topics of the issues for 2026

Dear authors of Project Baikal,

We are announcing the topics of the issues of the year 2026.

Project Baikal 1-87 RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES

Like many construction and architecture terms, the expression "residential complex" can take on many meanings. It can be one apartment building or many buildings, it can include all the necessary elements of urban infrastructure, or only a part of such elements, its territory can be closed or open, and so on. The main idea of the residential complex is to collect everything necessary for the daily life of people in a compact and self–sufficient urban unit.

Project Baikal 2-88 LOCAL CULTURES

The word "local" obviously demonstrates its relationship with the "locus", it means linking to a specific place and to this particular "genius loci" of this place.

For almost the entire twentieth century, the leading trend in the development of architecture was international styles – Art Nouveau and modernism. With the advent of the new millennium, interest returned to architectural styles (and cultures in general), growing out of the history, geography, geology and climate of a particular place, to local cultures and styles.

Project Baikal 3-89 NETWORKS

 The current stage of technology development can generally be called a network one. Networks become the main element, carrier and main operating principle of any technology.

The third issue of the Baikal Project invites you to discuss the topic of networks in all the many aspects of this phenomenon: engineering networks and city life, energy facilities, logistics and industrial sites, information networks, marketplaces and their impact on the city, etc.

Project Baikal 4-90 IMPACT

The fourth issue of PB offers for discussion the topic of IMPACT in all its many dimensions – the influence of cultural heritage on modernity, the interaction of West and East, South and North, the penetration of ideas from the humanities and natural sciences into the practice of architectural design, the impact of new artificial intelligence technologies on the content of the architectural profession and any others that are possible within this topic.

While the priority remains for the main topic of the issue, submissions are also accepted to permanent sections — URBAN, HERITAGE, EDUCATION, etc.

 Sincerely,

the PB team and Elena Grigorieva