Shchusev biography. The architect's secret: why exactly Shchusev built the Mausoleum

Today marks 64 years since the death of the outstanding Russian and Soviet architect Alexei Shchusev. An architect who began his career with the design of Orthodox churches, after October revolution happily escaped repression and became one of the cornerstones in a monolithic wall new architecture. The RIA Real Estate portal offers a look at Shchusev’s biography in the context of his Moscow works.

Construction lasting 30 years

Alexey Shchusev came to Moscow at a mature age (he was almost 40 years old), already a famous architect. At that time, he was exclusively interested in religious architecture. “He did not build anything large from non-church buildings until 1913,” notes architectural historian and Docomomo member Nikolai Vasiliev. Thanks to his brilliant work, Shchusev received the position of chief architect of the Holy Synod in 1901.

It is not surprising that Shchusev’s first project in Belokamennaya was the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, the construction of which was financed from personal funds by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Shchusev proposed building a cubic temple with a large onion dome on a high drum, which in shape resembles the ancient Russian analogues of Novgorod and Pskov, but at the same time is completely original.

Having successfully completed the construction of the monastery, in 1913 Shchusev took on his most ambitious and long-suffering project - the new Kazan station complex. He developed a project in the romantic style of the Russian version of Art Nouveau, in which he had worked previously when creating temples. The architect decided to crown the central entrance of the station with a stylized tower of Princess Syuyumbike with the coats of arms of the Kazan Kingdom, located in Kazan, and to decorate another, intermediate tower with a large original clock with zodiac signs. The dial of this watch was painted by Shchusev himself.

Construction was planned to be completed in 1916, but the Russian Empire first got involved in the First world war, and then ceased to exist altogether, which had the saddest impact on the financing of the project. Shchusev, however, did not abandon his brainchild and continued to supervise the construction of the station for almost 30 years. “The project was very important for Shchusev. Throughout the 10-20s, he signed exactly as “Alexey Shchusev, architect-producer of work at the Kazan station,” says Vasiliev. The architect left the construction site only in 1940, without having realized a number of his ideas.

At the zenith of glory

After the October Revolution of 1917, church architects were not in great demand, but Shchusev was not left without work. "He could adapt and produce enough quality product in any style. Starting with the Russian version of Art Nouveau, the architect began working in Art Deco and Constructivism, and then in the Stalinist Empire style,” notes Vasiliev.

The fame of a good construction organizer brought Shchusev the most important order of his life -. The architect was given only three days to create a crypt for Vladimir Lenin, who died on January 21, 1924, which he successfully completed. The first, temporary mausoleum was made of wood and had the shape of a cube topped with a three-tiered pyramid. The honor of making the next two versions of the tomb, including the one that now adorns Red Square, also went to Shchusev.

In the 20-30s, Shchusev, who became one of the main architects Soviet Union, designs a number of socially significant objects in Moscow, such as the Central Telegraph building on Tverskaya Street, the Mechanical Institute building on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, and the Moscow Art Theater Artists' House on Bryusov Lane.

Among them, the brilliant project of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture building, located in Orlikov Lane, stands out. The building was built in 1928-33 and now houses the Ministry of Agriculture.

Known for anti-Soviet sentiments

Throughout his career in the USSR, Shchusev had little to do with political realities - he was protected by the glory of the creator of the Mausoleum. The former church architect survived even the period of the great purge calmly, with the exception of the incident with the Moscow Hotel.

In the early 30s, Moscow authorities announced a competition for the architectural design of a new hotel near the Kremlin walls. “It was won by young constructivist architects Savelyev and Stapran. Their lack of experience led to delays in the implementation of the project, and then they called Shchusev to organize construction for them,” says Vasiliev. The venerable architect did not limit himself only to the technical part and began to edit the architecture of the building.

Young professionals felt pushed aside and left out. In August 1937 they wrote open letter to the newspaper "Pravda", where in best traditions Soviet denunciation went through the biography of the opponent. “We, non-party Soviet architects, cannot talk about Shchusev, known among architects for his anti-Soviet, counter-revolutionary sentiments, without a feeling of deep indignation. It is characteristic that the people closest to him were dark personalities like Luzan, Aleksandrov and Shukhaev, now arrested by the NKVD,” - stated in the article. Shchusev was removed from the construction site until all the circumstances were clarified, and at the same time retroactively expelled from the Union of Architects, so the architect was left completely without work.

While the architect was idle, the artist Mikhail Nesterov, who was painting the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, was arrested. “There is a story that Shchusev went to intercede for his old friend to the new People’s Commissar Lavrenty Beria,” says Vasiliev. “We respect you, Comrade Shchusev,” Beria, a holder of a diploma as a construction technician-architect, told Shchusev. - “I always had a picture of your Kazansky railway station hanging above my table, how can we not trust you.” It was agreed that Nesterov would be released, and he was indeed released after two weeks in Butyrka prison.

