russian neoclassical revival

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History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

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Russian Neoclassical Revival after the Revolution of 1905

Term Paper for History of Architecture (AP131)

Arnab Ghosh

Roll Number: 02216901611

Sushant School of Art and Architecture

FINAL DRAFT

IN the early 20th century, Russian architecture was dominated by diverse style known as the style

morderne which was the local Russian adaptation of the style art nouveau. Style modern peaked

between the year 1900 1904 and it manifested itself in denial of the old classical order which

comprised of flowing ornamental forms, curvilinear shapes, floral shapes and expensive artwork. High

costs and exterior limited this style to mansions, upper class building designs.

But this style was rejected by most upper class people as they preferred the traditional neoclassical

design which fitted their image of old gold . as a result style moderne slowly started loosing its

importance as a dominant architectural style in the russian society

the beginning


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Russian neoclassical revival was a movement in Russian culture, mostly distinct in architecture that briefly

replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of

1905 and the outbreak of World War I. the cultural and philosophical ideas of neoclassicism were

realized consistently in Russian architectural style between the period of 1910 and 1920. This was a

brief but influential period through which Russian architecture passed . during this time phrase , Russian

critics linked the revival of neoclassicism to the social shock of the 1905 revolution , this concept in the

architectural field was described as a reaction to the declining art nouveau culture in architecture .

After the revolution of 1905 , the Russian society dismissed art nouveau as the dominant style and

settled for moderation in architecture . Neoclassicism emerged as the ethically acceptable alternative

to the extravagance of the art nouveau culture .

It is characterized by blending of new technologies, steel frame and reinforced concrete , with

moderate application of classical order and the inheritance of Russian empire style of the first quarter

of 19th century . The new style took over specific roles, starting with sentimental country estates and

upper-class downtown apartment buildings. By 1914 it also became the preferred choice for schools

and colleges. In Moscow, all new cinemas of the period were built in neoclassical style, continuing the

old dramaturgical tradition . Depending on the function of the building, purity of the style varied from

refined Palladian heritage in luxury mansions to artificial, shallow decorations of functional apartment

blocks. All these buildings share one feature: Retrieval of Simplicity. Geometry of basic shapes, clean

surfaces, returned the integrity and monumentality that was lost in second half of 19th century

The pioneers

This revival was led by then young Russian architects as Ivan Fomin, Alexei Schusyev and Vladimir

Schuko, who designed the highly successful Neoclassical Russian pavilion at the Espozizione

Internationale in Rome in 1911. The Neoclassical Revival was also inspired by the Historical Exhibition

of Russian Architecture held in spring 1911 ,


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Ivan fomin Vladimir schuko

Russian pavilion at the Espozizione Internationale in Rome

History, art, other cultural influences

Russian Neoclassicism was another of the highly original phenomena of early twentieth century Russian

art. At a time when innovative explorations in form were very much in trend, artists like Alexander

Yakovlev, Vasily Shukhayev and Zinaida Serebryakova sought inspiration in the works of medieval

and Renaissance masters. They were, to a certain extent, following a path already taken by the Pre-

Raphaelites and the Nazarenes. Modern subjects are lightly formalized in their works in imitation of

the painterly and plastic styles of their great predecessors.

The interest in the Neoclassical architectural heritage of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

reflected the quests in pre-revolutionary Russian art for a form of universal beauty capable of

adorning and transforming the world. Like the masters of Art Nouveau, Neoclassical Revival artists did

not slavishly copy old specimens. They operated freely with order architecture, deliberately seeking

sharp and expressive plastic forms. Employing traditional classicist schemes for the parquet floors in the


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Prince Abamelek-Lazarev Mansion in St Petersburg, Ivan Fomin introduced an element of the grotesque

by greatly increasing the scale of the pattern. Working on the same project, Yevgraf Voroshilov did

the exact opposite, closely correlating the parquet compositions to the rest of the interior decor and

the general architectural space of the rooms.

Neoclassic buildings in Russia

Neoclassic style became a dominant style in Russian architecture especially

palaces , churches and utilitarian apartments

Examples from Russian History:

MARBLE PALACE

One of the first neoclassical structures in Russia , Marble palace is located between the Field of Mars

and the Palace of Quay , east of the New Michael Palace .

