A trend has taken shape in Russia: obsolete territories come to life thanks to contemporary art and public initiatives. New art objects, creative clusters and public spaces are becoming points of attraction for young people, business and even foreign experts.
The Urals business is actively involved in the creation of such spaces.
– Residents are the future of the city, they make it alive and changing. From time immemorial, cities have been competing for residents and want to be interesting for them. And we are building cities and strive to make them modern and comfortable, ”says Valery Ananyev, General Director of Atomstroykompleks, Honored Builder of the Russian Federation. – When we founded Atomstroycomplex 26 years ago, we thought that it would be a company playing an important role in the development of our native region. Therefore, we not only build housing, but also actively participate in the construction of roads, educational, cultural, sports facilities, and also create modern factories for the production of building materials.
In Berezovsky, Kamensk-Uralsky, Bogdanovich and other cities with the arrival of Atomstroycomplex, new jobs and opportunities for the development of small business have appeared. In Sysert, the company’s two factories have become the nucleus of an emerging eco-production cluster.
Entering the territory, a socially responsible company is also involved in the life of the local community, helping young people to carry out innovative projects, preserving history and at the same time filling the old industrial Urals with new meanings and ideas. So, in the center of Sysert, with the help of builders, another cluster is being formed – a creative one. Last year, the project “Summer at the Factory” was launched here: a public space appeared at the old ironworks, where lectures, concerts, craftsmen’s fairs and many other events take place.
– We have been supporting the Summer at the Factory project from the very beginning. White crushed stone was brought here from the company’s factories to fill the paths, we helped build the necessary premises, ”says Eduard Glyzin, director of the ATOM Cement plant (part of the Atomstroycomplex structure). – The development of the territory should be comprehensive. It is not enough to give the city jobs: leaving the factory after work, people should find themselves in a comfortable environment where they want to live, raise children, from where they do not want to flee for a better life to the regional center or to the capital. “Summer at the Factory” opened Sysert to the Urals people in a new perspective – as a place where new ideas are born and interesting events take place.
Now the people of Yekaterinburg are going to Sysert. And in May 2021, a visiting session of the federal program organized by the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, Architects.rf, took place at the Summer at the Plant site. The topic of discussion was the development of small towns, and the site itself was seen as a successful example of such development.
– Today, the centripetal force of million-plus cities is such that there is a risk of concentrating all capital there and, relatively speaking, wiping out all small cities of Russia from the face of the earth. This is not an option for our big country. It is necessary, on the contrary, to look for some meanings in small towns, – says the head of Sysert, Dmitry Niskovskikh.
– The development of the brand of the territory, its unique advantages plays a huge role in the development of the entire region. The Urals, where we are lucky to live and work, endows its residents with a special character, strength, hard work, solidarity, which allow us to implement amazing projects here, – Valery Ananyev is sure
By the way
In Yekaterinburg, “Atomstroykompleks” also held an event “with the Ural character” last year – the first street festival “CHO”, within the framework of which artists from all over the country created seven art objects. For this project, Atomstroycomplex received four prizes at the federal competition “Silver Mercury”, including first place in the nomination “Best Work to Create a Brand Influencing the Development and Promotion of Territories”.
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