Siberian Federal University: An international conference of architects and urban planners starts at SibFU
On 11 November 2021, the City Fit for Life 4th International Conference started at the School of Architecture and Design of Siberian Federal University.
This is a traditional conference of the School of Architecture and Design. The main topic of discussion is the city and the person living in the city. This year the conference program includes more than 90 talks. The geography of the participants is wide: Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Vologda, Voronezh, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Oslo, and Yemen.
During the plenary session, the experts discussed the pain points of the architectural and urban planning areas. The head of the service for control in the field of urban planning activities of Krasnoyarsk Territory Konstantin Shumov noted the gap between science and practical urban planning. In his opinion, the task of the conference is to find a legal basis for the implementation of the conclusions of the participants, so that the results of their scientific works are used to their full extent.
He was supported by Tatiana Lisienko, chief urban planner of Krasnoyarskgrazhdanproekt, a territorial city-planning institute.
“I see graduating students, superbly trained students. Then I see documents on territorial development and I understand that their ideas will not be implemented. Then why are all the scientific research? Today they do not form the image of the city. Each city is an individual living creature that needs to be felt, thought out. You can’t just come up with zoning, you need to maintain the optimal balance of the city’s territories: how many residential areas and public areas should be, and how much we should leave for production areas that we can use as a resource. It is necessary to study the city from the point of view of functionality and reflect this in regulations,” stressed Ms. Lisienko.
How to make architecture not only aesthetically pleasing but also environmentally friendly is another challenge discussed at the conference. Aleksey Zhzhonykh, head of the Laboratory of Spatial Structures at the School of Civil Engineering and Construction, Siberian Federal University, presented a project of “zero-carbon house” – a low-carbon house-laboratory, on the basis of which it will be possible to hone modern technologies in construction. The implementation of the project will solve the problem of energy efficiency in creating low-carbon homes and cities.
“We want to create a living laboratory at SibFU, where it will be possible to conduct scientific research and train students. The energy efficiency of this house consists of the following areas: natural ventilation, autonomy and independence from artificial lighting in the daytime, the use of non-traditional renewable energy sources,” said Alexey. — “Today, up to 40% of all energy produced is consumed by the construction industry. We plan to reduce the environmental burden from the construction industry.”
A controversial topic of the role of the city for a person was raised. Eduard Kubensky, an architect from Yekaterinburg, director and editor-in-chief of TATLIN publishing house, critically approached the phenomenon of the city. He expressed the opinion that the city can solve the problems of mankind, but only the village can solve the problems of a person.
“It is always better where there is no city. Wherever we turn our professional eyes, we always see the layering of urban planning mistakes, and we try to redo it all, thereby making it worse and worse. An ideal space is not a city, but nature, why are we improving it? The best city is not the one with a lot of architecture. For me, it is a city-ruins, although it is not as comfortable as I would like. I have a dream to turn all cities into ruins,” said Eduard Kubensky.
The conference will run until 16 November. Representatives of services in the field of urban planning and protection of cultural heritage sites, representatives of universities and design institutes will consider the integration of art into the latest architecture, archaeological work in the urban environment, the use of virtual and augmented reality in architecture and design and many other topical issues.
The conference is organized by the School of Architecture and Design of Siberian Federal University and the Service for State Protection of Cultural Heritage of Krasnoyarsk Territory.