Russian Architecture Research Articles

ERASING OR RESTORING UKRAINIAN HERITAGE

In Ukraine, heritage has been a battlefield since World War II. In those years, the Kyiv reconstruction was dominated by Russian architects, and Ukrainian architects were marginalized in their own city. However, restoration of churches slowly became a topic where policy changed from Stalin’s doctrines to his successors’ principles, and where Ukrainian builders managed to gain some success in heritage protection. This prevailed more after independence in 1991. The present war that Putin triggered against Ukraine is accelerating heritage issues. The destructions of this war have hit all types of buildings, but some of the reactions of the people in charge should arouse worry for the preservation of the 20th century heritage. The obvious lack of interest for the modern heritage of the 1920s and 1930s, or even for the more classical Stalinist buildings of the 1940s and 1950s, expresses a kind of selective memory. Soon this may lead to regrettable deletions, adding more disaster to the destructive traces that the war has already left. Consequently, and despite the many ghosts left by the Soviet regime (something which understandably led to the controversial decommunization laws), more studies should be launched on the Constructivist and Stalinist legacy in particular, in order to help saving this significant part of Ukraine history. This research could be useful when the reconstruction and conservation of the damaged towns eventually begins.

КРИТИКА И.Е. БОНДАРЕНКО АРХИТЕКТУРНОЙ ПРАКТИКИ ПЕРИОДА ЭКЛЕКТИКИ

The formation of a bright representative of the neo-Russian style of architect, architectural historian and art critic I.E. Bondarenko partially coincided with the period of mature eclecticism. Of interest is his attitude to the work of his contemporaries, recorded in the "Notes of the artist-architect" written by him in 1939-1940, which were published only in 2018. A separate theme of the memoirs is the evaluation of the period of eclecticism in the architecture of Russia. Together with the comments on the notes, plans and exhibition programs stored in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts (RGALI), they demonstrate the wide scope of his criticism.

Церковь Сурб Геворг в с. Султан-Салы. «Русско-византийский» стиль в храмовом зодчестве донских армян

In the settlements of the Don Armenians, founded in the last quarter of the 18th century by immigrants from the Crimea, many churches were built. By the beginning of the 20th century, more than ten stone churches were erected on the territory of the Armenian district. One of them is the Surb Gevorg church in the village of Sultan-Saly the architecture of which this study is devoted to. It was built in the 1860s in the “RussianByzantine” style, which stylistically distinguishes it from the rest of the temples of the Don Armenians, even those whose construction was chronologically close to that of Surb Gevorg. The temple is a unique example of the appeal of Armenian Gregorians to this style. The article presents the conclusion that the church was built according to the pattern projects of K. Thon designed in 1838. Based on archival written sources, drawings, photographic materials, and on-site observation, the author of the article studies the initial project, which remained unimplemented, the history of construction and architecture of the church of Surb Gevorg, and its place in religious construction of the Don Armenians and Russian architecture of the 19th century.

Russia’s return to Africa in a historical and global context: Anti-imperialism, patronage, and opportunism

ABSTRACT This article contextualises Russia’s involvement in Africa through the lenses of the Soviet past, current rulership architecture in Russia, and its recent operations abroad. Russia deploys normative justifications like anti-colonialism to justify its involvement in Africa. Russian agents in Africa are drawn from vast political-oligarchic patronage networks, making these agents perfectly suited to operate in patronage-political contexts that are widely observed across Africa. The diffusion of Russian power projection is therefore likely a strength and not a weakness. The article further shows that Russian activities during the 2010s have predominantly been driven by opportunism as opposed to an attempt to turn Africa into a theatre of competition with the US and NATO, yet it seems that more strategic guidance is likely in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resultant increase in tensions with the West.

Osvaldo Romberg’in Enstalasyonu, Moskova’dan İzmir’e Melnikov’un Evi, Ölçek 1

This exhibition review within the disciplines of contemporary art, installation art and architecture, focuses on artist Osvaldo Romberg’s installation Scale of Melnikov House from Moscow, to Izmir (Moskova’dan İzmir’e Melnikov’un Evi, Ölçek 1) exhibited in the PORTİZMİR’07 Mirage and Desire Contemporary Art Festival, Izmir 2007. In Scale of Melnikov House from Moscow, to Izmir, Romberg lays a footprint of Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov's Home-studio. The artist also integrates a text from the Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges. This research draws parallels between Romberg’s installation, intersecting cylindrical structure of Melnikov’s home-studio and the ideals of Soviet Union. The notions of non-hierarchy, equal distance to the center and equal distribution of the building’s weight are visible in Melnikov’s architecture who removed columns as central carriers. These notions can also be seen in the book Aleph, for the Aleph is a sphere. Whoever looks at Aleph sees simultaneity and infinity. Accordingly, this study inquires how Romberg revisited historical contexts and used these two references to convey his concerns on simultaneity and infinity. He invites the viewer to develop a new perception towards world history, time and space and interrelatedness of histories and places. To conclude, this review aims to reinterpret Romberg’s work in light of these two references.

