The paper considers the lyrics of Homer poems dedicated to the interior architecture of buildings of Homer period (12-8^th B.C.), namely: urban and countryside houses, palaces of Alcinous, Menelaus, Nestor, Odyssey, Priam and others. The detailed description is given to town-planning aspects, functional purposes of different rooms, architectural elements, and parts, building materials and structures applied in decoration of different rooms. The household furniture and engineering facilities played a great role for the room design (heating and lighting) that provided comfortable conditions for their residents.

The development of the historical city in modern socio-economic conditions, promotes a number of problems, namely: excess compactness of historical centers, infill construction, dense traffic, lack of the attractive historical environment in view of dilapidation of objects having the historical and cultural value. The analysis is given for historical building in Irkutsk and urban planning which has to promote the creation of architectural look of the city, preservation and updating of the urban environment allowing achieving the architectural image according to the modern theory of urban planning.

The paper presents the historical settlement of Tomsk as a relevant problem of conservation of historical wooden buildings which form the architectural and artistic originality of this city. Along with the objects of cultural heritage, the problem of preservation of wooden buildings is considered herein. It is emphasized that their modern use is the main mechanism of preservation of historical buildings. The analysis is carried out for the implemented adaptation projects developed in design organizations of Tomsk. Examples are given for buildings which both retain and change their original functions. It is proved that the science-based function plays a crucial role in preserving the objects of cultural heritage and historic environment.

This article presents the general stages of housing development during 1940-50s of the past century. The described historical events have influenced the architectural and constructional preferences. This period of the architecture development is divided into stages. This division is based on the Five-Year Plans of the country. Each stage has its definite characteristics and specific construction conditions. The first stage includes the building construction using the local building materials. At the next stages, industrial building materials are used. The period between these stages is characterized by refuse from the traditional methods of construction. The industrial methods for house building become dominant. The number of floors increases from two to five. It is shown that the building construction in Tomsk has not only features similar to that of Russia but also differences. The stages of the architectural development in Tomsk coincide with those in the whole country.

The paper presents the urban development in Siberia in 18-19^th centuries which underlies the analysis of the Orthodox architecture formation. The architectural style impact of Russian Orthodox church on Siberia is shown in this paper. The structural analysis is given for Orthodox architecture in West Siberia. The past experience is generalized and characteristic features of churches are investigated herein. New notions are suggested for architectural styles used in this region.

The paper presents relevant problems of urban environment. The culture centralism and ethnocultural conditions are suggested as perspective humanistic direction of design solutions. The culture-vitalistic explanation is suggested to explain the attractiveness of the architectural antiquity. The most important conditions of the reproduction and development of the vital potential of citizens are considered to be the culturological and anthropo-ecological dimensions of the formation of urban environment.

The paper proves a necessity of indicators for the city-forming environment in planning the civil construction to implement the mission on creating the comfortable environmental conditions. The system of indicators is suggested for the development of the city-forming environment. The calculation results of these indicators are presented for urban areas of the Siberian Federal District. The forecast is given for urban areas of the Tomsk region.

The paper presents the investigation results on mechanical-and-physical properties of po­lymeric composites used for reinforcement. The values of the main strength and deformation properties are experimentally obtained for glass fiber-reinforced (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) under static axial tensile and compressive loads. The alkaline medium resistance of GFRP and CFRP bars is estimated in this paper. The deformation diagram is constructed for GFRP and CFRP bars under the static loads. The estimated coefficients are suggested for the dynamic strengthening of reinforcement under the dynamic load.

The paper presents the analysis of stress-strain state of axisymmetric elastoplastic rotational shells under the dynamic and static loads. Under the intensive loading, the deformation processes occur with the manifestation of the physical and geometric nonlinearity. Therefore, the task implementation is based on the use of numerical methods. The problem approach is based on the systems analysis, which implies the creation of several models of different complexity and implementation algorithms rather than one model for one structure. A comparison of the obtained results allows estimating the limits of applicability and accuracy of the different models and developing the efficient analysis of the stress-strain state.

The paper presents the theoretical and experimental results on the determination of deflections in concrete elements reinforced with carbon fiber. The calculation methodology is suggested for the analysis of deflection of reinforced concrete elements based on carbon polymer composites. The calculation results are compared with the experimental data obtained in the laboratory of the Siberian State Transport University.

