THE CONCEPT OF A “WARM” CITY IN THE ARCTIC: BASIC IDEAS OF COMFORT IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT (THE CASE OF WESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA)

Abstract

Arctic architecture has continuously been developing as a fusion of approaches: from creating cities under domes to bringing mainstream built environments up to high latitudes. It still is a frontier for urban studies, design and architecture. This article reports a work currently in progress and aims to introduce the concept of an emotionally “warm” Arctic city. We perceive Arctic city cold both in physical and mental ways. Physical coldness is connected to the material urban environment. In the case of the Russian Arctic (particularly, Western Siberia), architecture and urban design became ideological tools of “normalising” the region during vast industrial development in the last century. Hence, a city in the High North replicates the visual appearance and infrastructure of a Soviet/Russian city in a temperate climate. The unadapted urban environment adds to the emotional “coldness” of Arctic city. Most industrial cities in the Russian Arctic function as a base for the fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) method for the ongoing oil and gas mining development. The city is perceived as a temporary state of living, influencing one’s physical and mental well-being and shaping unsustainable attitudes towards the region. The concept of a “Warm” city is a system of design and architectural tools aiming to make physically comfortable and emotionally mindful for inhabitants of the Arctic city. By analysing global and local examples (theoretical and practical works), we discuss opportunities to create an urban “shell” for protecting and sustaining human physical and mental wellbeing in the extreme environment of the Arctic.