Sergey Lutchenko: "The University gives opportunities for personal growth and self-fulfilment"

Sergey Lutchenko is a graduate of SPbGASU. In 2020, he took the post of the first Deputy Chairman of the regional Committee for Urban Development Policy – chief architect of the Leningrad Region. Sergey took the time to talk about the university teachers who had influenced him, about the benefits of creative competitions and programmes in the field of architecture and urban planning, which are implemented in the region.

– When did you decide to become an architect? 

– I chose this profession at an early age. I had studied in an art school in Kaliningrad, and nearby there was a college of construction and utilities with a focus on urban planning. Having finished the art school and the ninth grade in a comprehensive secondary school, I entered that technical college and studied there for five years.

– Did you decide to continue your education after graduating from college?

– I went with my father to Minsk, then to Moscow and Saint Petersburg to get acquainted with various architectural universities, and opted for SPbGASU (at that time it was called “LISI”). The St. Petersburg architectural school and LISI were ideal for me. Many interesting buildings in Kalinigrad that formed the image of the city were designed by architects who had received their education at LISI. Most graduates of the Kaliningrad construction college, where I had studied, applied to LISI. Some of them later achieved great success: Evgeny Kostromin, for instance, works as the chief architect of the Kaliningrad Region.

Entrance exams were not difficult for me thanks to the fact that I had graduated from a technical college with honours. I only had to pass an interview in the History of Architecture and to draw the capital of a column. I successfully passed the interview conducted by my future teacher, professor of the Department of Urban Planning Valery A. Nefedov, coped with the drawing, and a week later I already knew I was admitted.

– What are your memories of the studies here? Can you tell about the people, events and projects that influenced you the most?

– Communication with Valery Nefedov instilled in me a desire to go for something greater. He constantly motivated us to participate in various architectural contests; in addition to our term papers, we prepared projects for competitions. I remember my participation in such contests as "Neuhause", "Garden and Park Design. City and Flowers 2007”, “Your Home 2005”. Together with my groupmate Yaroslav Soldatenkov we proposed the design of an individual residential house, which won first place at “Your Home 2005”.

Andrey I. Prokhorenko, a friend of professor Valery Nefedov, taught us during our second year of studies. He was known to be preparing students for the workshop of Professor Nefedov. That year, I took part in a competition organized by KNAUF and won first place in the category “Best Project” with a country house design.

At that time, a system of accumulating points for academic disciplines and course projects was adopted, and after completing my fifth year I had the highest score among fellow students. So, Valery Nefedov recommended me for a student trip to Florence – to participate in a master class jointly with foreign students. We went there with my coursemate Ilya Filimonov, who is also a member of Russia’s Union of Architects now. It was a very interesting trip. The intention to show ourselves and present the architectural school of SPbGASU brought us many benefits. The university gave us opportunities for further development and self-fulfilment.

– How do you recollect your student years? 

– I keep very warm memories of being a student. For three years I lived in the student dormitory on Fontanka, and it was always a lot of fun. I remember well our third floor and the administrator of the dormitory. 

Since I entered SPbGASU after graduating from technical college, for the first two years I repeated the programme I had already studied. Professional interest appeared during the fifth or sixth year, when we started designing under the guidance of experienced specialists. I was a student of the Department of Urban Development and, in parallel with getting higher education, I began my professional career: I worked at the Research Institute “Spetsproektrestavratsiya” and in the workshop of Vladlen Lyavdansky. Together with my friend Yaroslav Soldatenkov we were engaged in 3D visualization, preparation of facades and perspectives of buildings and structures. Afterwards, we worked in the design studio of Alexey Levchuk: we designed apartments and developed the interiors for KIDO furniture stores and restaurants.

While studying at the Department of Urban Planning in the fifth year, it was necessary to do an internship according to our profile. Valery Nefedov told us: “Guys, you are urban planners after all. Let's find you worthy colleagues who will pass on their experience". This is how we got a placement at the ENKO Research and Design Institute for Spatial Planning, where we were supervised by highly qualified professional teachers – Ilya Maizel and Olga Krasovskaya. We immersed ourselves in spatial planning, master plans, urban design and layout ideas. And now I am in charge of the sector that deals with territorial planning in the Leningrad region.

– How did your career develop after graduation?

– I devoted about nine years to working at the ENKO Research and Design Institute for Spatial Planning. In 2014, I made up my mind about moving on towards something new. I wanted to see how urban planning concepts are implemented in practice. So, I decided to try myself as the chief architect in Volkhovsky district of the Leningrad region.

