On Russian Students' Day, HSE University-St Petersburg Opens a New Educational Space in Historical Rope Shop Building
A famous monument of constructivism—the Rope Shop of the Red Nailer factory—became a new educational building of HSE University-St Petersburg. Approximately four thousand students will study in the building at 25 Liniya Street on Vasilyevsky Island.
The grand opening ceremony of the new building, confined to Russian Students' Day, took place on Saturday, January 25. The event welcomed government officials, the Board of Trustees members of HSE University-St Petersburg, industrial partners, students and professors. A symbolic red ribbon was cut by Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Knyaginin, Vice Governor of St Petersburg, Nikita Anisimov, Rector of HSE University, and Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg.
The new educational space 'Rope Shop' is more than 20 thousand square metres of modern classrooms, coworking spaces, rooms for practical and project activities and museum and exhibition spaces. The building will host students of the School of Informatics, Physics and Technologies organised jointly with VK as well as educational programmes in the study fields of 'Media Communications', 'Sociology', and 'Public Administration'.
'Today is a remarkable event not only for St Petersburg but for our entire country—an opening of a new educational building of HSE University. I would like to thank the government of St Petersburg for the attention they pay to the educational system of the city. At the moment, HSE University is one of the leading Russian universities. It offers high quality and educational standards, very strong faculty and, consequently, high competition for enrolment. I am sure that, the new university building will host students from all the regions of our country and from abroad. It is important that the study fields which will be represented here are very up-to-date and in demand by the sectors of the national economy', highlighted Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation.
Vladimir Knyaginin, Vice Governor of St Petersburg, congratulated students of HSE University-St Petersburg on this occasion and underscored the importance of integrating educational space into the city environment. 'I am happy that engineers, builders, constructors, and architects carefully treated the heritage, and we have a true gem of constructivism which will work for the city, students and all of us. HSE University-St Petersburg gains such amazing objects, and I am looking forward to the opening of the Patriotic Institute building. I believe these will be two wonderful architectural masterpieces newly opened for the city, its citizens and tourists', highlighted Vladimir Knyaginin.
Nikita Anisimov, Rector of HSE University, underscored that Russian Students' Day was an important holiday for everyone, and celebrating it in St Petersburg was especially symbolic as it was where the traditions of national education had been formed. 'Dear students, professors, alumni, friends and special guests! I wholeheartedly congratulate you on our common holiday: Saint Tatiana's Day, Russian Students' Day. The day when we open our hearts for the future. You, students, are our future. Of course, we pass on our experience, knowledge and opportunities but the future is yours. The spirit of enlightenment has always lived and will live within universities. The traditions of this day root back to this place, the capital of the Russian Empire, St Petersburg, the city where we open this building. Remember—our university is always open for you, 24/7, this is your home. Happy holiday!'—Nikita Anisimov, Rector of HSE University, addressed the students.
Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg, congratulated all the guests on the occasion and underlined that the opening of the educational building in the historical monument 'Rope Shop' would become an incentive to develop new directions. 'Together with our partners, we present a new approach to organising the educational process. The key concept is integrating the competencies of HSE University and leading technology companies. In addition to conventional classrooms and laboratories, we created spaces which united educational and business environments. In the new building, we will develop an IT cluster, media communications and design. In 2025, the university will launch several new study fields, including the programme on architecture. Thus, on Vasilyevsky Island, there will be a new technological and creative educational cluster',—underscored Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg.
The restoration of the famous monument of constructivism, in which HSE University-St Petersburg students will attend classes, was performed by the company 'Setl Group'. Maxim Shubarev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the holding, is a member of the Board of Trustees of HSE University-St Petersburg. 'I am happy to see that the restoration of the Rope Shop allowed us not only to return a significant object of the cultural heritage to the city but also, thanks to our long-standing partner—HSE University, to fill this space with the spirit of science and education. The monument of architecture has become an Alma Mater, and today, it opened the doors for students of this respected educational institution. I hope that the wonderful and rich history of this building would create a special atmosphere here, motivating for knowledge, encourage new discoveries, achievements and creative processes',—stated Maxim Shubarev.
After the grand ceremony, Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg, gave the guests a tour around the Rope Shop. On the ground floor of the educational space, one can find workshops and studios of the School of Art and Design. In 2025, in partnership with the leading project companies and museum institutions at the federal level, the university will launch the new educational programme 'Architecture' here.
A part of the space in the Rope Shop will be occupied by the representative offices of HSE University-St Petersburg industrial partners—VK, BIOCAD, t2, Yadro, '1C', 'Yandex', 'Gazprom Neft', 'Lesta Games', RBC and others. The integration of the business environment into the educational process will allow students to work on real-life cases and tasks of the leading Russian companies from the first year of their studies.
In the framework of the strategic partnership with VK company, in 2025, the university will launch the School of Informatics, Physics and Technology, where they will train developers of informational systems, system architects, ML researchers and ML developers. The programmes are designed under the supervision of the leading experts of HSE University-St Petersburg and VK and will help to pass on topical knowledge and practical business experience to future specialists.
Besides, in 2025, the new educational building will host the new programme 'Software Development and Engineering of Computer Games'. The industrial partner will be the leading games developer in the CIS—'Lesta Games'. On the opening day of the Rope Shop, Gaukhar Aldyyarova, Head of Business Development of the company group, and Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg, signed an agreement on a strategic partnership aimed at the development of research activities and specialist training.
Under the unique metal frames of the Rope Shop, there is the Architectural Museum of Yakov Chernikhov. The cultural and educational space was created to promote the Russian architecture and the heritage of Yakov Chernikhov whose creative work was inextricably linked to Leningrad. The museum plans to hold open educational activities for St Petersburg citizens and tourists.
After the tour around the new building, guests, students and professors participated in a major cultural and educational marathon. The festival in honour of Russian Students' Day was opened by musician, show presenter and blogger Alexander Pushnoy. He was a moderator of the discussion 'Artificial Intelligence in Education, Creativity and Content'. The experts from VK and industry, designers, researchers, professors and students of HSE University-St Petersburg discussed the role, implementation and profit of AI in various professional spheres. The event was broadcast exclusively on the VK Video platform. Workshops, lectures, and expert discussions with the leading representatives of science, business and media spheres were available for more than two thousand people throughout the day.