Architecture.rf online platform is launched to discuss amendments to the law 'On Architectural Activities in the Russian Federation'
On October 18th, the leaders of the Russian architectural and urban planning bloc launched an important project for the architectural and urban planning industry: the online platform architecture.rf (архитектура.рф) to gather opinions on the upcoming law on architectural activities.
The essence of creating the new website is expanded discussion of the points of the draft law and clarification of the objectives of the document, which should be the final one. The process was initiated by the independent expert platform Urban Policy Institute, led by Evgenia Murinets. The current draft law has been made in two versions: by the National Association of Surveyors and Designers (NASD) and by the Union of Architects of Russia (UAR). Each organization has posted the version of the document it proposes on its website, and both versions are also posted on architecture.rf.
During a meeting with architects as part of the International Architecture Festival 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko asked for the final version to be presented in a month: “We agreed that within a month our colleagues will finalize this work [on the draft law ‘On Architectural Activities in the Russian Federation’] and we will prepare a draft federal law. We will do everything to speed up [its] adoption.”
“We want to gather the experience and opinions of all (at least the most active) participants in the Russian construction industry into one place, since the draft law will affect the activities of the entire industry. Our co-initiators were the NASD and UAR. We ask that all architects, urban planners, builders, developers, and government sector representatives comment on the points of the draft law and, if necessary, form their own proposals based on their personal experience in the industry. We plan to collect proposals and comments in a month, after which we will complete the report, post it for public access on the platform, and provide all the details to the Ministry of Construction for accounting as part of the work of the Ministry of Construction’s working group on this draft law,” said Evgenia Murinets, Director of the Urban Policy Institute.
The MARCH Architecture School acted as the operator of the project, which is supported by the Agency for Strategic Development CENTER, the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, and the Archcouncil of Moscow.