The skyline as a subject of protection of a historical settlement (on the example of St. Petersburg)

Abstract

The object of this study is the silhouette structure of the historical core of St. Petersburg, formed by the mid-1950s. The subject of the study is methods of protecting the silhouette of buildings in the system of protection of urban heritage. The study was conducted in order to develop an integrated approach to the protection of the silhouette of historical buildings, ensuring the preservation, maintenance and continuous development of the value features and parameters of the silhouette. Based on the analysis of the tools for the protection of cultural heritage, the most promising tool for the protection of a silhouette organization has been identified – the status of "historical settlement", the subject of protection of which is, among other things, the silhouette and composition of the building. According to the results of the study, an algorithm is proposed for identifying the most significant silhouette compositions of buildings recommended for inclusion in the subject of protection "composition and silhouette of buildings" of a historical settlement, and a silhouette protection mechanism has been developed, including the definition of the boundaries of the silhouette preservation zones and the introduction of restrictions on urban development within the boundaries of these zones, aimed at the preservation and continuous development of the silhouette of historical buildings cities. In order to identify isolated silhouette compositions of particular importance for the preservation of the historical environment, evaluation criteria correlated with the methods of assessing the historical urban landscape are proposed. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the systematization of approaches to the protection of the silhouette in the normative legal documents on the protection of urban heritage, the development of a system of criteria assessment and graph-analytical method, providing identification of the most significant silhouette compositions, their value features and parameters. The practical significance is determined by the possibility of applying the results of the study to supplement the regulatory framework for the protection of architectural and urban heritage. The system of criteria for assessing the silhouette of historical buildings can be used to identify valuable silhouette compositions and characteristics of the silhouette of buildings that are subject to preservation as a subject of protection of territorial heritage sites (historical settlement, landmark) in other regions of the Russian Federation.