Student Energy

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

Another ARHproject competition has ended in St. Petersburg: the CDS group has held it for the fourth time, this year - together with the Project Baltia magazine. The editor-in-chief of the magazine Vladimir Frolov introduced innovations: the competition was held in two stages, the students of the second round could finalize their projects under the guidance of mentors - architects who had already earned the name, and in addition, everyone was waiting for an exhibition at the Sevkabel Port, with a Finnish guest and a northern disco.

The theme of the competition sounded like “Inside and Outside”, there were three nominations to choose from: participants could design the facade of a kindergarten, come up with an improvement of the yard or the interior of a typical apartment. The terms of reference were tied to the existing residential complex, which was designed by the CDS Group, additionally the participants were motivated by mentors who read several lectures during the competition.

Out of 213 applications, the 30 best were selected - ten for each nomination - and shown at an open for all exhibition in Sevkabel Porto, where everything works for the aesthetics of the student, as not yet fully formed, slightly hungry, but striving to the bright distance. The second floor of the Cable Shop is an incompletely "combed" space, with a concrete floor and unwashed windows overlooking the bay, crane beams, sand and barrels, sounds of repairs. The factory spirit has not yet completely left this place, but a new generation has already come and is assimilated.

In a huge space that is not so easy to fill, rails with tablets looked a little lonely, supported their installations, which were prepared by mentors, recalling, probably, their own beginning of the path. First, the visitor sees strict "reports" with plans and explanatory texts, and behind them: all the student romance, also part of the workflow.

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1/6 Evgeny Reshetov, Tatiana Sinelnikova, "Picnic table on the embankment", 2016. Exhibition of the competition "ARHproject-2019", "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova
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2/6 Vyacheslav Khomutov, "Divan", 2007. Exhibition of the competition "ARHproject-2019", "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova
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3/6 Stepan Lipgart, from the series "Panticapaeum morning", 2015. Exhibition of the competition "ARHproject-2019", "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova
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4/6 Andrey Lyublinsky, “Untitled (red people)”. Exhibition of the competition "ARHproject-2019", "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova
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5/6 Exhibition of the competition "ARHproject-2019", "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova
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6/6 "Sevkabel port" photo by Alena Kuznetsova

It all starts with a picnic table from the RHIZOME bureau, which conveniently houses a bottle of rose (after all, today's students are a little different). Next is the sofa of Vyacheslav Khomutov, as if made of pallets, but elegant, from which in this context there are a lot of meanings at once: is it a symbol of free time, which gives a wider overview, or a close student party with conversations, or maybe a psychotherapist's couch, where are you do you formulate and define yourself? Stepan Lipgart, who seems to always be young, showed his unearthly paper architecture, instructing: do not hold back dreams and experiments. Sergei Padalko - poems, where without them in his youth. And in the "booth" "Needles" - empty. If they left at least a tag with a signature, one would think that it should be so - "no coursework, I forgot the record book." But apparently, they did not have time - this can also be done - leaving time for something more important. It was not just that they were the ones who improved the Sevkabel, received ArchiWood and reached the final of the ArchDaily award.

Well, the winners of the competition now undergo paid internships in the CDS group, the Grand Prix winner - to go to the XVII Venice Architecture Biennale. You can see the work of all participants here, below we present the finalists.

The Grand Prix

Inflatable architecture

Daria Erofeeva, TSUACE

Mentor: Stepan Lipgart

Daria's application took part in the Ornament and Plane nomination. Nature and technology in her project are considered in the context of the unity of opposites. The "inflated" membrane structure is a symbiosis of the artificial and the natural: it is a durable, UV-resistant, safe and environmentally friendly polymer that is completely recyclable. Its light weight does not require high transportation and processing costs, which minimizes its carbon footprint. Polyurethane impregnation protects the building from moisture and wind, and also repels dirt. After working with a mentor, Daria endowed the facade with another function: children can use its niches for games.

