The Saint Petersburg Restoration Week Tells About The SPbGASU Contribution To The Preservation Of Cultural Heritage

In early July, St Petersburg hosted its traditional Restoration Week, dedicated to Restorer's Day, celebrated on 1 July. The week's main event was the annual conference "Current Issues in the Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Heritage." This year, the theme was restoration as an economic sector: prospects, challenges, and solutions.

The events, held at the recently opened House of the Restorer on Liteiny Prospekt, were organized by the Committee for State Control, Use, and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Government of St Petersburg (KGIOP) and the Union of Restorers of St Petersburg.

The Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPbGASU) was represented at the events of the Restoration Week by: Head of the Department of Architectural and Urban-Planning Heritage, PhD of Architecture Nadezhda Akulova, Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural and Engineering Constructions (AEC), Deputy Dean for Research of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, PhD of Architecture Olga Pastukh and restorer of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, lecturer at the Department of AEC Olga Kryukova

At the round table “Restoration as a branch of the economy: prospects, tasks and ways to solve them” with the report “Continuity, complexity and level of personnel training for the restoration industry. Leningrad School of Restoration at St Petersburg State University of Civil Engineering" was presented by Nadezhda Akulova. She spoke about the training of specialists at SPbGASU for the development and preservation of the restoration industry, in particular, drawing the attention of colleagues to the new field of study opening in September - training of restoration engineers on the basis of university's Faculty of Civil Engineering.

"For the common cause of preserving cultural heritage sites, preserving our history and architecture, we need to unite and combine our professional knowledge and skills so that work is carried out systematically, in a coordinated manner, at the right time, and in all areas," says Nadezhda Akulova. She recalled that in March, within the framework of the VI National Conference "Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage", held at SPbGASU, an agreement on the creation of the Consortium "Preservation of Cultural Heritage" was signed, which already unites many educational organizations at the level of higher and secondary vocational Education, government agencies for the protection of cultural heritage sites, enterprises professionally engaged in restoration work, public organizations, etc. The goal of the consortium is to create a single center for interaction and communication in the field of restoration, linking science, education, and practice.

Olga Kryukova moderated the roundtable discussion "Conservation or Restoration: The Problem of Choosing Priorities in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage Sites."

Along with the discussion program, participants were given the opportunity to learn about the progress of restoration work at St Isaac's Cathedral and the Epiphany Cathedral on Gutuevsky Island, as well as participate in a cleanup day and a tour of the Smolensk Lutheran Cemetery. Olga Pastukh participated in these events.

The culmination of Restoration Week was a gala evening at the State Academic Chapel of St Petersburg. St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov traditionally recognized those who have made the greatest contribution to the development of the restoration industry.

Students from specialized educational institutions who demonstrated excellent academic achievement were also recognized at the awards ceremony. Among those awarded a commendation from the Union of Restorers of St Petersburg was Ulyana Gribova, a fifth-year student majoring in "Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage" at St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.