SPbGASU Architecture Students Presented Their Ideas at the ‘Trialogue with the City’

‘Trialogue with the City’ took place on April 17 at the ‘Crafts Chamber’ creative space in St. Petersburg. The event was organized by the SPbGASU Centre for the Development of a Comfortable Urban Environment and the administration of the Aptekarsky Island municipal district (part of the Petrogradsky District of St. Petersburg). The discussion on the urban environment was attended by Associate Professor Svetlana Danilova, Head of the Centre for the Development of a Comfortable Urban Environment at SPbGASU, and specialists representing industrial companies and a plant nursery involved in the urban improvements. Svetlana Danilova spoke about her successful experience of interaction with the municipalities of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, shared her experience of conceptual design and successful implementation of projects included in the register of best practices of the Russian Ministry of Construction.

An exhibition of SPbGASU student projects developed for the Petrogradsky District opened within the framework of the event.

Agata Kurik, a third-year student of the Faculty of Architecture, told about her landscaping project for Ufimskaya Street:

“Bees, bumblebees and other beneficial insects are dying in this part of the city. A green area on Ufimskaya Street is needed to create a comfortable environment for these insects, so that they can live peacefully next to humans. This street has a great potential for improvement, and we have designed a green corridor that will ensure the creation of a single green frame.”

Natalya Lazareva, another Architecture student of SPbGASU, has also worked on the greening design for Ufimskaya Street.

“Our purpose is to attract such insects as ladybugs, bumblebees, lacewings, ground beetles and butterflies with the help of landscaping. We programmed a green area that will be used by different groups of residents: old-age retired people, children, pet owners. We have also tried to make Ufimskaya Street convenient for pedestrians using it as a transit corridor,” told Natalya.

Svetlana Danilova summed up the results of the ‘Trialogue with the City’:

“This is a pilot event where SPbGASU students and the university’s Centre for the Development of a Comfortable Urban Environment interact with citizens, communities, and municipalities. At the exhibition, we showcase student works created at the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design over the past few years, as well as our projects carried out in the Leningrad Region and included in the register of best improvement practices of the Russian Ministry of Construction. Collaborative design is a modern format of interaction with the society, which allows students to acquire essential professional competencies, and become involved in creating new objects of the urban environment. We are grateful to the University and the Department for the support and setting up such an important platform as the Centre for the Development of a Comfortable Urban Environment”.

As the event was over, a landscaping campaign was launched, bringing together SPbGASU students of Architecture and volunteers, who will work on proposals for improving the urban environment of the Petrogradsky District to be presented and discussed during the next ‘Trialogue with the City’.

Stanislav Ristich, Deputy Head of the Aptekarsky Island municipality, is pleased with the Trialogue preliminary results:

“It is a strategically important event both for the municipality population and the authorities. We need the creative potential that SPbGASU students have. Using the mechanism offered by the Centre for the Development of a Comfortable Urban Environment, we can test ideas and give students specific cases for developing design proposals with further presenting them publicly and, upon receiving feedback from residents, making necessary changes. Then we hold a tender for the development of design estimates. After the final approval by the residents, the proposal will be put into practice.”

Text: Elena Shulgina
Photo: Sergey Klishis

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