International overview

All years 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 All issues 1 2 3 4 5 6

Media Façade in the City Environment

(Issue of a magazine 4/2019, page 14)

Nowadays, media façades have become an accustomed part in the image of various major cities around the world. The concept of the media façade as a fundamental component of the building artistic image gave us the main new rule of architecture perception, i.e. changing the building appearance over time. This time diversity and image variability can work as a utilitarian advertising panel to reflect the functional content of the structure, and on the other side it can influence a person as an effective mean of artistic expression filled with various and multi-layered semantic images.

Best of the Best

(Issue of a magazine 3/2019, page 12)

World high-rise construction has an over 120-year history of our times, but today we can witness a new stage in the development of this structure type. Since the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, a variety of engineering and technological innovations have prompted a rapid growth of interest in the construction of skyscrapers around the world. New approaches to design were created with emerging specialized computer software, which outlined a new field of parametric architecture. Consistent search for new forms of plastic expression with the help of new parametrism opportunities manifested itself in the new century and high-rise architecture, provoking a new round of “high-rise race”.

Gentrification in Modern Urban Planning

(Issue of a magazine 2/2019, page 16)

Gentrification and high-rise construction are the most controversial and high-profile tools of modern urban studies. Each several of these concepts is necessarily associated with considering numerous heterogeneous factors of a city existence that are essential for any serious changing of the environment. The present understanding of the term “high-rise construction” across the globe in relation to urban planning and socio-cultural development has been dwelled upon in detail on the pages of our magazine for more than 10 years. TAnd as for the term “gentrification” and the way this concept relates to the emergence of new high-rise buildings, requires some clarification remarks.

Cities of the Future: World Experience and Perspectives

(Issue of a magazine 1/2019, page 18)

The image of the city of the future always ignites fantasy and imagination of not only professional urban planners, but also of an ordinary person. Everyone is interested to see an ideal place where they will lead a brighter and more interesting life than in the existing reality. Something secret and unexplored in the architecture of the designed anthropogenic space usually has positive character, as people tend to form a comfortable and permanently improving environment around them. The level of comfort increases and the essence of the aesthetics reflects the existing professional artistic concepts. Given the fact that according to the UN, 55% of the world’s population (more than seven billion people) currently live in cities, and by the middle of the century this figure will increase by at least 10-12%, the study of futurological concepts of urban development that occupies specialists’ minds seems to be a very important and urgent task.

Avant-Garde Heritage

(Issue of a magazine 3/2018, page 12)

The value of the Russian / Soviet Avant-Garde for the development of all modern architecture cannot be overestimated. The most venerable architects of the whole world regularly mention the symbolic names of the Russian avant-gardists as their teachers, and specific, albeit unrealized projects of the 1920s – 1930s are called sources of inspiration and a powerful incentive to creativity. Many of the world iconic buildings of modern times carry the features of the ideas of Russian avant-garde artists, who pushed the horizons of architectural thought of their time a century ahead.

Cloud Space

(Issue of a magazine 2/2018, page 16)

High-rise construction rapidly developing around the world has predictably shifted from infill develop­ment to design and imple­mentation of entire cities consisting of skyscrap­ers only. An integrated approach to the develop­ment of large areas allows implementing the most daring architects’ ideas who effectively integrate modern technology into their projects and use the most advanced achieve­ments of science and tech­nology. With the increas­ing construction scale, specialists are faced with more complex and inter­esting tasks that inspire them to more risky and ambitious solutions.

Architect and Urbanist Dialogue: Skyscraper’s Role in New Millennium City

(Issue of a magazine 1/2018, page 16)

Different challenges of the 21st century set for architects a number of tasks, which make them revise the fundamentals of work with an architectural object in a city. How should one build anything in the city of the new millennium? What should form the urban landscape? How much do we need radical high-rise landmarks in it? If they are needed, what should these new buildings be alike? Is there a universal recipe for successful placement of a skyscraper in the city of the future? All these issues keep living in the minds of the modern urbanists and architects, and due to rapid growth of Asian cities in recent years they are becoming even more acute.

Wood in High-Rise Construction Worldwide

(Issue of a magazine 4/2017, page 12)

In recent decades the development and sophistication of construction technologies generated a wide range of innovations that have considerably changed the proportions of conventional construction practices applied along with their higher-end analogues. 3D printing invention and practical application in construction have altered all traditional notions of ways to construct buildings. Modern construction methods developed with account of innovative approaches were based on using the most essential materials such as wood and brick. Advanced high-rise construction focused on various wooden structures has turned into a noticeable trend that requires careful examination. Wood as a prospective material for the construction of mixed-use towers has been very popular in futuristic projects for two decades now. Besides, for the recent five years several high-rise “wooden” projects have been announced that will be built in Canada, Austria, Norway, India, Singapore and France, and the number of floors in the planned towers keeps increasing. Studying the peculiar features of wood popularity with account of new opportunities offered by innovative wooden structures is an acute research task set before the author of this review. 

The Second Wind of Megacities

(Issue of a magazine 3/2017, page 16)

Recent years rapid urbanization tended to the fact that nearly main emphasis in construction of new facilities and developments of existing cities is given to the transportation planning and processing. Against the backdrop of circumstances, when time is the most precious resource on earth, achieving the maximum possible speed of transportation between objects both in everyday life and on a global scale has become an important challenge for architects and city planners all around the world.  Such phenomenon, as a multimodal transportation hub has proven to be the most optimized way out of this situation.

It’s High, High Cinema

(Issue of a magazine 2/2017, page 18)

The cinematographic art of the 21st century lean toward to visual effects and the narrative performance, skillfully using for this purpose the impressive images of high-rise architecture. Visual imagery and entourage of modern films are no less fascinating than their plot twists, while the spectacular views on the real-world or make-believe skyscrapers starting from the 30s of the 20th century evolved into one of the main artistic devices to emphasize dramatic expressiveness of films.