Ivan Fomin
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin | |
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Goloday Island redevelopment |
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin (
Early years
Born in Oryol, Fomin received a classical[1] education at a high school in Riga, and studied mathematics at the Moscow University. In 1894, he joined the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg but was expelled in 1896[2] for political activities. After a year of studies in France, Fomin settled in Moscow and passed the tests for a contractor's license. He worked for Lev Kekushev and Fyodor Schechtel, two leading masters of Art Nouveau. Schechtel assigned him to Moscow Art Theatre project, which exposed Fomin to the public and eventually brought him his first own commissions.
Art Nouveau (1899–1903)
This section is based on "Architecture of Moscow Moderne" by M. V. Naschokina[3]
Fomin's early style was related to Schekhtel's and Austrian Jugendstil. His first and most notable work was the Wilhelmina Reck mansion in Skatertny Lane.[4] The building is loosely modeled after the Elvira Studio by August Endell (1896, destroyed 1944); instead of Endell's marine motifs, Fomin decorated his work with plaster flowers and majolica inserts. The same floral motifs were used in the iron gates. The building still stands, albeit rebuilt beyond recognition.
Fomin continued working for the Reck family, who sponsored Art Nouveau. In 1902–1903, he organized the "Exhibition of Art and Architecture of New Style", showcasing his works in interior design. Fomin contracted top-level furniture makers, foundries and ceramic plants for his own designs, but also displayed works by guests like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Koloman Moser and Russian artists. Fomin established himself as a promoter of Art Nouveau. However, his attempts to forge the new Architectural Society failed. In 1902, he set up the Construction College in Moscow, with a separate class for women.
Neoclassicism (1903–1917)
Fomin acquired a solid reputation, but did not have an architect's license yet. He returned to St.Petersburg in 1905 and completed Leon Benois' course at the Academy of Arts in 1909, winning a one-year study tour to Greece, Egypt and Italy. At this time, Neoclassical Revival became the leading style in St. Petersburg, and the most technologically advanced. Banks and department stores, who favored the style, could afford a steel frame and concrete slab floors. A combination of money and technology allowed the mix of classical columns and arches with large glass surfaces.[5]
Fomin's turn to Neoclassicism is traced to 1903, when he applied to the contest for Count
Fomin completed numerous interior renovations,[7] and two new buildings (Polovtsov mansion,[8][9] and Abamelek-Lazarev mansion[10] ). His greatest urban projects of this time, interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, didn't materialize in full.
Novy Peterburg (
Revolutionary years (1918–1926)
In 1918, Fyodor Lidval left for Sweden. Fomin stayed in St. Petersburg.
The Russian Civil War stopped all new construction; the few architectural jobs concentrated in monumental propaganda and city planning. Fomin managed to secure the chair of Petrograd (St.Petersburg) Zoning commission, and designed the Field of Mars landscape (1920–1923).
Fomin trained a new generation of architects at
The last ten years (1926–1936)
In 1929, Fomin relocated to Moscow. There, he completed the Dynamo building,
According to Selim Khan-Magomedov, Fomin was one of the two forerunners of so-called postconstructivism, an early stage of Stalinist architecture (the other was Ilya Golosov). Postconstructivism is defined as classical shapes without classical details, an attempt to reinvent new styling to replace classical order. Fomin eventually disposed with it in favor of true neoclassicism (as did all Stalinist architecture).[12]
Fomin took part in all of the major architectural contests of his time:
- 1932-34 Kursky Rail Terminal
- 1932-33 Palace of Soviets
- 1934 Narkomtiazhprom
- 1934 Moscow Metro first stage.
He did win and completed one of the Metro jobs. Palace of Soviets was won by
Unlike
His last project on the ground, Government of Ukraine building in Kyiv, was approved for construction in 1934. This 10-story building, the earliest example of true Stalin's Empire Style, was hailed as the way to build and spawned numerous imitations. A peculiar feature is the quilt-like ornament on the columns. Fomin knew very well that a 25-meter bare column will look unnatural; the quilt warms up an otherwise dull shape. Column capitals also differ from their Corynthian prototypes: at this height, he reasoned, fine Greek details would be lost, so he simplified and enlarged leaves of his ornament.
