Nikitin's apartment buildings in Chita

Abstract

The article reflects the results of the research conducted within the framework of the scientific project "Architects and engineers of the eastern suburbs of Russia (the second half of the XIX – beginning of the XX century)". The publication examines the creative activity of the famous Trans-Baikal architect, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts Gavriil Vlasevich Nikitin, who worked in Chita at the beginning of the XX century. Brief biographical information is provided concerning the educational training of the architect, as well as his professional activities on the "outskirts" of the Russian Empire. On the basis of archival data and materials of field surveys, seven preserved buildings of apartment buildings built in the capital of Transbaikalia according to his projects have been identified. A brief digression into the history of the construction of these facilities is given, their spatial planning and stylistic features are considered. Apartment houses authored by G. V. Nikitin are of unconditional interest for historical and architectural science not only as examples of regional architecture of the pre-revolutionary period, but also as an example of the work of this master on a private order. Carrying out projects for representatives of the Chita merchant class, the architect managed to create a number of expressive structures that met the socio-economic and aesthetic needs of his time, as well as set the tone for the subsequent development of the central district of the city. The study showed that the architect mainly worked in the forms of eclecticism, skillfully combining motifs and elements of different architectural styles, thereby managing to form his own, well-recognized author's handwriting.