On 15 April, SPbGASU has started a series of events within the framework of the traditional All-Russian creative forum “Architectural Seasons”.

On the first day of the forum, an exhibition of student works that passed the qualifying round of the architectural competition was opened. To recall, the competition accepted works completed as part of course projects and the curriculum of bachelor's and first-year master's students over the past year. A total of six hundred entries were received. First, they were evaluated by students and two hundred of the best were chosen for the exhibition. Until 21 April, everyone can vote for their favorite work online on the Architectural Seasons website. They will then be evaluated by teachers, after which invited experts will determine the winners.

Opening the exhibition, the dean of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture Ekaterina Vozniak emphasized that this year, as part of the forum, a pilot competitive project has been launched that will unite students from all faculties.

“An architect works closely with engineers and designers, so we decided to organize a competition of joint projects. It involves teams of students studying in various specialties in the construction industry. The teams will have to construct a monument from waste material to a country that will be determined by lot,” said Ekaterina Vozniak.

In addition, architectural debates took place as part of the forum. A fourth-year student at the Faculty of Architecture and co-organizer of the debate, Artem Fazylov, clarified that the most pressing problems of modern architecture were brought up for discussion.

“The debates are aimed at increasing students’ interest in a more detailed study of architecture, since during the discussion it is possible to notice those points that were previously ignored or mistakenly considered insignificant. All this expands the worldview and professional competencies,” explained Artem.

• Four teams took part in the debate. Participants exchanged opinions on architectural design issues, and the audience asked questions and voted for their favorite presentations. In particular, there was an active discussion about the division of elite areas and economy class areas. In addition, the thesis “the environment shapes the architecture, and not the other way around” caused widespread discussion.

Fourth-year student of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture, Gasan Abasov, noted that he took part in the debate because he was interested in the stated topics. “Debates are an effective platform for discussions, where you can voice your thoughts and get feedback, find out how close your views are to others. During the discussions, I became convinced of the correctness of my beliefs, as I met like-minded people not only among my teammates, but also among spectators,” he said.