Elena Grigoryeva
Practice: Personal Architectural Bureau 'Studio 7'
Established: 1989
City: Irkutsk
Country: Russia
www.iro-sar.ru/
[email protected]
Elena Grigoryeva qualified as an architectural professional at Irkutsk Technical University in 1978. Her architectural works include about 100 projects: for schools and universities, residential complexes, the bridge overthe Angara River in Irkutsk (first prize in an invited competition, 1998), development of two microdistricts in Grozny (2004-5), the design of a Water Sports Complex for Olympians (2008), and restoration of historic areas in Irkutsk.
Since 2004 Elena Grigoryeva has been a member of the Presidium of the Union of Architects of Russia (UAR), and a vice-president of UAR since 2008. Since 2004 she has represented UAR at the UIA Professional Practice Commission. In 2005 and 2008 the UIA General Assembly elected her an alt-member of the UIA Council.
Elena Grigoryeva is a publisher of the international architectural magazine 'Project Baikal', winner of the Interarch 2009 Grand Prix at the International Academy of Architecture Triennial.
Personal Architectural Bureau 'Studio 7'
School 80, Irkutsk, 1999-2000/2001
Architects Elena Grigoryeva and Sergey Mullayarov; engineer Tamara Forostyanova; the project was awarded the Russian Federation State Prize in 2003. The blocks are built around a central atrium space. Making use of the basements and the arrangement of mansard floors give great economies. The productivity of the area grows in the same way - the cost per square metre falls. Connections between the different sections of the school and within each section are short.
| Do you think our profession is diverse enough? | The architect's profession provides no fewer opportunities for diversity than an actor's profession does. When designing any object one may and must become a number of people of diverse professions, ages, social classes, etc. When designing a school, for example, you become a student to realise an ideal space, a teacher to work out a perfect training process, a cook, etc. Besides, the genius of the place demands something new every time and never permits you to repeat yourself. |
| Who are your role models who inspire you? | Alvar Aalto and his relationship with nature, landscape, materials. As for the representatives of the Russian vanguard - their courage and innovation. And my teacher, Vladimir Pavlov. |
| What do you find most rewarding in your area of work? | Transformation, improvement, enhancement of the human habitat. Architecture apprehends the world and the human being with its own methods: by transforming space, building volumes and masses, harmonising flows of light and air. Starting from furnishing and ending with structures at the scale of towns and states, architecture studies and forms a comfortable milieu for human beings. |