During the conversation, the People's Commissar asked how things were going with Comrade Shchusev himself. Comrade Shchusev did not hide the fact that, due to the machinations of young architects, he has been unemployed for a year. “Don’t worry,” Beria told him. In 1938, Shchusev returned to the construction of "Moscow" as the main author, and Savelyev and Stapran, who by that time had built one of the hotel towers facing Revolution Square in the spirit of constructivism, had to leave the project. Shchusev completed the last tower in accordance with his sketches, which is why the famous asymmetry of the hotel facade arose.

Last works

Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev died on May 24, 1949. In their last years he continued to work fruitfully, and some of his projects were completed after the architect’s death.

Among them is the reconstruction of the NKVD house on Lubyanka Square. In 1919, two buildings that belonged to the Rossiya insurance company in the 19th century were occupied by employees of the Central Office of the Cheka, thanks to which the word “Lubyanka” became a household word. In 1939, Lavrenty Beria wanted to renovate and expand the house. The project was entrusted to Shchusev, who decided to combine the two buildings. Beria personally approved the drawings, but the war prevented the implementation of these plans. The capital authorities completed the final reconstruction of the building only in 1983.

Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev, an architect and a great creator, an excellent theorist and no less remarkable architect, whose work is the pride of the country, will be the hero of this article. Here his work is examined in detail, as well as his life path.

Architecture as a life process

Shchusev, an architect, although he is Soviet to the last cell of his body, is at the same time, as they say, an architect from God. He constantly convinced his colleagues with all his creativity that artistic principles always prevail in architecture over the most daring designs, since they are most closely connected with life in all its manifestations, and life does not tolerate inexpediency. “Frozen forms do not exist, and architecture is best able to confirm this,” said Shchusev. The architect in him lived as a seeker, constantly trying new things, never completely satisfied with the result, finding satisfaction only in knowledge. Starting from Vitruvius, every architect sought to create his own theory of this art, and by the beginning of the twentieth century a great many of them had accumulated - very different both in categoricalness and in the breadth of coverage of their positions, with various goals and principles that explain or justify, guide or limit the very architectural creativity.

It is on the basis of all these theories, accepted by the most outstanding architects, that creative directions and schools. Unlike his more ambitious colleagues, Shchusev (a very famous architect) never aspired to become the founder of anything, did not put forward theories, did not create schools. This was done by his followers, who studied his true significance in both Russian history and which was determined by the structures and buildings created by him. He, of course, spoke out and theorized, since his understanding of architecture, taste and talent interested many, many. And these statements are quite on par with the painstaking research that other masters have been building in the quiet of their offices for many decades. Now, in every possible way, they are searching through archives and memories for those grains of ingenious knowledge that Alexey Shchusev, an architect, once accidentally dropped.

Mausoleum

His works are imbued with both simplicity and wisdom, and absolutely full knowledge the purely craft side of great architecture. They contain life experience, common sense, intuition and a huge investment of purely human feeling. This is what allowed him to always fill his brainchildren with the main social idea. Using established, even seemingly common forms, architect A. V. Shchusev confidently created absolutely individual images. Whether it was a historical national style, classical or modern, he achieved not abstract logical calculations, but artistic unity, welded together by an aesthetic sense of architecture, sculpture, and painting. This is precisely one of his most remarkable creations - the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin in Moscow, on Red Square, created in 1926-1930. A pyramidal stepped volume, groups of rectangular pillars that carry the top slab - all this is not new in architecture.

However, magically the Mausoleum acquired power, originality, innovative features, exceptional expressiveness of all proportions, and most importantly - absolute connection with the purpose of this structure, unity in the ensemble with the rest of the square. All this made this building the main symbol of its time. Everything was decided by proportions. Architect A.V. Shchusev calculated the height and thickness of the slabs, now growing and then shrinking, in such a way that the mourning horizontals form a vertical full of energy, and the mournful isolation and compactness of the lower chamber - the fencing of the sarcophagus, suddenly turns into the spaciousness of stairs and stands, where freedom triumphs , wind and light. It is due to this ingenious discovery that the mournful majesty of the Mausoleum is transformed into the festivity and joy of victorious demonstrations. Currently, repairs and reconstruction are being carried out on the territory of the Kremlin; therefore, the Mausoleum was closed during the last parades. People are already bored and write a lot about it on the Internet. And indeed, in this building one can see the entire architect Shchusev, whose works carry high spiritual content, a complex of great social ideas.

