Sofia Prokopova

• Master of Design
• Ural Federal University

The urban landscape of the Russian Arctic, shaped during the Soviet era of extensive urbanization, embeds narratives of colonial appropriation and serves as the foundation for ongoing urban development. In light of climatic, political, and social uncertainties, design disciplines must navigate the balance between environmental sustainability and th...

Larger than similar settlements in other polar countries both in terms of climatic extremes and population size, the Russian Arctic city is a unique phenomenon - a product of the Soviet period of colonial urbanization. Its architectural environment does not provide a comfortable everyday interaction (physical and emotional) for citizens with the na...

Несмотря на признание факта уникальности региона, феномен арктической архитектуры в нашей стране сегодня ограничивается преобразованием городской среды с опорой на мейнстрим или созданием закрытой среды взамен открытого общественного пространства. Мы выдвигаем гипотезу, что эти подходы основаны на продолжающейся попытке «присвоить» регион через его...

The lack of large-scale scientific research on human needs in an extreme climate in the Russian theory of architecture does not allow to create an environment that adequately meets the requirements of urban life in the North. The purpose of this article is to conceptualize the structure of urban space in the Arctic. The model includes the material...

Deprived of evolutional development, the architectural environment of ‘planned’ soviet cities in the Arctic were retrieved from the ‘mainland’ part of the country as a sign of the region’s ideological appropriation. To this day the Russian arctic urban realm lacks sensitive adaptation and responsive mechanisms, which would naturally occur under lon...

The Arctic has become an integral part of Russia’s economic and cultural space since a vast mining industry’s expansion to the High North. In some way, this region represents Russian identity. However, due to climate patterns and geographical remoteness, the Arctic is still perceived as a challenge. The Arctic ‘frontier’ narrative had developed in...

During extensive development of the Soviet mining industry, architecture was used as a tool for creating mainstream living conditions, which meant borrowing from the architectural realm of southern Soviet cities for the High North. This approach has led to the development of an unadapted and unoptimized urban environment that ignores the main featu...

Arctic architecture has continuously been developing as a fusion of approaches: from creating cities under domes to bringing mainstream built environments up to high latitudes. It still is a frontier for urban studies, design and architecture. This article reports a work currently in progress and aims to introduce the concept of an emotionally “war...

The article presents a pre-project study of the rotational work method in the oil and gas industry in terms of technical aesthetics and design. The study aimed to focus the attention of designers on the features of psychological adaptation to this method of work. The database brought together interdisciplinary sources (economics, management, psycho...

During the historical period of industrial development of North, the question of a necessity of city construction in the North is relevant. On the one hand, cities allow formation the sociocultural infrastructure, providing comfortable accommodation as well as formation the conditions for the stable development of the region (vs. the shift-expediti...