DIALECTICS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND AESTHETIC COMPONENTS OF THE NATIONAL STYLISTICS IN RUSSIAN ARCHITECTURE OF THE 18th – THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 19th CENTURY

The purpose of the study is to examine the characteristics of Russian architecture of the 18th–the first third of the 19th century in the context of the dialectical nature of the philosophical and aesthetic views of the Russian Enlightenment era. The study of philosophical and aesthetic sources of the origin of the Russian national style in architecture during the 18th–the first third of the 19th century is relevant in the time of postmodernism with its stylistic diversity and desire to develop the national component of Russian architecture. In the process of the study the dialectical approach was used, on the basis of which philosophical and aesthetic views and works of architecture are examined from the position of the principle of dialectical contradiction. The dialectical duality of the philosophical and aesthetic views of the Russian Enlightenment was expressed in the union of opposites of the universal and the individual, in emphasizing the importance of the national component in art, which was reflected in the Russian architecture of the 18th – the first third of the 19th centuries, in which were combined the universal stylistic characteristics of baroque and classicism and traditional original national features.

Towards a Definition of the Term 'Nature-Equivalent Architecture'

This research aims to characterise and systematise ‘nature-oriented' movements in architecture and seeks to define the proposed term ‘nature-equivalent architecture'. The authors aimed to introduce readers to current global interdisciplinary relations between landscape architecture, environmental crisis and architecture in Russia, the discussion of which is closely aligned with global processes in these spheres. It is necessary to define and separate numerous related definitions of what is known as ‘green' architecture in Russia. For this purpose, the present research provides an overview of the Russian literature on this subject and analyses creative concepts related to nature-equivalent architecture. The research methodology is based on the study and comparison of the world experience and the experience of designing ‘nature-equivalent' architecture within the walls of the Moscow Architectural Institute. The results of this research are applied in design training in the Landscape Architecture department of the Moscow Architectural Institute. The proposed concept of nature-equivalent architecture, at a worldview level, sets an overarching goal for architects, landscape architects, urbanists, ecologists and other specialists: to create a truly ‘natural' city which is a geoequivalent to a natural landscape. Theoretical and historical prerequisites of this theory can be found when comparing numerous terms existing in Russia and evolutionary terms that define related concepts. Nature-equivalent architecture is defined as a theory that integrates numerous synonymous definitions. As its name signifies, it recreates the quality of nature in an architectural environment. A historical and theoretical basis for the development of what the authors call ‘the nature-equivalent' movement in architecture can thus be identified. The research proves that Russian architects perceive landscape architecture as a global creative method.

Творческая деятельность гражданского инженера Максимилиана Арнольда в Чите

Рассматриваются ранее неизвестные историко-архитектурной науке страницы творческой биографии русского архитектора, гражданского инженера, техника-строителя профессора архитектуры М. Ю. Арнольда. Приводятся краткие исторические сведения об основных этапах и результатах его профессиональной и научно-педагогической деятельности в центральной части страны. На основе архивных данных и материалов натурных обследований, полученных автором в 2021 году в ходе научной экспедиции по городам Дальнего Востока, Забайкалья и Якутии, представлена полная картина деятельности М. Ю. Арнольда в Чите в конце XIX века.

Архитектура консульств инженера Юлия Жданова

Статья посвящена творчеству русского инженера Ю.П. Жданова в Харбине. Выделены объекты, в которых располагались консульские учреждения: нидерландское консульство в особняке Чистякова, консульство Японии в здании Харбинского отделения Южно-Маньчжурской железной дороги и две постройки, по некоторым данным, его авторства – консульство Португалии в особняке Скидельского и резиденция генерального консула Японии. Представлен анализ объемно планировочных и стилистических особенностей этих зданий. Приводится краткий экскурс в историю развития консульских учреждений в Маньчжурии. Прослеживаются этапы присутствия России на Дальнем Востоке и ее влияние. Полученные результаты являются основой для дальнейшего исследования творчества русских архитекторов в городах Маньчжурии (Северо-Восточный Китай) в период первой половины XX века.