Biography

Shchusev met the October Revolution when he was already an academician, a recognized architect with fifteen years of practice. In 1910, he was already honored for the exceptionally successful result using the most original methods of restoration of a twelfth-century temple in the city of Ovruch (Volyn). And he was born in 1873, in Chisinau, the third child in the poor family of a retired official. The ability to draw appeared very early, and it was almost impossible to tear the boy away from this activity. From the age of eleven, he began studying with L.N. Benois, in whose workshop everyone received thorough professional training. Regarding mentors, the future architect Shchusev, whose work is admired for its high professionalism, was surprisingly lucky.

The canons of Russian classics and national heritage, for example, he was taught by Professor Kotov, whose credo was that it is unacceptable to blindly copy historical monuments architecture, it is necessary to subject Russian antiquity to modern understanding, but - squalor. Great impression on young man produced ancient Central Asian architecture, especially Samarkand, where the novice architect Aleksey Viktorovich Shchusev carefully and carefully measured the colorful monuments of Bibi-Khanym and Gur-Emir. This played a huge role in his further creativity. For example, the architect Shchusev designed the Kazansky Station based on his Asian impressions.

First works

Shchusev graduated from the Academy in 1897, receiving the highest grade with a Big Gold Medal and a trip abroad. This was the “Manorial Estate,” which allowed him to spend almost two years studying the architecture of Vienna, Trieste, Venice and other cities of Belgium, Italy, Tunisia, France, and England. Everywhere he made many sketches, from which the exhibition report was compiled. I. E. Repin, having familiarized himself with these works, was delighted. Upon returning to his homeland and after presenting the report, Alexey Shchusev, an architect with no experience yet, immediately received an interesting order. This was an iconostasis for the Kiev Pechersk Lavra for the Assumption Cathedral, which had to be designed from scratch. The talented Shchusev did an excellent job with this task, and it seemed that his work would now constantly be associated with religious buildings.

In June 1904, the Synod entrusted him with a more responsible and complex task; he was sent to Ovruch, where he spent the whole winter designing a temple on the ruins of a twelfth-century monument. The result was a beautiful five-domed church completely in the traditions of Russian classics, but all the preserved details were included in the context so organically that the temple seemed like a single whole. The project was immediately recognized as one of the most beautiful phenomena of modern architecture. The press started talking about the fact that Shchusev had created a new neo-Russian style. Fame came, but the architect Shchusev, whose biography is filled to the brim with it, took it calmly until the end of his life and simply did not notice the glory.

"Martha"

In 1907, Shchusev designed the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent (community) and all its buildings. Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna sold her jewelry so that this charitable institution could appear, which was not a monastery, although the nuns-sisters of mercy took vows comparable to monastic vows. However, after years, they could leave there without conflict with the church, start a family and live as laymen.

What inspired the already famous architect Shchusev when designing his Moscow “Marfa” with unprecedented tenderness? Veliky Novgorod inspired him, the Pskov monuments - this magnificent smooth surface of the walls with volumes interconnected by harmony. This is very noticeable if you compare it. The large size of the monastery buildings look cozy and homely. The plan of the temple looks like a massive ancient key with a beard and an eye turned to the west, with all three petals facing the east. Due to these semicircular apses, a feeling of coziness is created, since the main volume is hidden from view, and a high drum, topped with a pointed dome sphere, completes the composition.

Kishinev

The first two-storey house architect Shchusev - the dacha of Mikhail Karchevsky, his classmate, then - the Dragoev house at the intersection of Pushkin and Kuznechnaya streets (now Bernardazzi). And in 1912 he built a church in the village of Kuchureshti. Everything that the architect Shchusev designed and built was necessarily touched by Orthodoxy - to a greater or lesser extent, and this applies not only to places of worship. Much later, Shchusev was entrusted with the general scheme for the reconstruction of dilapidated Chisinau after the Second World War. And in his early youth, immediately after the brilliant defense of his diploma project, Shchusev, an architect, whose family remained attached to this city for the rest of his life, spent several months here. Several months of happiness: he not only designed a house for a classmate, but also married his sister, Maria Vikentyevna Karchevskaya.

There, in the Valley of Char, in the Chisinau suburb, the personal life of the architect Shchusev began, which was reliably hidden from outsiders. long years his life. And even now it is almost impossible to find data in his biographies that does not relate to architecture. The monument to Lenin, his work, was dismantled in 1991. He also designed a new bridge on the Byk River, at that time it was very full-flowing, and the architect also actively advised colleagues in developing projects for the reconstruction of many destroyed buildings - a station, shops, official and other buildings. Chisinau honors the memory of its famous fellow countryman: a street is named after him, in the house where he was born and grew up, there is a museum with his personal belongings, documents, photographs.

