In July 2021, in the capital of Portugal the 7th International Congress on Construction History will take place on the basis of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Lisbon. This major scientific event has been held every three years since 2003; it unites researchers, teachers, architects, and specialists in past constructions, architectural heritage and historical aspects of construction from different countries.
Initially, the initiator and main organizer of the congress was the Spanish Society of Construction History (Sociedad Española de Historia de la Construcción), led by the famous Spanish architect, Professor Santiago Huerta. It was no surprise that Madrid was chosen as the venue for the first International Congress, while the subsequent ones took place in different cities of Europe and the world: in English Cambridge (2006), German Cottbus (2009), Paris (2012), Chicago (2015) and Brussels (2018). The International Congress, scheduled for next year in Portugal, will be held for the first time with the support of the International Federation of Construction History, founded in 2018 in Brussels.
Besides the new organizational status of the event, an important part of its preparation is the updated composition of the international scientific committee: this year, a Russian expert, SPbGASU, Professor Sergey V. Sementsov, doctor of architecture and head of the department of Architectural and Urban Planning History of the Faculty of Architecture of our university, has joined the ranks for the first time.
The history of construction is a discipline actively developing in Europe; it aims at studying the historical and architectural heritage of various national cultures from the viewpoint of creating and preserving architectural monuments, as well as the development of building technologies and various aspects of the erection of buildings and structures from antiquity to the present day. The International Federation of Construction History is committed to ensuring that the discipline becomes recognizable and obtains a separate, independent status and recognition in the international academic and scientific environment, including the curriculum of architectural and civil engineering universities and faculties around the world.
As an academic discipline, the history of construction significantly complements the many related scientific and educational subjects and programs; its primary focus is on how a particular building or structure was built. This research interest in the history of the construction of structures plays a significant role in the preservation and restoration of historical buildings in the modern world and, as such, is at the center of today's public discussions about the principles of sustainable development and the future of mankind.
Santiago Huerta, President of the Spanish Society Society of Construction History, Professor at the Higher Technical School of Architecture, Technical University of Madrid, pointed out the importance of the participation of SPbGASU and personally of professor S.V. Sementsov in organizing the International Congress and in developing the discipline: “The interest of SPbGASU to the event will open a nascent discipline for the Russian scientific community, as well as allow all participants to learn more about the insufficiently studied in the West but causing sincere admiration for the historical and architectural heritage of Russia, connected, inter alia, with the culture of Spain thanks to the persona of Augustine Betancourt.”
Professor S. Huerta proposed to nominate SPbGASU as a candidate for the 8th International Congress on the Construction History, and, if the application of our university wins the competition, in a few years, scientists and teachers from all over the world will come to St. Petersburg to discuss current research issues in the field of architectural and construction structures, the history of the construction of buildings and structures within the SPbGASU walls.
A kind of rehearsal of such an event on a reduced scale will be a mini-symposium on the history of construction, planned as part of the 2nd All-Russian conference with international participation “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage”, which will take place at SPbGASU on March 24–27, 2021 http://rran.spbgasu.ru/2020-ru-symposium/.
The participants of the mini-symposium will discuss the issues of studying the history of construction in Spain and Russia, and will consider various aspects of the history of stone and wooden architecture, the construction of bridges and public buildings, as well as defensive architecture. The organizers of the mini-symposium will salute the participation of interested specialists and welcome articles on this topic that will be included in the conference proceedings.
Quoted from: https://www.spbgasu.ru/en/news/6000/
