"Shaman's Tower" and a canvas made of fishing nets offered to create INRTU students at the festival "ArchBukhta. Refraction"

A workshop for the applicant teams for the architectural festival "ArchBukhta. Refraction" was held on January 29 at the Irkutsk House of Architects. Designers, including students of INRTU, presented sketches to the experts and learned the intricacies of creating ice sculptures.

"ArchBukhta" will be held on March 7-12 in Baikalsk. The festival is conducted by the Irkutsk Club of Young Architects under the guidance of Roman Malinovich, a graduate of INRTU. Designers will work in Baikalsk on the territory of the former pulp and paper mill. There were 37 teams, including 20 teams fr om Moscow, St.Petersburg, Tula, Samara, Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk. Most of the participants from Irkutsk region are students and graduates of INRTU. Some of them participate in "ArchBukhta" every year: having met at the festival, they later work in the project groups for clients.

"The theme of the festival is a reference to the refraction of light in water, its ability to change its aggregate state. Participants will create art objects using ice, metal, snow and wood. When some of the materials of the art objects (ice and snow) will melt, the wooden constructions can be used as independent installations. Our event successfully fits into the cultural life of Baikal. In February, the city will host "Snegoman" Festival, wh ere residents will create up to a thousand snow sculptures. "ArchBukhta" will continue the series of bright events."

The workshop began with a presentation by Vadim Semenov, an INRTU graduate and architect who has supervised the construction of the Irkutsk Jordan Ice Complex for more than 20 years.

The speaker shared his tips and tricks. For example, chainsaws should be specially sharpened for ice, so as not to damage the joints between the blocks. To achieve the transparency of the figure will help to clean up its foundation from snow. To create interesting visual effects, he recommends using red LEDs and additionally drilling through holes in the ice.

The project of student team " Paddles" surprises with imagination. The future architects are going to build a pavilion made of wood, covered with wire mesh. The structure will be surrounded by ice figures made in the form of triangles and squares. 

The informal leader of the team is graduate student Nomin Boldsaikhan. She came in 2016 from Mongolia to become an architect. This is her third time at ArchBukhta. According to Nomin, this festival attracts her by the atmosphere of free creativity:

"We can bring our ideas to life at all stages, from sketch to construction. "ArchBuhta" develops valuable skills. Here we learn how to work as a team, handle construction materials, present projects and establish professional contacts."

Participants from other cities communicated with experts via video link. For example, a creative group from Novosibirsk presented a sketch of an art object in the form of a mix of bee hives. The team received valuable advice from Sergey Demkov, an architect from Irkutsk. The specialist recommended the authors to supplement the design with thin ice plates, which will allow the project to fit into the concept of the festival and make the art object more elegant.