Ivan studied within the Thinning research theme headed by Jiang Jun and Joseph Grima. In his project, entitled Infrastructure/Borderline: Structures That Shape the Landscape, Ivan compared the modern economic system with a feudal one arguing that its epicenter lies in the very heart of Europe – the gas deposits of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region that provides Europe with gas.

Wednesday’s installment of the weekly Studio Generale session included 3 guest speakers from McKinsey & Company, a world leading consulting company. If you ever struggled with trying to find a solution for a problem, delivering a clear presentation and working in a team, these tips, given by Stephan and Yermolai Solzhenitsyns and Vladimir Cernavskis can be useful.

Last week has been exciting. After almost 3 months of intense work on research topics, trying to gather as much information as possible and form a hypothesis, the students finally presented their intermediate findings at the Midterm Review.

Yefim studied in the Preservation theme group supervised by Rem Koolhaas. In his project, entitled Soviet Ideology of Preservation: How It Works Today, Yefim analyzed the methods of heritage preservation during the Soviet era and their influence on today’s life.

Victoria chose the Design research theme. Her work, entitled Emptiness with a History was devoted to the fate of the Rossiya Hotel.

The history of Berlin is layered with epochs. Thomas Flierl, a journalist and culture scholar, talked about the significance of the 20^th century history in Berlin’s city culture.

What makes up a city brand? Can there be one holistic campaign for the city, or is it a myth? How can different neighbourhoods reinvent themselves in order to adapt to the constantly changing environment? Students of the Urban Culture theme Marina Laba and Maria Semenenko talked to Ares Kalandides, the founder of In:Polis, a Berlin organization that offers integrated services for urban development, local economy, place management, and branding.

Set out to become a strong platform for young artists, Berlin is striving to offer as much support to the creative sphere as possible. Combining art and science, finding new funding schemes, developing networks — there are many initiatives with strategic plans on how to create a Berlin of the future.

This week the Urban Culture students are heading out for their fieldtrip to Berlin to compare the city with Moscow in terms of culture, memory and urban environment. Here’s what supervisor Anna Butenko says about the aims of the trip and places they will visit:

Maria Semenenko from the Urban Culture research theme talks about the first steps she is taking in her research project and the issues she would like to address in it.