“Workshop” of the Chelyabinsk House of Architects

Abstract

The article describes the anthropological aspect of the interdisciplinary project on urban space research, “Workshop”, organized by the Chelyabinsk House of Architects (a division of the Agency for Innovation and Investment Development of the City of Chelyabinsk). The history and general specifics of the cycle are presented: from 2020 to 2024, several dozen participants (students, young specialists, and established professionals) had the opportunity to engage in pre-project research and the development of urban planning projects for real territories in Chelyabinsk. Under the guidance of curators invited from different cities, the students of the “Workshop” mastered both the theory and practice of work in the areas of “Architecture and Urban Analysis”, “Economics”, “History”, “Ecology”, “Local Identity (Artists)”, and “Anthropology”. The work in 2024 is covered in more detail: the composition of the participants, the design and results of the study, the challenges encountered, and the project’s significance. A special feature of the 2024 project was the nature of the chosen territory: for the first time, attention was focused not on the central but on the peripheral urban spaces, which included buildings from the tuberculosis dispensary and factory production facilities. This presented many challenges for design. The difficulties of organizing the anthropological direction of such a project include tight deadlines and the intensity of the research process, combined with the need to introduce a new discipline to non-anthropologist participants; incomplete understanding of the specifics of urban anthropology on the part of the project organizers, participants in other directions, and jury members. Overall, the House of Architects project appears to be a highly effective form of industrial practice for students, a significant addition to the portfolio of young specialists, and a valuable introduction to colleagues, teachers, and potential employers.