Transformation of perception and requirements for seaside towns, their saturation, architectural appearance

Introduction. The present-day life of Russian seaside towns, their architecture and aesthetics feature an urgent demand for improving the quality and adding new choice options for residents and guests, the variability in the functional saturation of architectural objects and, what is also extremely important, the holistic and comfortable appearance of buildings. Materials and methods. The author will consider how the perception of life in seaside towns has changed, what requests have appeared, and what can be done to meet them. These tasks will be considered in a social context from the standpoint of each category of residents. The author uses Sevastopol as a case city. Results. The author has identified rapidly changing workflow organization methods, tightening standards of comfortable places of residence, their surroundings, and tougher requirements for an urban environment as a whole. Artistic and stylistic unity, environmental aesthetics have become obligatory and integral constituents of comfortable living in a space capable of giving a quick response to the needs of a resident. It is necessary to trace the historical and modern trends inherent in a particular place, to understand what requests citizens have, what is needed for the harmonious development and life in it, what special features should be inherent in new residential buildings, what artistic and stylistic proposals are to be made. Conclusions. A set of common problems and requests, that require solutions and entail a number of circumstances creating discomfort in urban living, has been formulated for each category of citizens identified using cultural and economic criteria. To solve these problems, the authors suggests concepts of a development model, demonstrating multifunctionality and variability, creating a holistic comfortable environment, focusing both on socioeconomic issues and equally important aspects of architectural and stylistic perception. Recommendations on the “use” of this model and the development of urban appearance are also made.