Neoclassical Aestheticism in Pre-revolutionary Russian Architecture

Abstract

The neo-classical revival in Russian architecture, extending from the latter part of the first decade of this century until the Revolution, formed part of a larger cultural movement that encompassed both artistic and intellectual life during the decade before the Revolution. In the forefront of refined neo-classical aestheticism stood the journal Apollon which began to appear in 1909 under the editorship of the poet and critic Sergei Makovskii. Although primarily a literary journal with a strong interest in the visual arts, Apollon contained frequent commentary supporting the new classicism in architecture, as well as lengthy articles, copiously illustrated, on the neo-classical revival and its ideological significance. In this journal the revived classical form in Russian architecture was praised as an expression of nobility and grandeur that stood in opposition to the questionable (bourgeois) values of the style moderne — Russia’s equivalent to art nouveau and the Vienna Secession.1KeywordsClassical ElementStylistic IdentityApartment HouseClassical StyleAesthetic PrincipleThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.