A review of dacha construction in the St. Petersburg province from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century (settlement typology and periodisation)
The historical and architectural heritage of St. Petersburg dacha (summer residence) as part of Russia’s cultural heritage was studied. The research methods included on-site inspections and architectural measurements, photo-fixation of studied objects, archive and museum search, historico-bibliographical search in the repositories of rare ancient books and cartographic divisions of scientific libraries. As a result, the phenomenon of "dacha recreation" was studied. Specific features of the St. Petersburg dacha environment were revealed. On the one hand, the dacha environment is associated with the traditions of spatial organisation of cities and rural settlements in Russia. On the other, the dacha environment is characterised by originality and the absence of a rigid hierarchy in its planning and composition, with the natural environment representing the major formative factor. The determined periodisation of dacha construction included the 1703–1830s, 1830s–early 1860s, 1860s–1890s and 1890s–1917 periods. Areas of active dacha construction were revealed. Thus, dacha construction in the St. Petersburg province was performed predominantly along highways, waterways, railroads and coastline of the Gulf of Finland. A typology of dacha settlements was proposed, including dacha suburbs, dacha villages, dacha resorts and dacha settlements. These types were differentiated in terms of size and population, title and organisation of living activities, type of foundation and administrative status, as well as principles of 3D-planning structure. Particular attention is paid to the unique historical and architectural value of dacha settlements of the St. Petersburg province and importance of its exploration and preservation. It is proposed to use the traditions of creating highly-artistic and optimally-organised dacha recreation environments during the design of contemporary suburban recreational spaces.