The palace was built by Count Gregory Orlov, the favorite of Empress Catherine the Great and the

most powerful Russian nobleman of the 1760s. Construction started in 1768 to designs by Antonio

Rinaldi, who previously had helped decorate the grand palace at Caserta near Naples. The

combination of lavish ornamentation with meticulously classicizing monumentality, as practiced by

Rinaldi, may be attributed to his earlier work under Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy. The palace takes its name

from its opulent decoration in a wide variety of polychrome marbles. A rough-grained Finnish granite

on the ground floor is in subtle contrast to polished pink Karelian marble of the pilasters and white

Urals marble of capitals and festoons. Panels of veined bluish gray Urals marble separate the floors,

while Tallinn dolomite was employed for ornamental urns. In all, 32 disparate shades of marble were

used to decorate the palace.

The plan of the edifice is trapezoidal: each of its four facades, though strictly symmetrical, has a

different design. One of the facades conceals a recessed courtyard, where an armored car employed

by Lenin during the October Revolution used to be mounted on display between 1937 and 1992.

Nowadays, the court is dominated by a sturdy equestrian statue of Alexander III of Russia, the most

famous work of sculptor Paolo Troubetzkoy; formerly it graced a square before the Moscow Railway

Station.


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Fedot Shubin, Mikhail Kozlovsky, Stefano Torelli and other Russian and foreign craftsmen ornamented

the interior with inlaid coloured marbles, stucco, and statuary until 1785, by which time Count Orlov fell

out of favour with the Empress, who had the palace purchased for her own heirs. In 17971798 the

structure was leased to Stanisaw August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland. Thereafter the palace

belonged to Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich and his heirs from the Konstantinovichi branch of the

Romanov family.

In 1843, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolayevich decided to redecorate the edifice, renaming it

Constantine Palace and engaging Alexander Brullov as the architect. An adjacent church and other

outbuildings were completely rebuilt, while the interior of the palace was refurbished in keeping with

the eclectic tastes of its new owner. Only the main staircase and the Marble Hall survived that refacing

and still retain the refined stucco work and elaborate marble pattern of Rinaldi's original dcor .

This palace is currently used to accommodate various exhibitions of the Russian State Museum and

other pieces of modern art culture .

TAVRICHESKY PALACE/TAURIDA PALACE , St Petersburg


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Catherine the Great hired the noted Russian architect I. E. Starov to design a palace using themes from

ancient Greece and Rome. Catherine the Great wanted to introduce more dignified styles. She had

studied engravings of classical architecture and new European buildings, and she made neoclassicism

the official court style.

When Gregory Ptemkin (Potyomkin-Tavrichesky) was named Prince of Tauride, Catherine the Great

hired the noted Russian architect I. E. Starov to design a palace using themes from ancient Greece and

Rome. Called Tauride Palace or Taurida Palace, the palace was blatantly neoclassical with

symmetrical rows of columns . Tauride Palace or Taurida Palace was completed in 1789, and was

reconstructed in the beginning of the twentieth century. Now called Tavrichesky Palace, the building

serves as headquarters for the InterParliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent

States.

BARRACKS OF PAVLOVSKY REGIMENT

The regiment is located along the west side of the Field of Mars, forming an integral part of one of St.

Petersburg's most impressive architectural groups. The barracks were built 1817-1819 by Vasily

Stasov, among Russia's foremost neoclassical architects. He used the walls of buildings already

standing on the site.. Before that, it had been the site of the Palace of Princess Elizaveta Petrovna who,

when she became Empress Elizabeth and moved to the Winter Palace, handed the building to her

favourite, Alexey Razumovsky. The 150-meter facade of the building comprises three monumental

columned porches decorated with martial bands. By contrast, the building's interiors were modestly

fitted, with the exception perhaps of the chapel, with colonnade of ionic columns. They were also one

of the few regiments that declined to remain neutral during the October Revolution, declaring for the

Bolsheviks and participating in the storming of the Winter Palace.The regiment was disbanded soon

after, and in 1928 the building became the headquarters of Leningrad's main electricity company,

later Lenergo. It served the same function until 2010, and is now being redeveloped as a luxury hotel.