The article presents the analysis of the temperature effect on the stress-strain state of the supported flexible plate with initial deflection with regard for physical and geometrical nonlinearities. The temperature varies by the linear law in the longitudinal direction. The tested metal plate (St3) consists of two panels partitioned by a support of а ´ b size and h thickness. The results of numerical calculations are presented and the obtained dependences of deflections and deformations on the temperature effect and initial deflection are analyzed. It is shown that modifications of mechanical properties of the material depend on temperature changes.

The paper presents research results on foamed concrete with the higher quality level and stability. The production methods of foamed concrete preparation are optimized. It is shown that the introduction of 0,01 wt.% crystalline glyoxal in 28-day age foamed concrete provides 50 % decrease of shrinkage deformation. Also, the average density variation factor decreases from 3,4 to 2,2 %, and the compressive strength decreases from 10,5 to 7,6 %. In the foamed concretes with crystalline glyoxal addition the quality class improves to B0.75 with reserving its D500 average density.

The paper presents research results on the effect of silicon dioxide additives having dif­ferent specific surface on the properties of cement brick. The technology factors are investigated in relation to the properties of cement brick. The analysis of regularities of increasing strength of cement brick with silicon dioxide and nano-SiO₂ additives is carried out. The X-ray diffraction and thermal analyses are used to explore the structure and phase composition of cement brick with additives. It is shown that the strength of silicon dioxide-modified cement brick of 28-day hardening increases by 30 % as compared to the test samples. The synergistic effect from silicon dioxide additives with different degree of dispersion is shown for the properties of cement brick.

The article focuses on the problem of heat losses of main pipelines due to moisture of insulation materials (mineral wool, polyurethane foam). The experimental results concern the moisture (partial, full) effect on thermal conductivity of insulation materials. The calculations and comparative analysis are given for heat losses using the standard techniques and TeploRoTr-2 software system. Research allows estimating the impact of the number of moisture-drying out cycles for mineral wool and polyurethane on heat losses of the main pipelines.

The paper discusses the application of the process approach for the lifecycle analysis of highly dangerous facilities including design, building, normative-technical support and operation. Design and development of the lifecycle model based on the process approach allow not only to increase the operation safety but also foresee emergency situations and timely correct the decisions oriented to their prevention. The analysis of the enterprise operation highlights the most critical processes, which require detailed studying based on the additional experimental and calculation research. The discussed problems of safe operation of energy objects and a possibility of implementing design solutions must prevent emergency situations and provide normal operation of machines.

One of the problems of natural resource development in Siberia is the absence of the advanced network of railway and automobile roads. Rocks unsuitable for the embankment construction almost over the whole region pose the problem of their transformation into suitable. The transport facility construction within the complicated Siberian conditions has accumulated the experience for the past two decades and expanded the list of local materials used in the structures, such as frozen clayey and peat soils. The durability and reliability of this soil mass depend upon its thermal conditions and stress-strain state. The suggested model takes into account the interaction between temperature field, moisture distribution, iceness, strain, and stress. The temperature and moisture have an effect on the stress-strain state of soil which, in turn, modifies the physical parameters of moisture and temperature field. This complicates the mathematical solution of the problem, but approximates it to the real behavior of embankments in Siberian conditions.

The article is devoted to the problem of stability of road pavements constructed under the conditions of frozen soils. The theoretical results are presented for the determination of allowable values of the pavement lift to provide its required homogeneity. The comparative analysis is conducted for the allowable lift value on account of the pavement homogeneity and roughness.

The paper presents results of dynamic testing of composite bridges with spans of large, medium and small length. The analysis of obtained vibration records is given with regard for the pavement defects. The amplitude/frequency dependences are obtained in relation to the defect size. The research findings allow estimating the dynamic properties of bridge spans and the presence of the pavement defects including the detection of the resonance state.

Brakes are the most responsible assemblies in lifting machines that determine the reliability and safety of operation. During their operation, the drag torque value changes that leads to emergency situations. This paper is devoted to the development of automated control methods for the drag torque and their use in safety systems of lift devices. The methods of detecting the drag torque of lift devices with electric drive are considered in this paper. The implementation of these methods in safety systems will protect them from emergency situations connected with malfunction of brake systems.

The paper presents the investigations of the development of national housing markets influenced by the global financial crisis. The analysis of price dynamics in housing markets and the estimation of the credit crunch ramifications are given for different countries. It is shown that the global financial crisis put an end to the long-term boom in the housing market. Based on the international analysis, the crisis impact is estimated not only for the decrease in price dynamics, but also in housing construction, the number of housing market transactions, availability of housing for young people and the growth in the owner occupied sector. It is concluded that stabilization of the housing market is the major political challenge the governments face nowadays.