This was preceded by working on the master plan for the village of Staraya Ladoga. As the first capital of Ancient Russia, this place is fairly well-known both in our country and in the world. I was lucky to be entrusted with this job. At that time, I met the famous and respected archaeologist Anatoly Kirpichnikov. Working on the project in Staraya Ladoga helped me with further advancement up the career ladder: in 2018, the head of the Volkhovsky district administration Alexander Belitsky offered me the position of the deputy head for municipal property management, land relations and architecture. In 2019, I was offered to head the newly established state-owned institution "Urban Development of the Territories of the Leningrad Region". I headed this organization for a year and a half, and then received an offer to take the position of the first deputy head of the Committee for Urban Development Policy of the Leningrad Region – chief architect of the Leningrad Region.

– What are your top priorities in this position? 

– There are a lot of plans. Some of them are purely practical, while others relate to the development of the region’s urban planning policy. Now we are busy with determining boundaries of the forest and park area – the “green belt” of the Leningrad Region and the city of St. Petersburg. We are also preparing for the Architecture 2021 international festival, where we will showcase regional urban planning projects. I am also responsible for coordinating the town planning council of the Leningrad Region, supervising the departments of the Committee and the institution I had previously headed. I am in charge of the development and verification of territorial planning schemes, municipal master plans, land use and development rules and regional planning projects.

On behalf of the head of the Leningrad region Aleksandr Drozdenko and our supervisor, deputy chairman of the government of the Leningrad region Mikhail Moskvin, we are preparing changes to the regional legislation on including issues related to the architectural appearance of the regions’ settlements in the agenda of the town planning council. Now the regions of the Russian Federation are actively implementing the Comfort Environment Programme, and our region is no exception. As part of this programme, new spaces, parks and public areas are being created. We are discussing with our colleagues, chief architects from other regions, how to bring uniformity to the appearance of our cities and main streets, to make them look attractive, taking into account the integrated development of a comfortable environment. What façade colours and texture of materials should be chosen, what forms and volumes should be used? These are the questions we are trying to answer.

One of the tasks I set myself is to improve the work of the town planning council: in addition to deciding on master plans and layouts, the architectural appearance of the region’s significant municipalities should also be discussed. Besides district centres, these include historic settlements of regional significance. Ivangorod, Novaya Ladoga and Shlisselburg received this status last year. And Vyborg is recognized as a historical town of federal significance. The Leningrad Region’s Committee for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage is currently working on granting the status of historic settlements of federal significance to Gatchina and Staraya Ladoga.

– What are the main programmes in the field of architecture and urban planning that are implemented in the region?

– Comfortable Urban Environment is a programme that actively operates in the Leningrad Region. But even before this programme appeared, since 2016, the Committee, on behalf of the regional Governor, annually organized the competition "Architectural appearance of socially significant public spaces in settlements of the Leningrad region." In 2020, it was decided to change the format of this competition, and the Centre of Competencies was established in our region, which aims at developing urban environment within the framework of the Comfortable Urban Environment programme.

Together with the Chairman of the Committee Igor Kulakov, we proposed to the regional Governor to change the format of the annual competition for the best concept of spatial development of municipalities of the Leningrad Region, and make it closer to the core activities of the Committee to improve the quality of territorial planning, zoning and urban planning documentation. In addition to master plans and town layouts, a separate category is included – the concept of an integrated design code for a municipality. Recently I was on a business trip in Ivangorod. The town administration there has already started thinking on developing their design code. There is a general concept for the development of the town, it is associated with the joint transformation of Ivangorod and Narva. The Government of the Leningrad Region and the European Union are actively involved in the implementation of this concept..

The third category of the competition is related to the development of towns with a high tourist potential – it is the concept of forming a municipality’s tourist attraction centre. The purpose is to promote reconstruction, careful renovation of historic settlements and places of interest, which will contribute to the development of tourism.

✔ On behalf of the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Leningrad Region Mikhail Moskvin, we are preparing a competition related to the development of a tourist cluster in the village of Roshchino in Vyborgsky District. In 2018, during the FIFA World Cup, the training camp of the Croatian national team was located here. Croatian footballers lived at the Forest Rhapsody tourist camp, and played training matches in Roshchino. A wonderful stadium was built there, there is an area for a ski track, which can be converted for biathlon. It is also planned to build a sports school for gifted young football players.

Text: Elena Shulgina
Photos courtesy of Sergey Lutchenko

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