Сказание о Тихвинской иконе Богоматери как источник по истории организации строительства в России первой трети XVI века

Introduction. At the turn of the 15th – 16th centuries, a new stage of development began in the history of Russian culture, marked by acquaintance with Western European traditions. This process was especially pronounced in the monuments of ancient Russian temple architecture and was reflected in the active construction activities of Italian masters invited to Russia by Moscow rulers. For art historians, one of the important problems in the study of ancient Russian architecture is the process of organizing construction activities. Despite the large number of surviving architectural monuments of the 15th – 16th centuries, evidence of the construction process is fragmentary. In this regard, the introduction of new sources on this issue into scientific circulation is an urgent task. Methods and materials. The work is focused on the analysis of the text of one of the copies of the Tale of the Theotokos of Tikhvin, kept by the Manuscript Department of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (NIOR BAN, Collection of the Archeographic Commission No. 157). It contains information about the construction of the porch of the Assumption Cathedral in Tikhvin obtained by textual comparison of a number of lists of Tales. Analysis. During the study, one of the plots of the Theotokos of Tikhvin was analyzed and the peculiarities of the organization of the construction process in Tikhvin in the first third of the 17th century were revealed. Results. In the process of studying the plot on the construction of the cathedral porch, the stages of construction work carried out from April to June 1537 were restored. In the text of the Tale there is one of the earliest references to the “sovereign drawing”, in accordance with which the porch was built.

THE CONCEPT OF A “WARM” CITY IN THE ARCTIC: BASIC IDEAS OF COMFORT IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT (THE CASE OF WESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA)

Arctic architecture has continuously been developing as a fusion of approaches: from creating cities under domes to bringing mainstream built environments up to high latitudes. It still is a frontier for urban studies, design and architecture. This article reports a work currently in progress and aims to introduce the concept of an emotionally “warm” Arctic city.
 We perceive Arctic city cold both in physical and mental ways. Physical coldness is connected to the material urban environment. In the case of the Russian Arctic (particularly, Western Siberia), architecture and urban design became ideological tools of “normalising” the region during vast industrial development in the last century. Hence, a city in the High North replicates the visual appearance and infrastructure of a Soviet/Russian city in a temperate climate. The unadapted urban environment adds to the emotional “coldness” of Arctic city. Most industrial cities in the Russian Arctic function as a base for the fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) method for the ongoing oil and gas mining development. The city is perceived as a temporary state of living, influencing one’s physical and mental well-being and shaping unsustainable attitudes towards the region. 
 The concept of a “Warm” city is a system of design and architectural tools aiming to make physically comfortable and emotionally mindful for inhabitants of the Arctic city. By analysing global and local examples (theoretical and practical works), we discuss opportunities to create an urban “shell” for protecting and sustaining human physical and mental wellbeing in the extreme environment of the Arctic.

Architectural Proportion from an Empirical Standpoint

Proportion has long been central to theories of design and architecture before its role was questioned in the mid–twentieth century. In spite of this scrutiny, no definitive conclusion has been reached on the question of how proportion affects experience of the built environment. Here, an architect and a scientist attack this question from an empirical standpoint. They argue that, as a starting point, it is important to understand under which conditions proportions are perceptible by the flesh–and–blood person who moves freely through the built environment and observes it under various distances and angles. The authors begin by surveying the work of two forerunners of empirical study of proportion: The Russian architect and educator Nikolai Ladovsky, whose “psychotechnical” approach was inspired by scientific psychology, and the Dutch architect Hans van der Laan, who developed the theory of plastic number concerned with proportions of three–dimensional objects, and whose approach was strikingly similar to scientific approaches. Following an analysis of informal studies by Ladovsky and Van der Laan, the authors examine implications of such studies for education in architecture and interior design, and then describe two approaches to investigating architectural proportion formally, by methods of sensory psychophysics.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОЙ АРХИТЕКТУРЫ УРАЛЬСКИХ ЗАВОДОВ В ЭПОХУ КЛАССИЦИЗМА

The article considers the distinctive architectural features of the complexes of the Ural factories at the beginning of the 19th century in the context of the spread of Classicist architecture in Russia. It highlights the main reasons for the mass restructuring of factories in the region at the beginning of the 19th century – the dilapidation depletion of wooden structures, the fire hazard of factory buildings and the depletion of wood resources for new buildings. The connection between the Ural factory architectural tradition and the tradition of Moscow and St. Petersburg is indicated. On the example of the Kamensk and Votkinsk factories, the author marks distinctive regional features of the application of the style to factory buildings and analyzes their similar features by using the example of those typical buildings, summarizing it all in general trends such as avarice in the use of decorative techniques, ensemble character, and a utilitarian combination of all buildings, taking into account the established regional industrial traditions in order to optimize production.

