Digital forms of representation of symbolic codes of Chelyabinsk

The article, based on the study of urban narratives of “genius loci”, identifies symbolic codes of the city, the generation and transmission of which emphasizes its uniqueness and affects the strengthening of the city's identity. The author's special attention is focused on considering the possibilities of new media and digital technologies in representing symbolic (cultural) codes of the city, expressed in the narratives of regional artists. The article describes the experience of creating digital projects in which, with the help of audiovisual means, an aestheticized reality is constructed that actualizes the idea of the value of the place, the potential of relevant multimedia genres and documentary portraits in forming the image of the “city in faces”, in emphasizing the status of Chelyabinsk as a city where art lives. The article presents a project related to the creation of original urban routes demonstrating the city that exists in the perception and imagination of creative people (urban imaginary). The author substantiates the importance of digital design in the practice of urban research and territory branding, proposes a concept of a digital city guide, which develops the ideas of the projects described in the article. The author proves the effectiveness of the digital storytelling method, soundscape, immersion techniques, gamification in creating a special travel format that immerses the hero – a creative person who represents the original optics of vision and feeling of the place – into the atmosphere of the city. The research is based on the semiotic approach to the study of urban text, developed in the works of R. Barth, Yu. Lotman, V. Toporov, the methodology of mental mapping by K. Lynch, which allows us to determine the figurative characteristics of the city, and the methods of digital humanities. The material that reveals the cultural codes of the city is a result of interviews with regional artists, organized as part of the project work and associated with the compilation of mental maps of the city, as well as works of art designated by the interviewees as significant for understanding their ideas about the city. The author notes that digital projects related to the popularization of regional art can act as an effective tool for representing the cultural codes of a city and creating its positive image in the external social and cultural environment.