Chelyabinsk hosted an awards ceremony for the II All-Russian Student Competition "Fountains of Russia." Students from the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering were among the winners. Joint teams from the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services took first place in the "Architecture and Construction" and "Water Architecture and Effects" categories.
The Ministry of Architecture of the Chelyabinsk Region proposed 15 actual sites within the region for the competition. Students developed projects that took into account the specific characteristics of these urban spaces.
"We supported this competition because we see practical value in it. A fountain is a complex engineering structure that requires a professional approach at every stage—from the initial concept to operation," noted Olga Nikitina, Minister of Architecture of the Chelyabinsk Region.
In the "Architecture and Construction" category, the winner was the "Atom of Life" pedestrian fountain, located in the square near the "Mercury" department store in the city of Trekhgorny, Chelyabinsk Region. The designers focused primarily on the architectural and urban planning concept for both the square and the fountain itself. The design team consisted of Veronika Shestoperova (third-year student, Faculty of Architecture) and Ekaterina Galuza and Evgeny Medvedev (both fourth-year students, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services).
In the "Water Architecture and Effects" nomination, within the "Recreational Fountain in a Green Area" category, the "Meander" project for the city of Kusa (Chelyabinsk Region) won first place. The winning team members are Ksenia Semenova (third-year student, Faculty of Architecture), Adelina Shlykova, and Ekaterina Bochkova (both fourth-year students, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services).
Both teams worked under the guidance of Roman Gurdin, a senior lecturer at the Department of Water Use and Environment.
The winning projects will be recommended to local self-government bodies for further implementation in Russian cities and rural settlements.
The competition was organized by the National Association of Water Supply and Sanitation and the Union of Russian Cities, with the informational support of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The project aims to advance architecture and the water sector, create a comfortable urban environment, support young architects, engineers, and designers, and implement the "Service Learning" module in higher education institutions.
We congratulate the winners from SPbGASU on their well-deserved awards and wish them continued professional success!
