rchitectural and Planning Environment of the Historical Settlements of Kyanda and Solozero on the Coast of the White Sea. Traditions and Transformations

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of architectural and planning environment of historical settlements in the Russian north on the example of the Kyanda village and the Solozero village in the Onega district, Arkhangelsk region. The Onega (Lyametsky) coast of the White Sea, where these settlements are located, belongs to the coastal Arctic zone, is characterized by high construction activity in the period of the Russian North exploration and settlement. It has retained a most abundant historical and cultural heritage. The study of historical settlements of the coastal Arctic zone allows obtaining new knowledge on traditional architecture and living space arrangements, as well as understanding the principles of harmony in space planning and construction.The work is based on archive studies of Kyanda and Solozero history. Graphical materials are used to illustrate the development of space planning design and architecture. Together with archive studies, this work employs the field ethnographic work method to gather and document the recollections of the local residents about their lifestyle, trade and economic activities, and lost architectural objects.The combined results of field surveys, archival and ethnographic studies enabled the authors to expose the reasons behind the formation of the structure of the settlements in question, obtain new knowledge on the wooden church architecture of the XVII–XIXth centuries, and identify the ways of rural environment transformation in the ХХth century. Graphical reconstruction of the church complex in the Kyanda village and the surrounding historical landscape has been carried out. The analysis of the settlements’ spatial structure helped to identify the principles of their organization.