Urbanurban publishes a story by the authors of the 'Identity Detected' project, created as part of the Arrows workshop. The architects proposed a universal way of shaping the identity of any area in any city. All solutions are based on the principle of "soft urbanism", which allows you to change the surrounding space with minimal costs and restructuring. The conditions necessary for creating an identity, according to the project participants, are as follows: emotional attachment to a place, a feeling of comfort and a dynamic communication environment. Another article of the portal is devoted to improving life in Russian cities: about the Internet service DomDvorDorogi, which allows you to fill out and send an application to the necessary Internet reception for solving specific problems of housing and communal services.
Ilya Varlamov, one of the initiators of the City Projects, writes about the first results of work on transforming Moscow into a more comfortable city. He talks about how, for several days, volunteers conducted research in the Shchukino area and Tverskaya Street. Using Gehl Architects' methodology, the volunteers counted the number of pedestrians on the streets and studied their activities. The results of the work will soon be systematized and, on their basis, a brochure will be issued containing recommendations for improving the infrastructure of the studied areas.
Yekaterinburg magazine Berlogos also published material on the burning topic of urban improvement. It analyzes the current problems of Yekaterinburg: the lack of high-quality sidewalks and pedestrian zones, a sufficient number of benches and ballot boxes, a clear navigation system. The authors advocate for a culture of walking and offer solutions to several pressing urban problems.
And The Village portal continues to acquaint readers with foreign experience in improving the urban environment. The next article describes an experiment in San Francisco to create parks in parking lots and unused sections of roads, which began in 2005. After the first success, enterprising citizens, city institutions and sponsors continued what they started and within a few years more than twenty "green islands" were created.
Continuing the important and popular topic of urban planning and urban improvement, the Friends of Zaryadye project publishes video clips of all the lectures organized by its participants within the framework of the Arch of Moscow: 10 lectures by foreign architects and urbanists plus a video of the expert meeting held there. Together, these materials make up a representative and interesting collection of opinions of experts from different countries on the prospects for the development of cities in general and Moscow in particular.
Marina Khrustaleva accurately and wittily analyzes in her blog on Snob the tenders announced by the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage for tours of the capital. She writes both about the amount of contracts (for the year rates increased from two to 23 million rubles), about the winner (Vega LLC regularly becomes it, which used to sell tea), and about the requirements for the number of excursions that have become unrealistic: according to the last tender for 23 million rubles, the performer must conduct 23 excursions daily for 18 weeks in August to December. Etc. “There are several dozen specialists in the history and architecture of the capital in Moscow,” writes Marina Khrustaleva, “… do you think any of them were invited to participate in the mentioned tenders? Or, moreover, was he able to win? Of course no . Indeed, in the conditions of tenders, not only are the mandatory security for the application and the execution of the contract, implying very impressive amounts, but also tight deadlines are set for the preparation of excursions.
The ERA group talks about the action held in St. Petersburg on July 17. Residents of the Moskovsko-Yamskaya Sloboda and city rights defenders protested against the project for the reconstruction of the quarter, which provides for the demolition of three historic buildings. The protesters handed over to the governor a petition demanding to cancel the project.
The struggle for the architectural heritage continues in Tver as well. The Tverskiye Vvody blog publishes a story about the destruction of the historical buildings on the Tvertsa embankment and wonders why the owner of the 18th century mansion, who destroyed the building, received only an order and no fine.
In the community "Cities and Areas of Russia" blogger oldcolor invites you to take a virtual walk around present-day Suzdal, offering to compare it with the city of 100 years ago, captured in the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky. Alienordis tells about the unique temple architecture of the 17th century in Yaroslavl. And Mikhail Korobko writes about the church in Varvarin, which contains elements of the Naryshkin style that was emerging at that time. Arkhnadzor asks what the consequences of the construction, which began in May this year near the Kutafya tower, may be, and publishes a study by the architect-restorer A. V. Vorobyov's "Reconstruction of the Kutafya Tower", published in 1980.
In addition, the blog "Soviet Architecture" contains the first two articles of the cycle about the buildings of the avant-garde architecture of 1920-30. on the territory of Eastern Belarus. The first article is devoted to public buildings, the second to residential ones.