Legacy
Fomin died of a sudden stroke[13] in 1936 and was interred at
Fomin's son, Igor Ivanovich Fomin (born 1904) also became an architect, working primarily in Saint Petersburg. A constructivist in his twenties, he later completed various Stalinist projects like
Fomin's Moscow studio and museum (at the back alley of Prospect Mira, 52, where he had lived in apartment 43) was slated for demolition by the City of Moscow in summer of 2006; preservationists are struggling to save the memorial building.[13][14]
Buildings
- 1900 Wilhelmina Reck Mansion (Moscow, Skatertny Lane, 25)
- 1900-1902 Moscow Art Theater (Apprentice under Schekhtel)
- 1909-1911 Shakhovskaya Mansion, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Fontanka embankment, 27)
- 1910 Gagarin family Kholomki estate, Pskov Oblast
- 1911-1913 Polovtzov Mansion (Saint Petersburg, Srednei Nevki Embankment, 6)
- 1911-1914 Novy Peterburg (Golodai Island development), concept, planning, lead architect
- 1912 Novy Peterburg apartment building (Kakhovsky Lane, 10)
- 1912-1914 Novy Peterburg apartment building (Kakhovsky Lane, 2, completed 1927)
- 1912 Leonid Matsievich tomb (Saint Petersburg, Alexander Nevsky Lavra)
- 1912 Ratkov-Rozhnov building, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Dvortzovaya Embankment, 8)
- 1912-1913 Ratkov-Rozhnov mansion, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Moika Embankment, 86)
- 1912-1913 Golubev mansion, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Bolshoy Prospect, 10)
- 1913 Neidgardt mansion, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Zacharievskaya, 31)
- 1913-1914 Vorontsov-Dashkov mansion, interiors (Saint Petersburg, Mokhovaya 10)
- 1913-1914 Abamelek-Lazarev mansion (Saint Petersburg, Moika Embankment, 23)
- 1914 Portal, "Cafe de Paris", (Saint Petersburg, Bolshaya Morskaya 16)
- 1913 Obelisks and lanterns, Lomonosov Bridge (Saint Petersburg)
- 1920-1923 Field of Mars garden landscaping, Saint Petersburg
- 1927 Udarnik Sanatorium (Zheleznovodsk)
- 1929 Chemical Institute (Ivanovo, concept, realized by A.I.Pavin 1930–1937, photograph)
- 1928-1930 Dynamo Building Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Moscow, Lubyanka Street)
- 1929-1930 MossovetBuilding (Moscow)
- 1930 Own studio building (Moscow, Prospect Mira, 52)
- 1930 Commissariat of Railways (Дом МПС, Дом-Паровоз – The Tank Engine Building) (Moscow)
- 1933-1936 Clinic for the Comissarian of Railways (Moscow, Basmannaya, ru_sovarch blog)
- 1935 Krasniye Vorota station, Moscow Metro
- 1934-1936 , completed 1938 by P.V. Abrosimov))
- 1936 Teatralnaya station, Moscow Metro (completed 1938)
See also
- Architecture in the Age of Stalin: Culture Two, by Vladimir Paperny (Author), John Hill (Translator), Roann Barris (Translator), 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-45119-2
- William Craft Brumfield. The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991) ISBN 0-520-06929-3
- Works on Russian Neoclassicism (1900–1914) by ISBN 978-0-8018-6750-7, and others.
- Russian: Anna Starostina, "Pre-revolutionary interiors by Ivan Fomin", online at www.archi.ru
References
- ^ Classical Russian gimnasia was an elite form of high school, biased towards Greek and Roman studies
- ^ Russian bio: Лисовский В.Г., "И.А. Фомин", М, 1979. Other sources place expulsion in 1897
- ^ Russian: Нащокина М.В. Архитекторы московского модерна. М., Жираф. 1998.С.216
- ^ Yakov Reck, head of construction company, commissioned many buildings in Moscow. As a result, there are at least five Reck Mansions
- ISBN 5-94607-011-8. Online illustrated Russian version www.cultinfo.ru Archived 7 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Russian: Т.А.Славина. "О трех петербургских владениях графов Строгановых", www.slavina-ltd.ru Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Russian: Anna Starostina, "Pre-revolutionary interiors by Ivan Fomin" www.archi.ru Archived 20 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Russian: Anna Starostina, "Polovtsov Mansion", photo gallery www.archi.ru Archived 20 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ English: Jason Grant, "Polovtsov Dacha", history of the building www.nostalgicglass.org Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Russian: Anna Starostina, "Abamelek Mansion", photo gallery www.archi.ru Archived 20 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dynamo sports club was operated by NKVD. Dynamo building stands next to NKVD headquarters on Lubyanka
- ^ Russian: Russian: С.О.Хан-Магометов. «Архитектура Советского авангарда».Т1. Москва. Стройиздат. 1996 (S.O. Khan-Magomedov, "Soviet avantgarde architecture", 1996)
- ^ a b English: "A Vanishing Legacy", Joy Ziegeweid, 25.08.2006, The Moscow Times Archived 25 December 2007 at archive.today
- ^ English: "Under Threat", 2006-07-12, Moscow Architecture Preservation Society Archived 6 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine