Expert Council under the National Centre RUSSIA approved areas of work to create a national architectural code

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The formation of the country’s sovereign architectural and visual code, ensuring the preservation of architectural legacy and national identity, as well as shaping the image of the modern era, was discussed by participants in a meeting of the Board of the Expert Council for Architecture and Urban Planning. The event was held on 21 May at the National Centre RUSSIA.

Four specialised working groups have been formed within the Expert Council: "Rulemaking", "Methodology of National Meanings and Themes", "Architecture and Education", and "Methodology of Regional Features, Meanings and Themes". This was announced by the Chairman of the Expert Council, President of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor and Rector of the Moscow Architectural Institute, Dmitry Shvidkovsky. Each of the working groups presented specific projects and areas of work.

"Today, the identity of Russian architecture in the global context is defined by the architectural memory of our era, the national distinctiveness of Russian architecture and urban planning as a historical process of accumulating artistic values and meanings, and the image of the Russian city as a synthesis of the modern understanding of legacy and the traits of the entire national history of the 11th to 21st centuries that are significant in our genetic code, including, of course, the Soviet period. Together, this will create bright, unique content in the architecture and urban planning of Russia’s future that is significant for all humanity," Dmitry Shvidkovsky said.

The Secretary of the Expert Council and Head of the Directorate for Control over State Visual Communications at the National Centre RUSSIA, Andrei Melentyev, noted that the working groups cover a wide range of issues and tasks, from developing the regulatory framework to specific initiatives that will help both to formulate global meanings and, in practical terms, assist developers and architects.

"We ask that proposals from specialised experts that may help the Expert Council and its activities be sent by email to gradsovet@ano-dea.ru," Andrei Melentyev emphasised.

A process is now needed to form a national doctrine of urban planning and architectural development that will be based on our cultural traditions and responsibility to future generations, stressed the Head of the "Rulemaking" working group and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction, Housing and Utilities, Sergei Pakhomov.

"Architecture must return to the system of urban planning decision-making as an essential professional link, from territorial planning and the preliminary concept to implementation on site. If we want to create a full-fledged urban environment with its own face, it is necessary to strengthen the role of chief architects, architectural councils, professional expertise and responsibility for the final result," he said.

According to the Chairman of the Board of the Expert Council, Head of the "Methodology of National Meanings and Themes" working group and Executive Director of the Moscow Investors’ Club Foundation, Vladislav Preobrazhensky, it is time to move away from the meanings and symbols of the "Western world" in real estate, including in the names and images used in the branding and promotion logic of residential complexes.

"It is necessary to creatively rethink where, how and in what combination national meanings and symbols that are organic to real estate and infrastructure can be introduced. The key condition for implementation will be not abstract ornaments, but meaningful details and national images that are clear to the majority and organically integrated into real estate and infrastructure. This concerns practical solutions: murals, sculptural compositions, bas-reliefs, navigation elements and architectural accents that connect history and the present day, strengthen the identity of urban spaces and can become the basis for joint projects," Vladislav Preobrazhensky said.

Deputy Chair of the Expert Council, Head of the "Architecture and Education" working group, First Deputy Head of the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of the Moscow Region and Chief Architect of the Moscow Region, Alexandra Kuzmina, spoke about the return of monumental and applied art to the urban environment.

"We must restore the tradition of placing works of monumental and applied art in interiors and on facades, including mosaics, bas-reliefs, paintings and sculptures. Monumental art is a chronicle of achievement, a way to convey information about outstanding figures, true values, the greatness of the state and its contribution to world culture. Art helps foster a sense of pride through involvement in shared victories and shared meanings carved in stone," the speaker added.

The Head of the "Methodology of Regional Features, Meanings and Themes" working group and Executive Director of the Association of Developers of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Adel Saifullina, reported that work had begun to create a regional level of visual representation of Russia’s architectural and urban planning code: "One of the tasks is to form catalogues of regional symbols and ornaments, as well as a colour palette for meaningful combination with federal symbols. To achieve this task, we have formed a request matrix for working with each region."

The topic of the city’s memory as a key condition for a living urban environment was addressed by Professor of the International Academy of Architecture, Head of Architecture at HSE University and President of the Yakov Chernikhov Foundation, Andrei Chernikhov: "The modern city is increasingly losing what the Romans called Genius Loci, the memory of place, which has a negative effect on people and culture. We are witnessing a conceptual transformation of the triad of design, construction and operation: the management of buildings and the urban environment is increasingly being united on a single digital platform. Education in urban planning, architecture, urban environment design, ecology and a number of related disciplines requires revision and fundamental renewal. It must educate a new architect: a specialist capable of perceiving architecture not only as a professional activity, but also as a special form of knowledge that has absorbed the fundamental humanitarian principles developed over millennia of world culture, architecture and urban planning."

Chairman of the Ivan Betskoy Foundation for Historical, Cultural and Educational Initiatives, member of the Union of Architects and the Russian Historical Society, Kirill Ilyichev, drew attention to the cultural dimension of architecture as a historical phenomenon: "The architect’s task is to reveal the hidden structures of the historical, architectural, cultural and social layers of a place. Their reinterpretation gives a creative impulse, when a building not only fulfils its function, but also bears the imprint of historical memory. This is the essence of human coexistence: to integrate the past into the present, the personal into the shared, and legacy into everyday life."

Following the meeting, the priority areas of activity of each of the four working groups for the coming year were approved as part of the creation of the country’s architectural and urban planning code.

The discussion was attended by representatives of the Presidential Executive Office of Russia, the National Centre RUSSIA, the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, federal and regional executive bodies, DOM.RF, leading architectural universities, the Russian Academy of Arts, the General Plan Institute of Moscow, development companies and specialised associations.