Are there many words combining both space and time? A quarter is one of such rare words: it means both a part of the city space and a period of the year. A regular city has parts bordered by four streets. For example, Chita is a city with an absolutely orthogonal historical center. This Utopian city was designed by Decembrists in the depth of Siberian ore-mines (120). The 130 Quarter in Irkutsk is irregular from its inception because of its triangular form. Located between two roads, the forked quarter was initially bordered by flows along the west-east axis – the main direction of the...
Interview with a member of the Expert Council of the Siberian Laboratory of Urbanistics: Sergei Martynov
The results of the XXIII International Festival Zodchestvo are presented. The exposition on the theme of the Festival “New industries. Positive practice of urban development” proposed solutions to such urgent problems as revitalization of Russian monocities, creation of comfortable spaces and integration of architects’ ideas and administrative requirements.
The article observes the peculiarities of the realized restoration of the Nizhegorodsky Kremlin Armory, a cultural heritage site of federal significance. The restoration concept was based on the principles of scientificity and authenticity. Its purpose was to retain the parameters and historical look of the Armory, as well as its aesthetic and historical value as much as possible, causing the least interference in the historical material of the site. The article demonstrates the appropriateness of restoration and all design decisions, which made it possible to reveal the historical and...
The exhibition of the Architectural School MARCH at the Festival ‘Zodchestvo 2015’ was devoted to the role of research in architectural education. Taking as an example the MARCH Master’s programme, the article features research, criticism and discussions as an effective tool of education and design. The exhibition included open lectures, workshops and discussions, where both students and visitors participated.
The article presents results of the review competition of children’s architectural and artistic creation of the XXIII International Festival “Zodchestvo”. The competition was initiated by Inga Abaeva, the head of “Start”, one of the most advanced children’s art schools in Moscow. Together with her colleagues, she has created the methods of formation of creative personalities by means of architecture and design. These methods are recognized not only in Russia, but also abroad.
The article presents the results of participation of the Design Department of Irkutsk National Research Technical University in the XXIVth International Review Competition of Graduation Works on Architecture and Design 2015 and in the International Competition of Scientific and Educational Literature. The Department submitted nine works. Eight of them received the 1st category diplomas of International Public Organization of Assistance to Architectural Education and a laureate diploma; one work was awarded with a 2nd category diploma.
Stanislav Grigoriev is one of the actively practicing architects of the 1960s generation. His biography and creative career, professional principles and the most famous realizations are presented.
The article tells about the master of Irkutsk architecture, S. M. Grigoriev’s collaborative work with young architects in the late 1970s – early 1980s, his tutorial activity and his creative credo.
The article features the meaning of the category “happiness” applied in the architectural theory. The author suggests a connection between a new explication of “happiness” in architecture and the categories “own place”, “close human relations” and “personal business” as well as the concepts of “the world”.
Contemporary urban concept asserts the need to create spaces for man. However, the idea of a "man" transformed radically from the moment of its appearance. The book by the famous Danish architect and consultant in urban design Jan Gehl, "Cities for people", is a key example to demonstrate the ambiguity of this position. The book focuses on the concept of "man", which was abandoned in modernism. And modernism is criticized by the author. But in reality, it is not about the return to the "man", but about designing "new man". Gehl describes a new urban ideology, in which his understanding...
The project director Alexei Kozmin speaks about the key principals that were used in the project for the territory in the historical center of Irkutsk: multifunctionality, harmony with man, permeability, careful attitude to history, etc.
The article reviews and analyses the concepts of toponymy, basing on the exchange of ideas between the members of the Toponymy Council and the Editorial Board of the journal. The names of the new urban entities of Irkutsk are proposed.
The author thinks that any discussion on the historical restoration of toponyms in Irkutsk is unpromising and offers to treat toponyms as a resource for vitalizing the city space. This could be a priority approach to the problems of city toponymy.
The article analyzes the discussion on restoration of historical names of public spaces in Irkutsk. It also reviews different approaches to the problem that appeared in the historical science and publicism. The author says about the necessity of a strictly historical approach to the toponymic restoration.
Several years ago a promenade appeared on the map of Irkutsk (or, rather, the 130 Quarter turned into a promenade). An atmosphere of friendly interest was created in the quarter. It started to attract myths and legends typical of the old Irkutsk. The modern city folklore relating to the quarter is a promising sign. As long as the city gives rise to the living legends, it is safe from depression.
The article describes the first plans of Chita, which served as the basis for the city development. It presents contribution to the city history made by the Decembrist Dmiry Zavalishin’s, who was the first author of the city development plan. Peculiarities of the quarter development of the realized city plan are also presented.
In everyday life quarters are often perceived as urban fragments divided according to peculiarities of the lifestyle (urbanship). Every variation of urbanship has a corresponding conception of happiness. Thus, only urbanistic decisions on a quarter scale can make citizens happier. City, regional and country scales are too big, and the variety of forms of urbanship (and corresponding visions of happiness) is too wide there to search for uniform ways of optimization of the city environment.