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MODERN BUILDINGS DURING NEOCLASSICAL REVIVAL

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin

Located in the north of St. Petersburg, in the scenic grounds of the city's significant Polytechnic Institute,

which is itself a masterpiece of Russian Neoclassicism, this charming and unusual little church was

opened in 1913, only five years before the October Revolution. Plans for a church on the campus had

been mooted since the Polytechnic's founding in 1899, but it was not until a decade later that a

suitable design was approved. The architect, Iosif Padlevsky, taught technical drawing at the

Polytechnic, and produced a truly original design that combined traditional Russian village church

architecture with elements of Style Moderne. The building is dominated by its single, large gold dome,

and is noteworthy for the attractive combination of yellow plastering and bare brickwork that is used

to decorate the exterior. The church was richly decorated inside, with frescoes covering every inch of

the walls on both levels. The Church of the Intercession was closed in the 1930s, and became the offices

of the Polytechnic's Military Department. It was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1993. The church is

still undergoing restoration, helped by volunteers from the staff and student bodies of the Polytechnic.


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NEIDGART MANSION

The mansion was located in the center of St Petersburg and it used to reside Russias senators . The first

building on this plot on Sakharevskaya Ulitsa was erected in 1849 as a residence for the commander

of horse guard's regiment that accompanied the Imperial family on official parades. Over the years,

the house was home to the Urals industrialist Pavel Demidov, Count Vasiliy Kochubey, the great Finnish

statesman Gustaf Mannerheim. When Dmitry Neidgardt acquired the house, he commissioned the

architect Ivan Burgasliev to reconstruct the building, and Ivan Fomin to created new interiors more

fitting to his status. While the building itself is an example of Russian neoclassical revival, the interiors

also include many elements of art nouveau. The beautiful entrance hall, with its curved staircase,

marble fireplace and mirrors, has survived intact. After the Ocotber Revolution, the mansion gradually

fell into disrepair, although it has recently been completely restored as an office centre and events

venue .


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NEIDGARDT MANSION

MARKOV APPARTMENT HOUSES

At the northern end of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt on the Petrograd Side, these three monumental

apartment blocks provide a neat summary of the architectural styles popular in St. Petersburg at the

end of the 1900s. All three belonged to the military engineer and architect Konstantin Markov, who

acquired the landplot and drew up plans for three apartment buildings in the Northern Moderne style.

The first block was built to his designs in 1908-1909, and is typical of the style in its rough granite

cladding on the ground floor with contrasting textured plaster above, variously shaped windows, and

ornate bands. Somewhat unusual, however, is the Venetian-style balcony in the centre of the main


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facade. For the other two buildings, however, Markov employed Vladimir Shchuko to adapt his

designs. The earlier of the two buildings features a giant order of four massive columns covering four

storys of the main facade, topped by a highly ornate Corinthian capital. The second block is

contrastingly restrained, and shows the clear influence of Palladio, with slender columns supporting

elegant balconies on one of the asymmetrical avant corps, and gray granite facades decorated with

very shallow reliefs. The buildings proved enormously successful. In 1912 at the International Building

Exhibition. Shchuko, an associate of Leonty Benois and a leading preservationist for neoclassical

architecture in St. Petersburg, adapted his style in the 1920s to conform with the preference for

constructivism, while also working as the chief designer at the Bolshoy Drama Theatre from 1918.

HOUSE OF ACADEMICS

This house on the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment is one of the oldest apartment buildings in St.

Petersburg and one of the most famous examples of neoclassical architecture, but to the scores of

renowned Russian scientists who have lived here. The facades of the building are covered with nearly

30 memorial plaques honoring their life and works. It is possible to enter the building and visit the

apartment-museum of perhaps the most famous resident, the great physiologist Ivan Pavlov. In 1758,

architect Savva Chevakinsky rebuilt two small houses into one complex on the waterfront that was

presented to the Academy.More than one hundred academicians lived in the house over a two-and-a-

half-century span. Among them were the world famous physicist Moritz von Jacobi, mathematician

Mikhail Ostrogradsky, philologist Yakov Grot, geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky, and sinologist Vasily

Alexeev. From 1918 to 1936, the first Russian Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov lived here. Since 1949, the

centenary of Pavlov's birth, his apartments in the House of Academics have been open as a museum.

For visitors interested in the history of Russian science, the House of Academicians can easily be

incorporated into a tour of the many connected sites on Vasilevskiy Island.


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Bibliography

1. Dmitry Shvidkovsky. Russian Architecture and the West. Yale University Press, 20072. William c. Brumfield . Anti modernism and Neo-Classical Revival in Russian Architecture 1906-

1916

3. Arthur Voyce . Russian Architecture and Russian Art


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