​The Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Edkham Akbulatov took part in the opening of the XVII Interregional Architecture Festival "Architecture of Eastern Siberia"

This year Krasnoyarsk has hosted the Interregional Architectural Festival "Architecture of Eastern Siberia" already for the second time. Over thirty experts became the participants of the festival: both recognized experts and young architects from Siberian cities. For the architectural community the festival is a creative space for professional communication, exchange of ideas and opinions.

Addressing the audience at the opening ceremony of the festival, the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Edkham Akbulatov said: "The architecture forum "Architecture of Eastern Siberia" has already got a long history: it gathers talented architects for the 17th time. The usual venue for the festival has long been Irkutsk, but for the second time now the festival is held in Krasnoyarsk, which is a great honor and responsibility for us. It is extremely important for us to be the venue for the discussion of creative ideas and solutions in the field of architecture, which unites professionals from different parts of Russia and abroad here, in Krasnoyarsk."

To name a few examples: a joint project of Krasnoyarsk architects and specialists from Holland was presented in the exhibition part of the festival; a German architect Daniel Dendra held an open master class dedicated to the actual problems of design and architecture of the urban environment; a master of modern Bulgarian architecture, architect Georgi Stanishev made a presentation "Between the building and the city" in which, as a theorist of modern European architecture, he revealed the tendencies and contradictions in the development of modern urban architecture. Georgi Stanishev's master class "Space organization" was based on historical and modern examples. He made an analysis of such architectural spheres as - "Collective architectural form", "Ensemble", "Building-city", "Coordination project" and "Co-participation". The result was a better understanding of the "Hybrid state" of architecture, which can be observed today in the world architecture. In his speech, Georgi Stanishev highlighted the fact that the city is a living organism.

Andrey Chernikhov, Professor of the International Academy of Architecture, noted that such exchange of practices is an indicator of the openness of the architectural world: "We work professionally with the best architects and look together into the future, as they say, with eyes wide-open. The important thing here is that this future is becoming more and more human-oriented. I wish Krasnoyarsk to become a more and more architecturally determined city year after year, as you have a fantastic potential for it: the islands, the Yenisei river and the historical center of the city."

The President of the Union of Architects of Russia Nikolai Shumakov, who came to Krasnoyarsk for the first time, shared with the festival participants his impressions from the capital of the region: "An amazing city, the landscape itself and the Yenisei river set such a powerful tone which, in fact, an architect can hardly spoil. Krasnoyarsk has established a brilliant architectural school, which influences not only the city itself, but also affects the nearby regions. Architecture, in my opinion, should become the basis of the country's cultural policy. And today's forum inspires optimism that in the future, step by step, we can achieve that. I also have to note that by the volume of the exhibition part the festival in Krasnoyarsk is much larger than the one in Moscow. Taking the opportunity, I invite you to the "Architecture" in Moscow, which will be held from October 5 to 7 in the Gostiny Dvor."

The current festival presented a large exposition of more than 70 different architectural projects: business centers, residential buildings, public spaces and other elements of a modern city. The competitive part of the festival included both the projects of experienced professionals and of young Krasnoyarsk architects.

The festival "Architecture of Eastern Siberia" is dynamically developing, introducing new formats of work that are interesting not only to specialists in the field of architecture, but also to ordinary citizens. Any citizen of Krasnoyarsk could take part in several interactive architectural activities. This year the organizers of the forum proposed for discussion such an urgent topic as "Noncapital practices". Architects of Siberian cities discussed the specifics of regional projects and tried to answer such questions as: Is there a specific identity in Siberian architecture? What are the general ways of developing Siberian cities?

The Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Edkham Akbulatov stressed that the discussion on this topic is of practical interest. After all, "capital" practices that are implemented in major cities, such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, radically differ from the practices that are inherent in Krasnoyarsk, and other major cities of the Siberian Federal District.​

"In Siberia, we are bound to be dynamic, open to the new, especially in the field of architecture. Our architectural community always needs to look for a compromise with the inhabitants of cities, cooperate with various public organizations. Therefore, I am sure that this topic will be useful and interesting for specialists. Thanks to everyone who came to Krasnoyarsk to participate in the architectural festival. I wish the contestants successful participation and all our guests - good impressions from Krasnoyarsk," said Edkham Akbulatov.