Throughout Russia, parks, embankments and central squares are being renovated in key settlements, small towns and historical settlements. From 2024, ideas can be proposed by students of architecture and construction majors at Russian universities as part of the National Student Competition “Improvement!” What are the conditions for participation in the competition, nominations, as well as which projects have a better chance of winning - in the RIA Novosti material.
Students can submit their ideas for participation in the third season of the competition until October 15. It is carried out by the ANO "National Priorities" with the support of the Russian Ministry of Construction under the national project "Infrastructure for Life".
Participation in the competition
“The “Improvement!” competition gives future architects and urban planners the opportunity to immerse themselves in design activities while still in training. Under the guidance of regional and federal experts in the field of integrated landscaping of territories, they will gain invaluable experience for further professional development. It is gratifying that the competition is becoming more and more popular among young people,” noted the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the expert council of the “Improvement!” competition. Irek Faizullin.
The competition is open to architecture students from 17 to 35 years old. The main prize of the competition - 1 million rubles - will go to the author of the best project, and the winners of the nominations will receive cash prizes of 300 thousand rubles, internships in the country's leading architectural bureaus and an architectural expedition.
Fayzullin added that over two seasons, more than 3.5 thousand students submitted applications for participation with over 400 projects for 75 regions, of which 128 became finalists.
Small towns and historical settlements
Participants are offered eight nominations to choose from. The five main nominations from the Russian Ministry of Construction cover the improvement of parks, embankments, central squares and areas adjacent to sites of religious significance. Projects are being developed for small towns and historical settlements with a population of up to 50 thousand, from 50 to 100 thousand and from 100 to 300 thousand inhabitants.
Within the framework of the main nominations, two special ones are offered - this is the improvement of territories near the objects of the Russian Orthodox Church and public spaces of the cities of the Golden Ring of Russia.
“I always advise students to participate in professional competitions. This is an excellent opportunity to gain real experience, test themselves in competition and understand how much your ideas are in demand in the professional community. And a strong competitive project is also a way to express yourself publicly, attract the attention of colleagues and future employers,” said the architect of the future VEB.RF Sergey Kuznetsov.
The main innovation of the third season is the “Mentoring Institute”. The competition has become not just a competition, but a school for professional growth. And this is exactly what young architects lack at the very beginning of their journey. Semi-finalists will have the opportunity to personally communicate and receive advice from the country's leading architects and urbanists.
Rural areas and tourism
Among the partner nominations is “Integrated development of rural areas” from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. It is aimed at improving public spaces in rural settlements and areas associated with socially significant objects.
“The development of rural areas today is about creating a comfortable environment in which people want to live, work and raise children. The nomination allows us to look at this task through the eyes of young specialists,” noted Anna Korpen, director of the department for rural development of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
Public spaces
The nomination “Hospitable Public Spaces” was presented by Rosatom. It is focused on creating modern spaces for recreation, communication and leisure for young people.
“Youth, cultural, recreational public spaces in a city, especially a small one, play a very important role. The satisfaction of residents with the standard of living in the city directly depends on their quality,” said the head of the “Hospitable Cities of Rosatom” program, a member of the expert council of the “Improvement!” competition. Vita Saar.
Another nomination, “Improvement of residential and public spaces,” was presented for the second year in a row by the federal developer DOGMA and is dedicated to creating a comfortable urban environment and new points of attraction in the cities where the company operates.
“This year we have chosen for the competition spaces that are important not only for future residents of our neighborhoods, but will become points of attraction for the entire city. It is important for us that projects take into account the interests of different generations: children, teenagers, athletes, older people. We see in the competition an opportunity to find fresh solutions that will make the urban environment truly accessible and useful for everyone,” said Evgenia Styazhkina, director of the product strategy department of the federal construction company DOGMA.
Every city gets its own space
According to Irek Fayzullin, the best ideas are already being implemented in some regions under the “Creating a Comfortable Urban Environment” program of the national project “Infrastructure for Life”, since the launch of which more than 9.5 thousand territories have been improved, 264 winners of the All-Russian competition for the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment have been implemented.
“Some projects are still “floating” in reality: implementation is too expensive, solutions difficult to operate, insufficient analysis of the territory - and this is normal. But many have the main thing - a strong concept and an honest understanding of the place,” said Nikita Asadov, chief project architect of the ASADOV bureau.
According to him, each city should get its own space, and not a copy of the neighboring one. This is what is good about the competition - it creates a huge base of creative solutions for each specific region, which municipalities can subsequently use.
"Start in life" after winning the competition
"Being a member of the jury of the “Improvement!” competition and in past seasons, I can say with confidence that this competition differs from many others in that, in addition to the actual victory, the author gets the opportunity to implement his project, and this is a “start in life” that is sometimes even more serious than the victory itself. For a future employer, this is the most important page in the portfolio,” noted the architect, a member of the Expert Council of the Russian Ministry of Construction on the formation of a comfortable urban environment and the expert council of the “Improvement!” competition. Evgenia Murinets.
