Kommunarka as a Memory Space: the Conflict of Place Historicity and New Urban Area Image Formation

Research topic: “KOMMUNARKA AS A MEMORY SPACE: THE CONFLICT OF PLACE HISTORICITY AND NEW URBAN AREA IMAGE FORMATION”, the volume of work - 154 pages A4, Sources and literature - 52. Key research question: how the historical memory of a place is reflected in the perception system of a new urban space; what agents formulate the perception system and historical memory around the objects located in it, do these agents enter into conflict and what is its dynamics? Object - Kommunarka village and adjacent territories, objects as a unit in the system of territorial formation of New Moscow. The subject is the existence in the village of an implicit historical context in the perception system of the newly constructed modern urban environment. The goal is to establish how possible the presence and preservation of the history of a place in the system of perception of newly created artificial urban entities is possible. Tasks: 1) the study of theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of a new urban environment: the concepts of urban environment, post-metropolis, exopolis; 2) the study of theoretical and methodological approaches to determining the historicity of a place: the concept of historical memory, commemorative practices, memory places; 3) the study of theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of perception of urban space: the concept of a geographical image, perception of space; 4) definition and typologization of objects of historical memory on the territory of Kommunarka; 5) the identification of existing figurative narratives regarding the Kommunarka as part of New Moscow, the definition of their agency; 6) an assessment of the reflection of the historical memory of a place in the perception system of new building blocks. In the course of the study, historical plots that make up the cultural landscape of the place were identified, and their inclusion in the system of perception of space was analyzed and the agency determined. Historical plots are: manor history, repressive history, state farm history. The perception system is constructed differently by the old-timers of the village and by people living in Kommunarka from the moment of its cardinal transformation and transformation into a new city formation. The historicity of the place is both supported and ignored by different groups. It is not included in the system of images, however, “old-timers” are constantly “living” in memories and everyday spatial practices, while new residents can read certain stories through signs of visual elements of the urban environment.