Неоклассицизм в архитектуре 1900–1910-х годов и поэзии акмеизма: к вопросу общности проблемного поля

The article attempts to compare the programs of Neoclassicism in Russian architecture and poetry of the 1900s and 1910s. The convergence of two unrelated types of art allows however to reveal the commonality of the problem field. The similarity was revealed in the following issues: the chronological boundaries of the style, ideological attitudes among neoclassicists, perception of historical tradition, actualization of the problem of mastery, and terminology used. The field of neoclassical poetics and architecture is also united by the contradictory goals of the style: the revival of the classical ideal is impossible in the situation of multidirectional stylistic trends of the art in the beginning of the century. The interdisciplinary analysis of the poetics and architecture of neoclassicism has allowed us to understand the position of architecture in the board context of neoclassical culture and to point out that the formation of the architectural style is determined by the unity of the artistic process.

Деревянное церковное зодчество Онежского Поморья: источниковедческий и историографический аспекты

The article is devoted to the history of studying the architecture of the Onega Gulf of the White Sea. The description of the area is already found in travel notes of the 16th century, but the monuments of wooden architecture of this region were introduced into wide scientific circulation only in the late 1880s by academician V. V. Suslov. In addition, the historiography of the theme of wooden church architecture of the Onega Pomerania was accompanied by the research and publication of sources, on the basis of which their critical assessment was later based. So, the Archaeological Commission in 1911 published a list of churches in the Onega district in the “Description of monuments of Russian Architecture in the provinces”. The study of the architectural heritage of the Onega Seaboard was resumed only at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, when the publications of I. B. Purishev, Yu. S. Ushakov, and M. I. Milchik were published almost simultaneously. Their articles and essays, along with materials published in the pre-revolutionary years, formed a solid basis for further scientific research in the 2010s, which presented the construction history and contextual analysis of temples in Unezhma, Purnema, Iur’eva Gora, Nimen’ga, Liamtsa, Pushlakhta and Letniaia Zolotitsa. On the basis of written sources (including unpublished materials of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, the Moscow Kremlin Museums, the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) a significant body of archival primary sources on the history of wooden church building in the Onega Gulf of the White Sea, related to monastic clerical work, state accounting materials, documents of diocesan administration bodies, was identified. At the present stage, the main research approach can be called the expansion of the factual base due to, first, the introduction into scientific circulation of previously unknown documents clarifying the construction history of a particular object; secondly, the appeal to the restoration materials of the Soviet era, containing correspondence, drawings, projects and measurements of the 1950s and 1980s; thirdly, the series of expeditions, the results of which are detailed measurements of monuments and graphic reconstructions. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number № 20-012-00356.

Увековечивание исторических дат при Николае II в культовых постройках (на примере 300-летия Дома Романовых)

The paper addresses religious buildings erected in memory of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. The tradition of erecting temples-monuments has deep roots in Russia. Memorial churches and chapels were erected in honor of military victories and important historical events. In memory of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, a large number of both civil and religious buildings were built on the territory of the Russian Empire. Many of them were created in the neorussian style, and are of particular importance for the development of Russian architecture today. Today, there is a great public interest in the personality of Nicholas II, in the House of Romanov, in the historical events of the early 20 century and in the art and architecture of the 1910s. Unfortunately, many of the architectural monuments of this period are still poorly studied. This also applies to the religious buildings erected for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, only a small part of which is introduced into scientific circulation. During the study the author drew upon archival and bibliographic sources on the chosen topic and used the methods of stylistic and iconographic analysis of the features of the architecture of memorial churches and chapels, and the comparative method. Results obtained allowed providing a list of religious buildings in memory of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, which includes 42 churches and 16 chapels.

Вифания митрополита Платона в зеркале русского романтизма

The Bethany (Vifaniia) Monastery was founded by Metropolitian Platon as his own residence and future shrine in 1783. During his lifetime the monastery became an important spiritual and intellectual center: Ivan V. Lopuhin, Ivan M. Dolgorukov, Ivan P. Turgenev, Fyodor B. Lubyanovskiy, and Emperor Pavel I were among the visitors, the Bethany Monastery was mentioned in Elisaveta P. Yan’kova’s memories as well as in the M. Wilmot’s and F. de Miranda’s writings. Shortly after the Platon’s passing, his monastery fell into disuse despite the imperial family patronage. The extensive repairs performed by Metropolitian Filaret (Droszdov) in the 1820 1830s have resulted in serious harm. However, in the same time, there was growing interest in the Vifaniia Monastery and the personality of Metropolitian Platon. In the writings by the Russian authors of the Romantic Age Andrew N. Murav’ev, Stepan P. Shevyrev, and Pavel P. Svin’in, the Vifaniia obtained “the second life”. The destruction of the monastery, coming soon after its suppression in the 1920th, didn’t allow the next wave of interest in the Vifaniia (particularly from researches of the 18th-century Russian architecture) to develop further. This article focuses on the perception of this unique orthodox monastery of the Age of Enlightenment in the travel narratives by the Russian romantic writers.

Ancient Russian architecture in painting of the late 1950s-1960s. Form stylistic sand soul vibrations

Ancient Russian architecture in painting of the late 1950s-1960s. Form stylistic sand soul vibrations

XXI festival “Zodchesvo in Siberia 2021”

The Festival “Zodchestvo of Eastern Siberia” was founded at the turn of the millennium. The first Festival was held in 2001 at Irkutsk Sibexpocenter and caused a massive outcry among the architectural community in Siberia and throughout the country.
 Later the Festival “Zodchestvo of Eastern Siberia” became one of the most important annual architectural events in Russia. The first participants of the Festival were the architects from Eastern Siberia (such cities as Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, Chita and Krasnoyarsk, republics of Buryatia, Tyva, Khakassia, as well as Ust-Ordynsky and Aginsky national districts of Buryatia). Since 2007 architects from Western Siberia (Omsk and Barnaul) have also participated in the Festival. The Festival becomes open.
 The most topical issues are discussed at the Discussion Club of the Festival. Among the most prominent experts are A. Rappaport, O. Vendina, L. Kogan, A. Vysokovsky, A. Gimelstein, A.Kaftanov, M. Rozhansky, V. Dyatlov, A. Ivanov, D. Fesenko, A. Sirina, A. Finogenov. Prominent Russian architects give master classes, which enjoy great popularity. Thanks to the Festival, within twenty years, Siberian architects have met with masters from the capitals: Y. Gnedovsky, A. Asadov, S. Kiselev, A. Skokan, A. Bavykin, V. Plotkin, A. Savin, A. Cheltsov, A. Pavlova, S. Skuratov, N. Yavein, T. Kuzembaev, M. Mamoshin, Yu. Zemtsov, A. Bokov, T. Bashkaev, S. Gnedovsky, A. Chernikhov, V. Kuzmin, foreign architects M. Drahovsky, D. Dendra, G. Stanishev, as well as Siberian experts I. Popovsky, A. Myakota, P. Anisiforov, A. Dering and many other colleagues.
 The organizers consider the Festival to be a preparation stage for the International Festival “Zodchestvo” in Moscow. “Zodchestvo of Eastern Siberia” is traditionally held in Irkutsk. In 2014 it was first held in Krasnoyarsk, and in 2017 Krasnoyarsk housed the Festival for the second time. In the same year, Altai architects proposed to hold the next Festival in Barnaul. Thus, the Festival went beyond the borders of Eastern Siberia. We decided to maintain the name of the Festival, filling it with a new geographical meaning: “Zodchestvo in Siberia”. In 2018 the Festival was held in Barnaul, the capital of Altai, and in 2019 it was held in Tomsk. The twentieth-anniversary event took place on the native land, the city of Irkutsk. This year, Kemerovo celebrates the 300th anniversary of Kuzbass and hospitably hosts the Festival “Zodchestvo in Siberia 2021”.

Состояние природных ландшафтов крестьянской усадьбы в деревне Асташово Костромской области и перспективы их развития

The historical information about the village of Astashovo and the owner of the peasant estate M. Sazonov is presented. Detailed information is given about the peculiarities of wooden architecture by the Russian architect I.P. Ropet (Petrov Ivan Nikolaevich, 1845-1908), according to whose sketches and drawings a tower house was built in the village of Astashovo (Ostashevo). The results of landscape analysis of the territory adjacent to the tower house, the former village of Ostashevo, are presented. The data of the inventory of tree plantations and their assortment are presented. Particular attention is paid to the glade, the place where the village was located, and the herbaceous plants that form the glade. Two options for improving the grass cover of the glade near the restored tower house are considered, the substantiation of the selected options is given.