Sofia Romanova, editor-in-chief
Urban magazine / Courtesy of Urban magazine
In the December issue of URBAN magazine, we invite our readers to talk about social architecture. On the one hand, this term is clear and transparent, and on the other, it has many interpretations, depending on the vector of discussion. We live, work, study in buildings designed by architects and erected by builders, visit theaters and concert halls, move around the city, walk in parks. This is our world, common to everyone, so different, with different requirements for comfort and safety. It is the architect who has a unique opportunity to influence the urban community by creating a more perfect living environment.
The new issue of URBAN magazine opens with Andrei Chernikhov's material “City and Man: Compatibility Test”. The famous architect, first vice-president of IAAM reflects on how the face of the city is changing with new approaches to its social component and how in the 21st century it is possible to eliminate the conflict between the urban environment and its inhabitants.
Professor of Architecture at the University of Vienna Christoph Achammer runs one of the oldest architecture firms in Europe. The portfolio of the ATP architect engineers holding includes many social facilities: schools, kindergartens, nursing homes, clinics and university campuses, as well as residential complexes and public spaces. According to Professor Ahammer, stable and high-quality development of cities must be addressed by a wide range of specialists: architects, builders, engineers, designers, economists. This is the key to the success of modern urban planning.
Russian architects Maxim Atayants and Olga Bumagina, as well as our Italian colleagues Carlo Cappai, Maria Alessandra Segantini, Mario Cucinella, share their experience in the design and implementation of social infrastructure facilities on the pages of URBAN magazine.
Correspondents of URBAN magazine in Paris Anna Desch and Svetlana Amurskaya in their materials present the experience and history of the formation of social housing in France - from Napoleon to the present day.
A selection of the most interesting social architectural projects in Great Britain was prepared by our correspondent in London Elena Shchur. And landscape architect Elena Zaykova talks about modern boarding houses for older people in Spain, Germany and France.
Research in urban studies in this issue is presented by architect Laura Rudko in her interview with the author and director of the international Stadslab program Mark Glaudemans, professor of regional and urban strategies, dean of the master's program in architecture and urban studies at Fontis University in Tilburg (Netherlands).
Director of the Institute for Regional Studies and Urban Planning of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Doctor of Economics, Professor Irina Ilyina talks about the project to create a large medical and rehabilitation cluster on the territory of New Moscow. According to the author, the search for a key urban planning solution, which would also be commercially profitable, begins with a deep understanding of the potential of the territory and identification of the long-term and sustainable needs of the population.
About how to become a British architect and what the Royal Institute of British Architects is doing for this, Elena Shchur, a regular contributor to the magazine, learned from David Gloucester, Head of the RIBA Education Department.
We invite our readers to pick up the latest issue of URBAN magazine and find something new and interesting in it.
