About the authors
| First name, Middle name, Last name, Scientific degree, Scientific rank, Current position. Full and brief name of the organization, The organization address. | Ryabov Nikolay Fedorovich senior lecturer E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering The organization address: 420043, Russia, Kazan, Zelenaya st., 1 Kugurakova Vlada Vladimirovna senior lecturer E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Kazan (Volga region) Federal University The organization address: 420008, Russia, Kazan, Kremlyevskaya st., 18 |
| Title of the article | Kazan as a generic city. Experience in reading architectural texts |
| Abstract. | Problem statement. Authoritative statements of domestic and foreign researchers of current processes in architecture as well as increasing influence of their articles allow us to conclude the particular significance of texts about architecture. The present work aims to define similarities and match the definitions of the concept of a generic city (as in Rem Koolhaas’ «Generic City») with ongoing processes, trends, and significant marks and objects in architecture of Kazan in the beginning of the XXI century. Results. The comparative analysis of essays by generic architect Rem Koolhaas and the special edition of «Project Russia» magazine (№ 81) revealed multiple coincidence between description and definitions of a concept city and a real one – modern Kazan. This coincidence helps to apply the figurative analogy of a «generic-city» to any historical city growing dynamically and discover symptoms of its «growing pains». Among them are systematic renovation, acquiring satellite cities, significance of green areas and green belt, high-rises, intensive development of tourism, cultivating of false images of a city memory. Conclusions. The importance of the achieved results for architecture is in bringing back architectural texts to the front end of scientific interest; in comprehensive expansion of architectural discourse in Kazan. Realization of Kazan as a generic city allows to interpret current changes in its architecture as an important and urgent sign of a dramatic shift in identity of a historical place and its inhabitants. |
| Keywords. | Kazan, generic city, urban identity, architectural text, map reading. |
| For citations: | Ryabov N.F., Kugurakova V.V. Kazan as a generic city. Experience in reading architectural texts // Izvestiya KGASU. 2019. №1(47) P.82-91. |
