention was focused on the problem of financing the construction of theaters in small towns using examples of...
The article examines a preserved complex of English graphic works, which capture city panoramas and individual buildings in the Asian part of the Russian Empire. During the period under review, the visual arts of England showed interest in depicting traditional indigenous dwellings in this very large region, as well as the urban development and architectural activities of the Russian settlers. The main part of the graphic heritage is reproduced in the technique of engraving and represents samples of book graphics. A relatively small part of it was created as on-site drawings during...
The article attempts to consider the compositional characteristics of the architecture of the Old Believer churches in Yekaterinburg as one of the centers of the Old Believers in the context of the confrontation between the two branches of the Orthodox faith. The purpose of this article is to get acquainted with the practice of building cathedral-type temples by Moscow Old Believers, to determine how Moscow samples and standard projects influence the architecture of Old Believer temples in Yekaterinburg in the context of Russian construction legislation.