Vera Gorn, the competition winner
On 9 February, the winners of the student competition "Eco-Solution for the Metropolis" were awarded in the exhibition hall of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture. The competition and awards ceremony were organized by JSC Pervy Spetstrans. The event was overseen by the company's communications specialist Olga Baranova.
The competition was announced in September 2025 in collaboration with the Committee for Nature Management, Environmental Protection, and Environmental Safety of Saint Petersburg. Its main goal was to develop an environmentally friendly approach to urban design and find new solutions for using recycled materials in small architectural forms.
Over the course of three months, SPbGASU students developed designs for small architectural forms—urban features adapted for production using polymer-sand composite, a material manufactured by JSC Pervy Spetstrans from recycled plastic and sand. Twenty student projects participated in the competition, and an expert jury evaluated them based on conceptual quality, technical solutions, aesthetics, and functionality.
Opening the awards ceremony, the organizer representatives emphasized the importance of changing attitudes toward waste: "We really want waste to be not a problem for Saint Petersburg residents, but a solution and a resource, so that it can be transformed into something new and given a second life."
Andrey Surovenkov, Acting Dean and Head of the SPbGASU Department of Architectural Design, noted the university's role in such projects: "The university's mission is particularly clearly demonstrated in such competitions, where we become a point of contact between students, the city, and businesses, and as a result of this interaction, something new, interesting, and truly in-demand emerges."
The projects' practical application was also assessed by relevant city agencies. Natalia Bobyleva, Head of the Department of Environmental Education and External Relations at the St Petersburg Committee for Nature Management, emphasized the importance of the participants' environmental thinking: "We were very pleased with the projects that considered the possibility of locating facilities in natural and specially protected areas. It's inspiring that you're feeling about this already at the design stage."
Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Improvement of St Petersburg Aleksey Darichev added:
"I sincerely hope that some of the projects presented will be implemented and will improve the city's space, including as part of the national project to create a comfortable urban environment."
The jury distributed the prizes as follows:
- first place – Vera Gorn;
- second place – Elizaveta Kasparyants and Sofia Chistyakova;
- third place – Sofia Trebis, Sofia Sorokina, Daria Lubenets and Ksenia Tananykina.
The first-place project, "Eco-solution for the metropolis: collecting caps we collect the city," is a modular urban bench assembled from honeycomb-shaped blocks. The geometry of the structure is inspired by natural structures and symbolizes sustainability, interaction, and circularity. Each module is made from recycled plastic obtained from household waste, including plastic bottle caps.
The modules can be freely combined, allowing the bench's shape and configuration to be adapted to various urban spaces and usage ways. A transparent container for collecting plastic bottle caps is located next to the bench, clearly demonstrating the closed-loop recycling process. Thus, the object becomes not only a place of rest but also a visual manifestation of responsible consumption.
Vera Gorn emphasized: "The bench's modularity allows it to be adapted to any space, making it flexible and functional for the urban environment, and also engaging people in a dialogue about conscious consumption."
On the day of the results announcement, an exhibition of competition entries opened at SPbGASU. It is open for students and university guests.
