The educational lecture "Sporting Russia" took place at the National Centre RUSSIA
The lecture "Sporting Russia" continued the series of educational events within the educational program of the architectural exposition "The Birth of Scale" at the National Centre RUSSIA. The event took place on March 21 and was dedicated to the architecture of sports facilities in our country. The series of seven educational lectures began on March 14. The moderator of the meetings is art historian and architectural historian Yelizaveta Likhacheva.
The speaker at Friday's event was art historian and researcher of 20th-century architecture Mark Akopyan.
In a live dialogue format, experts discussed with the audience the history and types of sports facilities. The discussion covered stadiums — from ancient times to the present. The participants examined their typology and how sports architecture has reflected and continues to reflect the course of history.
"The typology of sports architecture originated in Greece, where the history of sports began. These are ancient stadiums. What we refer to as an 'ancient stadium' today is what we now call a 'running stadium.' It is elongated and designed for running. Later, running competitions were held in Roman stadiums, which replicated the Greek form. The very idea of sports competitions was born there — it is the Olympic Games," said Yelizaveta Likhacheva.
The development of both individual and team sports has also been reflected in the modernization of sports architecture, as noted by the event participants. Changes in the shape of stadiums directly mirror the course of sports history throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
During the period when football began to become part of mass culture, stadiums took on new forms and became larger, capable of accommodating spaces for large-scale events, which is clearly seen in some of the oldest structures in Europe.
"After the revolution, sports began to be perceived as part of a new mass culture, no longer an elite one. Architects were required to cultivate and develop this enthusiasm for sports among the proletariat, creating new arenas for sporting activities. Sports venues intrigued architects, and they began to focus on them, seeing in these future structures the foundations of a new world," emphasized Mark Akopyan.
In conclusion, participants discussed modern stadiums, with a striking example being the largest sports and entertainment complex in Russia and Europe—Luzhniki.
The next lecture, "Expositional Russia," within the educational program of the architectural exposition "The Birth of Scale," will take place on April 4.
Event photobank
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The educational programme within the framework of the architectural exposition "The Birth of Scale" at the National Centre RUSSIA continued on May 6.
