Globalisation trends in Russian landscape architecture

Abstract

Globalisation in Russia is seen today as the spread of Western economic, political and cultural principles in all spheres of life. Russia had a very long history of borrowing architectural garden design and horticultural techniques from other countries. Global trends in Russian landscape architecture always reflected the political and economic directions and orientation of the country. Acceptance of Orthodox Christianity in 988 AD affected the development of Byzantium traditions in architecture and gardening. The era of Peter the Great (beginning of 18th century) adopted fashionable "global" European principles of French formal gardens - the symbol of absolute monarchy. Peter's famous paradigm of an "open window to Europe" is the classical example of Russian integration in "global" European culture and economy. The Russian Revolution of 1917 introduced the idea of a united "proletariat" culture. Soviet landscape architecture based on new modernistic socialistic principles was a prototype for Eastern block cultures for almost 70 years. After the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 and acceptance of a market economy, Russian landscape architecture is going towards globalisation very quickly. Globalisation and developing Russian contemporary landscape architecture reflects the unique character of the Russian economy and political system ("wild" market economy, polarisation of very rich and very poor social classes and corrupted political elite). There are two main streams in contemporary Russian landscape architecture: design of private villas and open urban public spaces design. Globalisation in landscape architecture expressed in borrowing elements of contemporary American and European landscape design languages (general principles, design elements for example "alpine or rock" gardens, big tidy lawns, ceramic pavement, pavilions, trellis, garden furniture, and even in plant and construction materials) that are supplied from Europe. In the era of global communications, an openness of Russian society globalisation process is unavoidable and unstoppable. There is great concern among specialists about homogenisation and westernisation of contemporary Russian landscape architecture and loss of national identity.