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1/3 "Inflatable" architecture © Daria Erofeeva. Mentor Stepan Lipgart
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2/3 "Inflatable" architecture © Daria Erofeeva. Mentor Stepan Lipgart
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3/3 "Inflatable" architecture © Daria Erofeeva. Mentor Stepan Lipgart

Ornament and plane

1st place: Fairy forest

Inna Klimenko and Ilya Churkin, Moscow Architectural Institute, MGSU

Mentor: Stepan Lipgart

Kindergarten is the first institution where a child gets a difficult experience of socialization, which is further complicated by separation from his parents. The participants were given a creative task: to come up with a new facade for a kindergarten for 295 pupils, using an expressive architectural language to endow it with the signs of a “good genius”, which could help children adapt more easily to a new stage of life. A total of 56 projects participated in the nomination.

The winners took the image of a fairy forest as a basis. In this forest there is a mysterious fog, tall trees, magic birds glowing in the dark. To achieve similar effects, facing bricks with a gradient pattern of masonry, wooden panels from glued laminated lumber, as well as street lighting with shades in the form of birds are used in the facade decoration. All this creates a friendly image of the building, without significant changes in geometry and with the preservation of space-planning solutions.

Courtyard function

1st place: Julia Gospodinova and Anna Maleva, SPbGASU

Mentor: Andrey Lublinsky

The courtyard is a public territory, which residents of the quarter should at the same time perceive as “theirs”. The participants had to think about the improvement of a semi-private courtyard, as well as develop a small architectural form: recognizable, easy to implement, with the potential for reuse. 74 projects participated in the nomination.

The composition of the winners is based on a single module that forms functional zones that are differentiated using different levels of heights. The main pedestrian axle connects the entrances to the courtyard and links the modules into a coherent system. The same task is performed by metal frames - a distinctive element of the landscaping, which complements the yard space and interacts with the facade solution of the residential complex.

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1/8 1st place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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2/8 1st place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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3/8 I place in the category "Functions of the yard" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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4/8 I place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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5/8 I place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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6/8 I place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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7/8 I place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky
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8/8 I place in the category "Court functions" © Anna Maleva and Yulia Gospodinova. Mentor Andrey Lublinsky

Habitat

1st place: Bright interior for bright personalities

Bodyak Alina and Agekyan Artem, SPGASU

Mentor: Vyacheslav Khomutov

The participants had to choose a typical apartment - from a studio to a four-room apartment - to come up with heroes-residents for it, and then find an aesthetic and planning solution for the space. An apartment is viewed as a circulation element that can reflect a person's individuality just with the help of interior solutions.

The winners came up with an interior design for a young family with a four-year-old daughter. A woman is a furniture designer who loves bright and bold solutions, a man is an aspiring entrepreneur who fully supports the ideas of a talented wife. The daughter was brought up with love for nature.

Coral color combined with other bright colors and terrazzo helps to keep the mood even in the dimmest gray days of St. Petersburg. Oak parquet, white and black tones in the furniture details balance the palette. With the help of built-in storage systems, combining functional areas and specially designed partitions, the authors of the project tried to rationally use every square meter. All rooms are decorated with the theme of "Memphis", which made it possible to achieve the integrity of the composition.

Special mention

Taking inspiration from nature

Petr Platonov, VSTU

Mentor: Sergey Padalko

The facade of this kindergarten is lively and aspires upward, like the children. It is made alive by the main finishing materials: patinated copper and wood, which, like a child in society, “grow” and change their qualities under the influence of the environment. The growth of the building is accentuated by the “waves” that crown the façade: they give children room for imagination, in which these forms can turn into the northern lights, the outlines of mountains or tree crowns, the trunks of which are the supports of the awnings over the main entrances to the kindergarten.

This solution connects children and their parents with nature, and also creates additional space for outdoor activities and games, such as a playground with swings and trampolines in the backyard. At night, the building is transformed: the illumination of the upper part of the facades creates the effect of the northern lights, and the corresponding constellations are illuminated on the animals.