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GATEWAY CHURCHES OF VELIKY NOVGOROD MONASTERIES IN 12–15th CENTURIES // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2017. Issue 1 (11). P. 27-40

The article focuses on the history of the building of gateway churches in Veliky Novgorod monasteries in the 12–15th centuries. The current paper analyses the typological specifics of gateway churches. The article describes semiotic diversification of this typical church. Besides the defensive function the semiotic role of a gateway church as the boundary between spaces is emphasized in the article. It is considered that a gateway church is built into a certain visual semiotics of the monastery. The paper gives an overview of Veliky Novgorod and it’s suburb monasteries as semiotical multilayer structure which safeguarded the ancient town.

Keywords: gateway church, architecture of ancient Russia, monastery, architecture of Novgorod, semiotics of architecture

LANDMARKS IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY ENVIRONMENT: ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGNER’S INTERPRETATION AND PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2018. Issue 3 (17). P. 114-127

The article focuses on questions of orientation in the contemporary city environment. The current paper analyses scientific approaches of landmarks design, dominant forms and emphasis. The article describes the influence of ideological concepts on the creation process of focus places in the city environment. Landmarks are interpreted as considerable components of the urban communicative structure. Contemporary variations of the urban space perception are noted. Basic scientific models of the perception process are analyzed. A city considers as the text in this article. The landmark is correlated with afterimage of the environment which remains in our memory. The author points out that architectural objects are losing the role of unconditioned city landmarks. There were given examples of unarchitectural landmarks in the city environment. Terms “the dendrologycal landmark” and “the superlandmark” are introduced. The modern interpretation of a landmark as a commercial order is revealed. The article describes the possibility of the emergence of coloured landmarks in a city. The necessity of the reciprocal action and the reciprocal influence of color and plastic in the landmark generating is emphasized in the article. Special attention is paid to the role of landmarks in the process of the city scale formation. Design of night landmarks as the alternative to daily landmarks with the help of the art lighting is discussed. The distinction between the speciality of passenger perception and pedestrian perception is emphasized in the article. The article describes peculiarities of the formation and perception of transport hubs in a city. The paper also deals with orientation problems of handicapped people in the city. The analysis allowed us to identify the main factors which influence the landmark generating in the contemporary city.

Keywords: specialities of perception, landmark, architectural environment, architectural composition, dominant form, emphasis

COLORISTIC CULTURE AND REALITY OF THE MODERN CITY: FROM THE THEORETICAL BASIS TO THE PRACTICAL EMBODIMENT // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2020. Issue 1 (23). P. 161-173

This study is devoted to a review of theoretical foundations and concepts in the field of the use of color as an important visual component of the urban environment, as an integral part of any physical form. Color has a significant impact on the person’s emotional perception of space. Also, through color, the human mind actualizes many associative chains, which influence the process of identifying a place, cultural affiliation, etc. The concept of coloristic culture is described, and the main objects and phenomena associated with this concept are identified. Coloristic culture currently carries a certain aspect of binarity. On the one hand, there is an influence of international culture, which forms supranational tendencies in the field of coloristics and, ideally, the action of which should be aimed at the realization of universal human values. On the other hand, the importance of regional culture and its manifestations, including in the field of color, is increasing. It contributes to the deep processes of “rooting” of a person through internal identification of himself / herself with a particular culture, region, place. The rapid growth of cities, the proximity of multi-temporal architectural objects on the same environmental site, the need to search for new techniques and tools in the urban navigation actualized the use of color as an effective means of harmonizing individual city formations and the city as a whole, as well as the means of orientation in a complicated city structure. The next step is to analyze the influence of theoretical concepts on the decision-making process in the field of coloristics of the city at the present time. How real is this process regulated, to what extent is it formed spontaneously, and doesn’t it lead to the significant professional influence? Changes in urban planning associated with the transition from the working out of master plans for the city development for a period of one or two decades to the elaboration of short-term master plans are analyzed. The possibilities of professional and unprofessional influence on the coloristic decisions of the modern city are reviewed. The complex and laborious process of working with historical coloristics is described. The third stage of research includes the description of phenomena and trends in the field of color and plastic, which are only gaining strength in their influence on the urban environment and require further theoretical reflection and forecasting. Examples of the use of new materials and technologies and their influence on the color of architectural objects are given. It is noted that if in the last century architecture was the compositionally dominant color carrier, now there is the possibility of forming a memorable coloristic image of the city through iconic paving and geoplastics, an active navigation system, and the use of landscaping elements with a variety of polychrome. The information content of color, its multitextuality make it an important tool of the “culture of real virtuality” in the information age of the world.

Keywords: city, urban space, urban environment, visual environment, color in architecture, modern architecture, experimental design.