Manifesto in Architecture: the Theme of 3rd Day of Creative Environment and Urban Planning Section

Artists, filmmakers, architects and developers will meet at the venue of Creative Environment and Urban Planning Section of the VI St. Petersburg Cultural Forum to discuss the future of architecture.

On November 18, during the session "Modern Architecture: Victories and Deficiencies. Outside perspective", the experts will consider a wide range of major challenges. Why does not modern architecture attract urban residents? What are the conditions necessary to make a breakthrough in culture? How important are concepts such as ideology and cultural self-identification in this context?

Given the scope of the issues raised, the organizers invited not only professional architects and representatives of the real estate market to participate in the session, but also a large pool of experts from various spheres of culture and art.

Speakers will include: Pavel Kaplevich, artist, theater and film producer, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, Christos Passas, Associate Director of one of the most famous international bureaus Zaha Hadid Architects (Great Britain), Dmitriy Likin and Oleg Shapiro, partners of Wowhaus Bureau, who created a new approach in Russian architecture to work with natural and urban landscapes and historical objects, they worked on such projects as City Farm at VDNH, pedestrian area of Krymskaya embankment and renovation of Gorky Park in Moscow, etc., Aleksei German Jr., film director and screenwriter, Igor Vodopyanov, managing partner of MC "Teorema" (St. Petersburg), Dmitry Bertman, the Artistic Director of the Moscow musical theater Helikon-Opera. Sergei Tchoban, the Head of one of the largest architectural bureaus of Russia SPEECH, will moderate the session.

"Modern architecture is a very broad concept; it’s much more comprehensive than the appearance of the constructed buildings," said Sergey Kuznetsov, the Chief Architect of Moscow and Head of Creative Environment and Urban Planning Section. "It is a complex system which includes functionality of new projects with consideration for the needs of the modern city, and, in general, urban planning, creation of what we call the environment for life."

Therefore, according to Sergey Kuznetsov, today it is very important to create the appropriate public order for modern architecture on the one hand and an interesting proposal on the other. In this regard, it is of great importance to form an interdisciplinary dialogue between architects, development representatives and men of various arts - theater, cinema, music. There are many examples when the most interesting ideas were born at the interface of disciplines, and the organizers call for taking the "outside perspective". A wide range of speakers will provoke discussions about modern architecture, its victories and deficiencies, without being restricted by narrow professional community, which is in line with the challenges architects face today, and with the specific nature of the Cultural Forum.

Creative Environment and Urban Planning Section is included in the program of the St. Petersburg Cultural Forum for the second consecutive year and headed by the Chief Architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov. This year, the main topics of the section will be mass housing, development of public spaces and quality of modern architecture.