INTERVIEW: Radoslav Zuk comments on architectural design curricula in Ukraine (03/18/01)

INTERVIEW: Radoslav Zuk comments on architectural design curricula in Ukraine

by Ika Koznarska Casanova

MONTREAL - Prominent Ukrainian Canadian architect Radoslav Zuk, professor of architecture at McGill University, who gained international recognition for his design of Ukrainian churches in North America, was invited by the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv to serve as head of the State Examination Commission for diploma projects in the faculty of architecture last June. This was the most recent of several such engagements at the Academy in the past 10 years.

Throughout his career, Prof. Zuk has served on juries of architectural competitions and student project reviews at leading universities, among them Harvard, MIT, Pratt, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rhode Island School of Design and Yale.

In 1992 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Ukrainian Academy of Art in recognition of "his significant contribution to the re-emergence of a national architectural school in Ukraine."

Prof. Zuk is a frequent guest lecturer in North America and abroad on design theory, cultural aspects of architecture and the relationship between architecture and other arts, topics on which he has also published a number of articles.

In August 2000 he was invited to present the opening address at the second annual Symposium on Systems Research in the Arts held in conjunction with the 12th International Conference on Systems Research, Informatics and Cybernetics in Baden-Baden, Germany. The motto for this symposium, whose topic was "Music, Environmental Design and the Choreography of Space," was taken from an earlier article by Prof. Zuk on the relationship between architecture and music.

In addition to his principal academic activity in Canada, he is also a professor of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, Germany, and an honorary professor of the Kyiv Technical University of Building and Architecture. In recent times he has been invited to present several guest lectures at the Technical University in Vienna, Austria, and the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, as well as to act as a visiting professor at the Istanbul Technical University and Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Summer School of Architecture of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia.

Among topics of Prof. Zuk's recent public lectures dealing specifically with Ukrainian architecture are: "Place, People, Time and Architecture," Symposium on Modern Ukrainian Religious Architecture in North America, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; "The Cultural Mission of the Diaspora," Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago; "Indigenous Constants and Stylistic Variants in Ukrainian Architecture," Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, Cambridge, Mass.; and "Ukrainian Architecture in the Context of European Culture," Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa.

Exhibitions of Prof. Zuk's design work, devoted predominantly to Ukrainian churches, have been shown in North America and Europe. In conjunction with the exhibition "Radoslav Zuk - Tradition and the Present - Ukrainian Churches in North America and Museum Projects in Ukraine," held at the prestigious Architekturgalerie in Munich in 1996, an exhibition catalogue was published, in German and English, as part of the gallery's monograph series. Most of the churches designed by Prof. Zuk for Ukrainian Catholic communities in North America in association with or as consultant to various architectural firms have been featured in leading architectural publications. Especially wide exposure has been given to the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson, N.Y., near the Ukrainian National Association's Soyuzivka estate, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of its construction in September 2000.

Prof. Zuk's work in new Ukrainian church architecture was first shown in Ukraine at the National Museum in Lviv in 1990, and subsequently in major cities in Ukraine, including an exhibition at the Ukrainian National Museum of Fine Arts in Kyiv in 1992.

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In a recent interview with Prof. Zuk, the following questions were posed to Prof. Zuk in his capacity as head of the examination commission for diploma projects at the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.

Q: As head of the examination commission for diploma projects, would you give an overview of architectural design curricula in Ukraine?

A: In addition to my close association with the Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, as well as the Technical University of Building and Architecture in Kyiv, I also had the opportunity to see student work at schools of architecture in Lviv and Kharkiv. My impression is that the curricula at these and other schools of architecture in Ukraine follow a similar norm.

Of course, each of these institutions has developed an individual profile of unique distinction, which is a function of the respective tradition and the current teaching staff.

An interesting feature of the curriculum of the academy is that teaching of architectural design is conducted in "master classes" - a tradition that dates back to the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and is still followed in the Academy of Fine Arts as well as the Academy of Applied Arts, both in Vienna, where a group of students works with the same professor, i.e., "atelier" master throughout their academic career.

Q: Do the curricula differ in any significant way from programs offered in North American or Western European universities?

A: Judging by the work produced in the diploma projects in Ukrainian schools of architecture, the respective curricula lead to similar results as in Western schools of architecture. Of course, in North America the strong autonomy of each academic institution has resulted in rather unique formal curricular structures, but in essence they cover similar aspects of the domain of architecture, and thus are a part of world culture of architectural education.

What is noticeable at Ukrainian institutions is a strong emphasis on the ability to plan complex projects, to carry them through to a high degree of completion and to present them with highly competent graphic means, lately also with the help of computers. Moreover, graduands who exhibit exceptional graphic talent receive the title "architect-artist." One can say that the command of pen-and-ink, watercolor and other media at the Kyiv Academy is on an extremely high level, almost unparalleled in the West.

Q: Do opportunities for student exchange programs with Western institutions exist?

A: The Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kyiv has ties with several Western European schools of architecture, in Belgium and Spain, among others. These exchange programs allow for small groups of students, together with an instructor, to periodically visit and study at the respective institution.

In general, the students in Ukraine seem to be very much aware of the current stylistic trends in the rest of the world and are able to incorporate them into their own work. The exchange programs provide the additional opportunity to come into direct contact with significant architecture abroad.

A number of alumni have also undertaken graduate studies at various institutions outside Ukraine.

Q: Would you comment on the range of projects?

A: The diploma projects tend to tackle very ambitious topics - large-scale urban projects as well as smaller projects of specific type such as cultural and community centers. The large projects include government and civic buildings, e.g., museums or concert halls, housing projects, sports installations, commercial centers, etc.

Q: Do they address current public and private needs?

A: Diploma projects based on public programs usually address given needs. It should be noted that the practice of recommending the best among such projects by the state examination commission for execution still exists. Whether under the current economic conditions these projects can be realized is another question. Some of the smaller projects are undertaken as a response to actual programs proposed by private or quasi-private clients, such as church groups or associations or, indeed, even individual sponsors. There is optimism that some of these will be realized in the near future.

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