Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPbGASU) is the oldest Russian institution of higher technical education, which is involved in training of professionals in the area of architecture and construction. Its history is bound up with the history of architecture and urban development of Russia and particularly Saint Petersburg.

The University was founded on April 27, 1832 by a decree of Emperor Nicholas I as a School of Civil Engineers (UGI, 1832-1842) under the Main Department of Railways and Public Buildings. On December 10, 1882, by the order of Emperor Alexander III the school was renamed the Institute of Civil Engineers (IGI, 1882-1924). At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the Institute of Civil Engineers became the largest in Russia architecture and construction higher education institution, training personnel in the field of architecture and civil engineering, a recognized center of engineering thought and construction science. The creativity of IGI students in many respects determined the architectural appearance of St. Petersburg at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries; they left a creative foot print in the architecture of not only both capitals, but also many other cities of Russia.

In the pre-WWII period, the Institute’s graduates developed draft master plans for Moscow and Leningrad. During the war, specialists and architects solved the issues of camouflage of Leningrad, its military objects, and the task of hiding historical architectural and artistic monuments. None of the monuments was destroyed during the 900-day siege of the city. In the post-war years, graduates of the Institute participated in the revival of Leningrad, as well as of the destroyed cities and industrial facilities throughout the country.

SPbGASU today is a large educational and scientific center, the only higher education institution in the North-Western Federal District of the Russian Federation that provides comprehensive training of specialists in the field of construction, architecture, transport and environmental engineering systems. St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Engineering has longstanding professional and pedagogical traditions and is constantly updating its training technologies, topics and methods of scientific research.

     

ISSN: 2500-0055