LETI Launches New Project for Advanced Academic Spaces

St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI launches LETI Campus Design, the international interdisciplinary contest of architectural and design projects to transform four public spaces on the campus. The added value of this project is the initiative to develop project sites as spaces and test fields for research and science art projects.

The new contest continues the program to renovate the university's public spaces. The program started in 2021, on the 135th birthday of LETI, had a big public response. Participants in the previous contest "LETI – Future Academic Spaces" from 9 countries submitted over 200 projects. Winners of the LETI Lounges nomination were granted the opportunity to implement their project, and the university's students got new inspiring venues for meetings, events and self-study. Opening event of the new contest took place in the renovated lounge presented by its authors.

Objective of the LETI Campus Design is to improve the esthetics of the four public areas and strengthen LETI's identity as the leading science and engineering center. The creative approach of architects, artists, and designers will present ideas and inventions of the university's students and researchers. The submitted projects will reflect the historical and scientific heritage of the university.

The contest has four nominations. Contestants in the 1st nomination will redesign the "LETI Gateway" site. This space starts from the main entrance of the university, includes the archway to the inner part of the campus and a green area near the monument to Alexander Popov.

The 2nd nomination is the lobby of Building 5 and the adjacent corridors. It should become a flexible space for meetings, open lectures, and other events, strengthening LETI's image as a venue for congress events. It is also planned to use the outdoor terrace next to the cloakroom as a unique LETI venue for presentations and to turn the unused staircase into a venue for public lectures.

Nomination 3 "LETI Atrium" sets the challenge to transform the former ‘firewood yard’ of Building 1 into a multifunctional research, teaching, or congress area.

Nomination 4 will concentrate on intellectual leisure and sports. In addition to new spaces for research and smart pastimes, young designers will propose new looks for the facades of the modernized Anechoic Chamber.

Members of the Contest Jury and Organizing committee represent unions of architects and designers, academic and student communities, other experts.

In addition to the contest itself, the LETI Campus Design program offers a free educational program including the summer school ‘LETI Science-Art-Technologies’, expert lectures, and workshops.

Students and employees of LETI can share their vision for four public areas by filling in the questionnaire.