Russian Revival architecture

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Russian Revival
)
Russian Revival architecture
Top: The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour from Moscow (original built 1839-1860, dynamited in 1931, rebuilt 1994-2000); Centre: The Igumnov House from Moscow (1883–1893); Bottom: The Timiryazev Museum from Moscow (1892-1905)
Years activeMid 19th-early 20th century

The Russian Revival style (historiographical names are: Russian style,

pre-Petrine (Old Russian
) architecture.

The Russian Revival architecture arose within the framework that the renewed interest in the national architecture, which evolved in Europe in the 19th century, and it is an interpretation and stylization of the Russian architectural heritage. Sometimes, Russian Revival architecture is often erroneously called Russian or Old-Russian architecture, but the majority of Revival architects did not directly reproduce the old architectural tradition. Being instead a skilful stylization, the Russian Revival style was consecutively combined with other international styles, from the architectural romanticism of first half of the 19th century to the style moderne.

Cultural background

Like the Romantic revivals of

Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato
and French draughtsman André Durand, the record of their 1839 tour of Russia was published in Paris in the 1840s as Voyage Pittoresque et Archéologique en Russie. Durand's lithographs betray a foreigner's sensitivity to the seeming otherness of Russian architecture, displaying some curiously distorted features, and while they are, on the whole, fairly accurate representations, the folios that he produced belong to the genre of travel literature rather than historical inquiry.

The attempt to discern the chronology and development of Russia's building begins in earnest with

Kievian Rus' and early Moscow periods. Perhaps the Society's most significant achievement was the publication of the Proceedings of the Commission on conservation of the old monuments («Труды Комиссии по сохранению древних памятников») in 6 volumes between 1907 and 1915. Also, the St. Petersburg Academy of fine Arts commissioned research from V.V. Suslov in the form of his two multi-volume works The monuments of the old Russian architecture («Памятники древнего русского зодчества») (1895–1901, 7 vol.) and The monuments of the old Russian art («Памятники древнерусского искусства») (1908–1912, 4 vol.). With the application of positivist historical principals the chronology of Russian architecture was firmly established by the time of the publication of that definitive 6-volume survey of Russian art The Russian art history («История русского искусства») (1909–1917), edited by Igor Grabar; the appearance of the final volume was, however, interrupted by the Russian Revolution
.

Neo-Russian style examples

Development

1825–1850

The oldest statement of Russian Revival, 1826 Alexander Nevsky Memorial Church in Potsdam

The first extant example of Byzantine Revival in Russian architecture and the first example ever built stands in

Kiev
.

The

Sveaborg, Yelets, Tomsk, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnoyarsk
.

Official enforcement of Byzantine architecture was, in fact, very limited: it applied only to new church construction and, to a lesser extent, to royal palaces. Private and public construction proceeded independently. Thon's own public buildings, like the pseudo-

Bolsheviks
, were the first to be demolished in the Soviet era.

Sukachev's Cottage, Irkutsk
Lace House, Irkutsk
Stepanov Bros. Cottage, Chelyabinsk
Terem Astashovo, Kostroma


1850s

Another direction taken by the Russian Revival style was a reaction against official Thon art, influenced by Romanticism,

Alexey Gornostaev (in his later years, 1848–1862), notable for reinventing Northern Russian tented roof motif augmented with Romanesque and Renaissance vault structure. An early extant example in civil architecture is the wooden Pogodinsky Cottage [ru] in Devichye Pole, Moscow, by Nikolai Nikitin (1856).[3]

Post-1861

Russian style Orthodox Cathedral in Nice, France

The

Narodnik movement, idealized the peasant life and created their own vision of "vernacular" architecture. Another factor was the rejection of western eclecticism that dominated civil construction of 1850s-1860s, a reaction against "decadent West", pioneered by influential critic Vladimir Stasov
.

Ivan Zabelin, a theorist of the movement, declared that "Russian Khoromy, grown naturally from peasants' log cabins, retained the spirit of beautiful disorder... Beauty of a building is not in its proportions, but on the contrary, in the difference and independence of its parts" ("русские хоромы, выросшие органически из крестьянских клетей, естественно, сохраняли в своем составе облик красивого беспорядка... По понятиям древности первая красота здания заключалась не в соответствии частей, а напротив в их своеобразии, их разновидности и самостоятельности").[4] As a result, "ropetovschina", as Ropet's foes branded his style, concentrated on hoarding together vivid but not matching pieces of vernacular architecture, notably high-pitched roofs, barrel roofs and wood tracery. Wood was the preferred material, since many fantasies could not be physically built in masonry. This was good and bad for "dopetovschina". Bad, because wooden structures, especially those unconventionally shaped, were not scalable and had a very short life span. Very few survive to date. Good, because speed of construction and unorthodox looks were a perfect match for exhibition pavilions, coronation stands and similar short-term projects. The trend continued into 20th century (Fyodor Schechtel)[5] and 1920s (Ilya Golosov).[6]

For a short time in the 1880s, a less radical version of Pseudo-Russian style, based on copying 17th century brick architecture, almost succeeded as the new official art. These buildings were built, as a rule, from the brick or whitestone, with the application of modern construction technology they began to be abundantly decorated in the traditions of Russian popular architecture. The characteristic architectural elements of this time, such as "pot-bellied" columns, low arched ceilings, narrow window-loop holes, tented roofs, frescoes with floral designs, use of multicolored tiles and massive forging, are manifest both in the external and in the internal decoration of these structures. A typical example is the Historical Museum (1875–1881, architect Vladimir Sherwood) which completed the ensemble of Red Square.

Our Lady of Iveron Cathedral, Pererva (now Moscow)

1898–1917

At the turn of the centuries, the

Dorogomilovo Ascension Cathedral (1898–1910), rated for 10,000 worshippers, were launched in quiet country outskirts that increased in population by the time of completion. Christian theorists explain the choice of such remote locations with the desire to extend the reach of Church to working class, and only working class, in the time when wealthier classes stepped away from it.[7] Byzantine architecture was a natural choice for these projects. It was a clear statement of national roots, against the modern European heresies. It was also much cheaper than grand Neoclassical cathedrals, both in initial costs and subsequent maintenance. The largest examples of this type were all completed after the Russian Revolution of 1905
:

1905–1917

  • Fyodor Gornostaev
    , 1908–1913
  • Balakovo church by Fyodor Schechtel, 1909–1912
  • Emperor railway station in Pushkin town
    , 1912
  • St.Nicholas church by Belorusskaya Zastava in Moscow, 1914–1921

Gallery

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Russian: Власов, В.Г., "Большой энциклопедический словарь изобразительного искусства", 2000, ст."Русско-византийский стиль"
  2. ^ "Moscow. Monuments of Architecture, 18th - the first third of 19th century", Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1975, p.331
  3. ^ photo
  4. ^ Russian: Власов, В.Г., "Большой энциклопедический словарь изобразительного искусства", 2000, ст."Псевдо-русский стиль"
  5. ^ 1901 draft Archived 2002-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ 1923 draft Archived 2006-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Russian: Елена Лебедева, "Храм Богоявления Господня в Дорогомилове", www.pravoslavie.ru Archived 2007-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Russian_Revival_architecture&oldid=1190919678"