Published on: 2026-10-05
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Today, more than 1,500 future professionals in the field of architecture are studying at children’s art schools in the capital. Over five thousand graduates in this specialty have entered creative universities and are mastering the profession at a new level. On Architect’s Day, celebrated on October 5, we talk about how Moscow art schools teach this profession.
Where future architects are trained
In Moscow, 151 creative educational organizations operate for children, under the jurisdiction of Department of Culture. Children can engage in music, theater, choreography, and visual arts. Additionally, an architectural direction is also offered in the schools.
The pre-professional and general developmental programs in the field of “Architecture” using computer technologies are offered by the “START” School of Arts, Timiryazev Children’s Art School, Art School No. 7, the I.F. Stravinsky School of Arts, and others. The training typically lasts from three to five years.
One example of successful work in the field of architectural education is children’s art school “START”. It is part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network under the “Cultural Heritage of Russia” program. Every year, 80 percent of its graduates enter specialized higher education institutions.
The “START” school also became the developer of the federal state requirements project and an additional pre-professional general education program in the field of architectural art called “Architecture.” Today, this program is implemented not only at “START,” but also in 450 schools across various regions.
The program includes art history, visual literacy, architecture, and design. Students learn to work with artistic materials and various graphic techniques, as well as architectural and artistic design. Subjects include drawing, painting, model making, computer modeling, and drafting. To enter specialized educational institutions, each student creates their own creative portfolio.
Every year, open defenses of diploma projects are held at the “START” school. Students present projects featuring graphics, models, and animated visualization. The topics of the works are highly diverse. Moreover, students regularly participate in major architectural festivals, exhibitions, competitions, and joint projects. An example of this is the opening of the exhibition “If Walls Became Water. Lina Bo Bardi” on July 10, 2025. For it, the students and teachers of “START,” together with the “GES-2” Cultural Center, prepared the installation “Wooden Masts.” Graduates of the school conducted several workshops for visitors, the concept of which they devised themselves, and acted as hosts.
In 2025, the “START” school participated in the “Birth of Scale” exhibition at the national center “Russia,” organized by the Yakov Chernikhov Foundation. For two weeks, students’ diploma projects were exhibited in the pavilion of children’s architectural studios. The school’s teachers also conducted master classes for the exhibition visitors.
Timiryazev Children’s Art School develops students’ ability to perceive and evaluate cultural values. Schoolchildren learn to depict three-dimensional spatial compositions on a flat surface, work with various artistic materials in different techniques, creating architectural compositions, models, and projects. Additionally, they master interpretations of architectural styles, analyze and generalize an artistic-constructive vision of the world. Students in the “Architecture” direction regularly and successfully participate in the review-competition “Children’s Architectural and Artistic Creativity” of the prestigious international festival “Zodchestvo”, held by the Union of Architects of Russia.
The “Architectural Creativity” program is implemented in the children’s art school named after I.F. Stravinsky for 13 years. Children hone their sense of composition, balance, and harmony on paper, learn to use a compass and other drafting tools, and also master model making. For example, students in the second and third grades of the architectural department created a model of the building of the I.F. Stravinsky School of Arts for the school’s 30th anniversary. This project became an educational exercise: the future architects recreated, in miniature, the appearance of the modern building with landscape and lighting.
Computer technologies in education
In Moscow schools of arts, programs for visualization and modeling are used as part of modern educational directions. For example, graphic editors such as Krita, GIMP, Paint.NET, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and CorelDRAW are applied for creating and processing raster and vector images. 3D modeling is taught using Blender and SketchUp. The basics of animation are taught with the help of Dragon Frame, TVPaint Animation, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Animate, and Adobe Premiere Pro.
Students learn about the fields where software is used and get acquainted with professions and specialties where such skills are in demand. They master the basics of working with programs through educational tasks, and then apply their knowledge and skills in their own creative projects.
Schoolchildren gain practical experience, as most programs are in demand in the professional environment. By mastering these tools, students become acquainted with design fields and decide on the direction of further study. The programs do not require additional adaptation and are available for children aged 10–17. Some of them are available for free, for example, Krita, GIMP, Blender, and SketchUp.
In the future, graduates will have prospects in areas such as 3D modeling, architectural design, visualization of architecture and interiors, as well as in other fields.
To learn how the capital has changed over the past years, which initiatives aimed at making citizens’ lives even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its residents in the near future, you can explore the large-scale special project on the portal mos.ru, dedicated to the development of key sectors of Moscow. Among them are transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and construction.
On the project page “Education” it tells about how educational institutions are transformed during reconstruction under the program “My School” and how the update affects the quality of education. Reequipping colleges allows students to acquire practical skills during their studies and receive professions in demand on the labor market.
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