The Role of University in Heritage Research and Practice: Siberian Context

The risk of losing identity and historical values seems indispensable as attributes of the explosive growth of modern cities. However, along with the disappearance of each piece of heritage, citizens tend to lose memories and "identical" feelings, which make the place special and unique. The role of universities and architects in the heritage process of the modern city can be more significant: there are many successful examples around the world, which clearly demonstrate that the group of researchers from the Siberian Federal University made an attempt to compensate both for the lack of connection between the university and the city, and the lack of comprehensive approaches to the heritage process in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. For the experimental design research, the part of the Military camp, the degrading place with a bright history in Krasnoyarsk, was selected. Thorough research and examination are required to extract the values of the place. For the experiment, students conducted a deep analysis of historical facts, values, narratives, habits, and beliefs before developing their project proposals. The paper questions the role of the university and architects in the heritage process of modern Siberian city, experimenting with the particular precedent in Krasnoyarsk and suggests the methods of participation in sustaining identity and providing continuity in historical environments

Reading urban form as a studio teaching method: case study in Siberia

Quite often heritage monument is perceived as a separate domain in Russian conservation theory and practice. Teaching practice demonstrates the situation clearly: quite commonly studio regeneration projects are conducted in isolation from the context, or lacking the methodology for preliminary analysis. However, many international concepts attempt to avoid isolation of buildings as physical objects from a cultural environment with its multi-layered history of significances (Waterton & Watson, 2015). The paper presents a case study of the application of urban morphology as a research tool and a teaching method (Caniggia & Maffei, 2001), to the Siberian context. Research group of Siberian Federal University (SFU) organized the experiment, in which students worked on the two stages of a regeneration project for the old Military camp in Krasnoyarsk. Between the two stages, the workshop was organized for students of Sapienza University and SFU to conduct a methodological study. Then the research group continued the second stage of the experiment in which examined the applicability of morphological analysis in Siberia. The qualitative difference of regeneration proposals before and after the application of morphological analysis, as well as the level of subsequent students’ proficiency, proved the potential applicability of the method in Siberian academy and practice, and effectiveness of the workshop as the tool for its introduction