SPbGASU landscape architects have developed design of the Petrogradsky district "green frame"
The current demand for environmental friendliness requires that architects create holistic and continuous complexes of the natural environment that filter through cities and are harmoniously combined with transport and engineering infrastructure. The health and well-being of city residents depend on the availability and quality of such green frames. Teachers and students of SPbGASU are taking part in the creation of an experimental "green frame" of one of the districts of St. Petersburg.
Natalia Lazareva’s work. Planting scheme
On October 30, future landscape architects submitted their course projects at SPbGASU. In the context of distance learning, the event acquires particular importance, since it provides the authors with the opportunity to better evaluate the results of their work, to find out the opinion of teachers and other students.
The students have developed projects for the improvement of the Apple Orchard on Krestovsky Island and Ufimskaya Street with its garden squares. According to the academic supervisor, associate professor of the SPbGASU Department of Architectural Design Svetlana Danilova, the main goal of future landscape architects was to create elements a unified "green frame" of the Petrogradsky district of the Northern Capital.
Konstantin Alekseyev’s work. Fragments of work
“Previous concepts of, for example, the Aleksandrovsky Park design, which won the competition of the St. Petersburg Government in 2017, are still relevant and waiting for decisive action by the authorities. There are areas in the city with historical green spaces, the potential of which has not been yet revealed,” Svetlana Danilova believes.
✔ Ufimskaya Street is one of such areas. Located in the historical part of the city, it connects the existing garden squares and needs improvement. The students worked closely with urban activists who were genuinely concerned about the current environmental situation. First of all, the authors surveyed the territory and identified the needs of the people who live there. As a result, complex planning solutions were proposed, united by a distinct style of green spaces and small architectural forms.
Lower garden square, by Ekaterina Konovalova
Nadezhda Kerimova, Associate Professor of the Department of Architectural Design, acted as a consultant for projects aimed at restoring the ecosystem and creating a comfortable urban environment.
Agatha Kurik’s. Fragments of work
Student Natalia Lazareva has developed a concept for the improvement of garden squares with the account of the fact that bumblebees and other beneficial insects – plant pollinators – have disappeared from them. “The task seemed to me quite motivating. I have long wanted to develop a project that would take into account not only general design principles, but also environmental factors. Having carefully analyzed the surrounding buildings, functional content and existing landscaping, I developed a strategy for attracting insects to the square and green areas along the sidewalks,” she said.
In addition, Natalia Lazareva suggested using spatial compositions of small architectural forms, providing conditions for vertical gardening and shade in the summer, as well as layered tree planting along the streets, shielding residential buildings and sidewalks from noise and dust. According to the student, all this should create additional psychophysical comfort, improve the ecology, and give place to nature on city highways.
Landscape architecture student Konstantin Alekseyev transformed the gloomy environment of Ufimskaya Street, predominantly built up with industrial facilities, by developing a project for a “green corridor” with seating areas, and added geoplastics (artificial relief) to the squares to screen street noise.
The future architect Ekaterina Konovalova proposed creative ideas that form a modern urban environment with the account of the seasonality: modular amphitheaters, flower arrangements, etc.
Student Agatha Kurik sought to preserve the existing landscaping and increase the attractiveness of the space by highlighting different functional areas. To do this, she applied a modular approach: the use of individual beautification objects that can be created independently of each other. Such structures are distinguished by ease of maintenance and repair and the possibility of their flexible transformation.
Text: Tatyana Petrova
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