Cooperation between the architectural institutes of Moscow and Mumbai at the RCSC site

Russian Center for Science and Culture in Mumbai

On October 21 on the initiative and at Zoom platform of RCSC in Mumbai an online lecture was held on the topic "Russian constructivists of early XX century and their influence on world avant-garde architecture". This lecture in English was organized by the RCSC in Mumbai with the help of Sophia Karanjia, a Russian compatriot of Art Candidate of Arts, together with the management of the Mumbai Academy of Architecture, and gathered over 70 attendees. The lecturer was Nikolay Vasilyev, Candidate of Art History, professor of the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MSUCC) and the Moscow State Academy of Arts named after V.I.Surikov. Before the start of the lecture, the Director of the Architectural Academy of Mumbai, Mr. Rohit Schinkre, gave the floor to the Director of the RCSC in Mumbai, Sergey Fandeev, who congratulated everyone on such an interesting event, briefly told about the architectural education in Russia, where the architectural specialty is studied in 117 higher educational institutions and in more than 60 colleges, about the achievements of Soviet and Russian architects and invited all students and teachers of the Academy to visit the RCSC in Mumbai after the lockdown. The floor was then given to Nikolai Vasilyev. The lecture was very well illustrated, interesting and therefore very informative. It was a continuation of the cooperation between the Mumbai Academy of Architecture and the architectural schools in Moscow, which was established earlier with the direct participation of the RCSC in Mumbai. Indian students with great interest learned about Russian artists of the early twentieth century avant-garde Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, architects Alexei Shchusev, Vladimir Tatlin, the Vesnin brothers, Moses Ginzburg, Konstantin Melnikov, engineer Vladimir Shukhov and many others. After the lecture there was a discussion, students asked questions, expressed their opinion and shared their impressions about what they had heard. The rector of the Academy of Architecture in Mumbai, Rohit Schinkre, thanked, on behalf of the students and the Academy administration, Nikolai Vasilyev, for the interesting lecture, as well as the RCSC in Mumbai for their assistance in its organization. He also expressed confidence that cooperation between the architectural schools of Mumbai and Russia and the holding of such events would become traditional. The Director of RCSC in Mumbai, S. Fandeev, assured the leadership of the Academy that the cooperation would be strengthened and continued. He added that this lecture would also be organized for architectural colleges of Pune.