Adaptation or Imitation: The Search for a Comfortable Urban Environment in Arctic Cities

  • Sofia Prokopova Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (UrFU)
Keywords: Arctic architecture, urban environment, Arctic urbanization, Russian North, decolonial critique, architectural space, targeted approach

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the architectural ideas for the formation of a comfortable urban environment in the Russian Arctic in order to show the connection between design representations and the perception of the Arctic as a peripheral resource base. Despite recognizing the uniqueness of the region, Arctic architecture today is limited to transforming the urban environment based on the urban mainstream or creating a closed environment to replace open public spaces. We hypothesize that these approaches are based, firstly, on an ongoing attempt to “appropriate” the region through its “comfortization”, which actualizes a decolonial analysis of the prevailing design representations. Secondly, the search for an adapted approach faces the complexities of architecture’s “understanding” of the region, leading to recourse to common approaches or the imitation of familiar architectural environments in artificial microclimates. Consequently, there is a need to abandon the “southern” view of the Arctic and to develop a conceptual framework based on an understanding of “northernness”.

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Author Biography

Sofia Prokopova, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (UrFU)

Junior Research Fellow, Arctic Design Research Laboratory, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (UrFU)

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Published
2025-03-31
How to Cite
ProkopovaS. (2025). Adaptation or Imitation: The Search for a Comfortable Urban Environment in Arctic Cities. Urban Studies and Practices, 10(1), 68-86. https://doi.org/10.17323/usp101202568-86