Social ideas of the 20th century, that had an impact on town-planning concepts, have lost their relevance. We have inherited huge urban territories built up in the form of microdistricts, which do not currently correspond to the idea of safe and decent life. Transition from building microdistricts to quarter site development has become the most radical change in the Russian urban policy. At the same time, there are certain problems of designing modern quarters both in the historical environment and in new territories. Unbuilt sites will likely house hybrids of microdistrict and quarter...
The article reveals a linear concentration of the trading function in the historical center of Irkutsk. It features historical prerequisites and continuation of the tradition in the post-Soviet period, given the conversion of plants and factories. The article analyses the current state and prospects of modernization of the trading axis with its transformation into a modern public space.
The article presents the key issues of the Concept of reconstruction of the 11 Irkutsk’s quarters adjacent to the Trading Axis. While remaining basic, the trading function should reduce its overwhelming domination to be in harmony with other functions of the city environment, which attract inhabitants and guests to the historical area of Irkutsk, that is culture, education, leisure, recreation, and housing.
The article tells about the poor condition of valuable old wooden housing in the central part of the historical settlement, the city of Irkutsk. The major part of this historical and cultural genetic pool has been ruthlessly demolished for reasons of predatory construction business in the last 25 years, being already in the list of cultural heritage. Various solutions of the problem are considered in the article.
The author of the article makes the case for establishing a museum of wooden architecture on the basis of one or several historical quarters in Irkutsk.
The existence of the 130 Quarter is viewed in the light of the tendencies and processes of the city life. The multifunctionality and architectural image of the territory serve as the basis for its attractiveness. These features are opposed to possible quality loss. The conditions for preservation of the architectural look of the Quarter are also reviewed.
The article analyzes the content and the results of the City Community Forum in Irkutsk. It describes the theoretical approaches to the activity of city communities, their principles, success factors and quality characteristics of the basic measures for promotion of city identity.
Including: Speech by the Expert Mark Meerovich, speech by the Expert Elena Grigoryeva
The article reviews the contest «Street furniture. Street design», which was held this summer by manufacturing company «PalpNord», International research laboratory of study and design of the urban environment «Urban Planning School» and the Union of Architects of Russia. The winners and their projects are also listed in the article.
The article presents the results of the International Closed Competition for an educational institution in a new format – the “Smart School” Complex in Irkutsk. The winner of the competition, CEBRA Company (Denmark), proposed an architectural concept for a ‘School Park’, which would unite architecture and landscape, while creating a unique space and inspiring students to respect the past, the present and the future. The key points of CEBRA’s architectural concept are given in the article.
The results of the first architectural plain-air Home Fest held from the 3rd to the 6th of September at the resort “The Warm Lakes on the Snezhnaya” (Slyudyansky District, Irkutsk region) are presented. The Festival was aimed at drawing attention to the nature and the relationship between man and nature. The principal requirement of the project was using the real landscape as the main artistic material and the object.
Taking as an example several works by Le Corbusier, the article reveals and analyses the principles of the spatial combinatorial theory used by the French master of modern architecture when creating an architectural form to evoke a strong emotional experience among consumers.
Together with ITMO University of St. Petersburg, the National Superior School of Architecture of Strasbourg (ENSAS) and the Faculty of Architecture of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) set up a Collaborative Urban Design Studio on the transformation of the southern industrial belt of St. Petersburg. The sustainable redevelopment of postindustrial landscapes into attractive urban districts through new programmatic and spatial possibilities taking into account the sense of place and the unique characteristics of St. Petersburg’s urban geography, the reuse of industrial structures...
This article, through words and pictures, tells the story of how and why a small piece of Japanese cultural heritage – a genuine Japanese garden – was established in the heart of Asia in Irkutsk through a partnership between two sister-universities and a long lasting friendship between Russo-Japanese communities in both countries. The first Japanese garden was created in the greenhouse of the Botanic Garden of Irkutsk State University in 2012 to provide a new cross-disciplinary ethnobotanical and cultural facility for students and the local public. The 35-sq.m garden (7m x 5 m) was...
Glass highrises have blown up the inner structure of historical centers in big cities and begin to radically influence on the existing urban structure. Today cities experience a new construction boom, which can be called a ‘glass revolution’. Here different social groups with different comprehension of order coexist. What some people perceive as chaos, decay, degradation, others consider as a norm and order on a different level. While wandering in the virtual world, individualists worry about laws and order of the virtual world. They are comfortable with the chaos of urban fabric. The...
The article is about a bright representative of the Siberian Modern, Leonid Alexandrovich Chernyshev, who made a great contribution to the development of Krasnoyarsk city architecture. On the initiative of the Board of the Krasnoyarsk regional organization of the Union of Architects of Russia the year 2015 in Krasnoyarsk was announced the Year of the Architect Chernyshev to commemorate his 140th anniversary. During the anniversary year several important events will be held to demonstrate the architect’s creative heritage both to architects and citizens.
The article is devoted to the Temple of Dormition of the Mother of God in Kalinino village (Nerchinsky District, Zabaikalsky Krai), the oldest stone building from Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean. The author questions the decision relating to conservation of the temple, the project of which does not eliminate the main cause of its destruction.