Denis Pushilin: The National Centre RUSSIA will help to shape a new architectural style of the Donbas

The Architectural Hackathon, which will be held from July 16 to 18 at the National Centre RUSSIA, will help to shape a new architectural and visual style of the Donetsk People's Republic. This was stated by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin at the session "The present and the future of Russia's visual code: for people, for business and for the state" held at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 21.

"We made a proposal to hold an Architectural Hackathon, a large-scale creative laboratory where students and young architects from all over Russia would create projects for new public spaces in the Donbas, and the National Centre RUSSIA supported it . Applications for participation in the event have already been submitted by young people not only from our republic, but also from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and other cities of Russia, and this is encouraging. Because the whole country supports the Donbas. It will not just be a presentation of ideas, but a conversation about the future of the country via architecture. That's how we perceive it," Denis Pushilin said.

He added that the new visual identity of the Donbas should not be faceless, but based on traditional meanings and values that educate, unite and inspire.

"A visual code is a language in which the state speaks to people, and each region of Russia, of course, should have its own face. The Donbas is the face of the courage of the whole country. It is a concentration of the Russian spirit, which was not broken by shelling, years of struggle and destruction. We have not only preserved ourselves, we have remained a part of the great Russia, because we have always been one. Today, the Donbas is being reborn. We are not only restoring buildings, we are re-creating a space of memory, identity and meaning," Denis Pushilin said.

He also stressed that for developing the visual code, the Donbas relies mainly on young people, since the young people are those who often offer the best ideas for implementation of architectural and other projects that reflect national identity.

The session on June 21 was also attended by Elena Yampolskaya, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council on the Shaping the National Style; Natalia Virtuozova, Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA; Maria Gruzdeva, a public figure and a photographer; Anna Lukanina, President of the Association of Branding Companies of Russia (ABCR); Anna Sarkisyants, Creative Director of Designic Studio; Lyubov Teptsova, an artist and researcher of ornament; Valery Fedorov, Director General of VTSIOM; and Anton Finogenov, Director of Urban Environment Development at DOM.RF, JSC.

The session participants paid special attention to the role of the National Centre RUSSIA as a space where the language of the visual image of our country is developing — the language which is understandable, modern, and saturated with cultural meanings.