Fashion for Shchusev

Immediately after the creation of the Ovruch and Marfinsky monastery projects, fame followed on the architect’s heels. The rich hunted for him in the hope of building anything on their land, but in the fashionable Shchusev style. However, he was more occupied interesting projects. In 1913, the pavilion for an art exhibition in Venice, built according to Shchusev’s drawings, was ready, the composition of which interpreted the national architecture of the seventeenth century. And in perfect combination with the picturesque Italian landscape. At the same time, in San Remo, according to the architect’s design, an Orthodox church was built, decorated with stone carvings, tiles, and a bell tower with a hipped roof. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in San Remo is entirely designed in the Russian church style of the seventeenth century.

But it didn’t take him long to become interested. However, all the works submitted to the competition were approximate and sketchy; other prominent and experienced architects were not inspired, not only the fashionable Shchusev, an architect whose projects were original, talented, but still few in number. Nevertheless, his sketch of the future Kazan station was chosen because the board was confident that they would be able to interest Shchusev, who had recently become interested in Samarkand, in the eastern gates of Moscow. The board was not wrong.

Kazan Station

The Moscow Gate to the East is one of the most professionally verified solutions of the architect among the difficult tasks. Even the optimal color scheme was found. And what a brilliant solution for the integrity of the ensemble in its purely geographical essence! In October 1911, Shchusev was confirmed as the chief architect of this construction, for which the sum was simply fabulous - three million gold royal rubles. The details of the project were worked out by the author for more than two years - this has never happened to him before. The search was painful - this “hole” on Kalanchevskaya Square was not filled in any way until Shchusev came up with a wonderful idea: to place the tallest building in the lowest place.

That’s when the ensemble of many buildings began to sparkle with unity, easily read at a glance. The tower served as a real dominant, gathering all two hundred meters of structures under its wing. The success of this project was equal to the effort required to create it. The magazine "Zodchiy", which published it on its pages, was in great demand. Congratulations rained down. And indeed: such a huge length of the station does not in the least interfere with the holistic perception of the entire building, because the symmetry is deliberately broken, and the lonely sharp tower helps to open up new combinations from any point of the square. So far, architects have not been able to manipulate chiaroscuro so freely, when not only the sun, but also clouds enliven stone patterns.

Versatility and style freedom

Shchusev acted completely unconventionally with the Kazansky railway station; it turned out to be a city-like structure, and not, as usual, a slightly enriched industrial or slightly simplified palace building. The functions of the station premises are very diverse, this prompted the design of the brilliant Shchusev, an architect. The works, photos of which are presented here in abundance, with the same broad, confident, free interpretation (whether in large or small forms) demonstrate Shchusev as an architect not only multifaceted, but also constant and true to himself and his views in every resourcefulness. This is the building of the sanatorium in Matsesta, and the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Opera House in Tashkent, and the Komsomolskaya station - the ring of the Moscow metro. The complex of buildings of the USSR Academy of Sciences was built in the same resourceful and at the same time canonically strict manner - a typically Russian ensemble that unites diverse structures. Shchusev also led a team of architects who redeveloped Moscow.

It is to them, and to Shchusev in particular, that drivers moving slowly in traffic jams. Because if not for them, movement would not be possible as such. The structure of the city was established, and there was practically no space for transport anywhere, especially in today’s quantity. The architects significantly expanded all highways, especially Leningradsky Prospekt, and connected the routes with radial-circular lines linked to railway transport. This, it should be noted, happened immediately after the revolution and the Civil War - in 1919. The commission that adopted the project reproached the architects for the inappropriateness of such wide avenues and streets, but it was Shchusev who managed to convince the government members.

Besides

In 1922, Shchusev, as the chief architect, was entrusted with VDNH, which opened in August 1923. Then it was erected on the territory of Gorky Park. Shchusev rebuilt the mechanical plant building into a handicraft industry pavilion, and he also supervised almost all the construction, which amounted to two hundred and twenty-five buildings. In 1924, the country's leading architect was already creating a project for the Lenin Mausoleum. In the second half of the twenties, Shchusev designed and built a number of works in the style of constructivism: a branch of the Tbilisi Institute under the CPSU Central Committee, the State Bank on Neglinnaya and Okhotny Ryad, a sanatorium in Matsesta and much more.

A special case is the unrealized construction of the Central Telegraph on Tverskaya, where, in response to accusations of such a strong passion for constructivism, Shchusev proved that constructivism has the right to live if it is filled with spirituality, its special dynamics and rhythm only help strengthen the foundation of spiritual culture on which all architecture as such is based on. In the appearance of the telegraph building, not only the connection of eras is clearly visible, but also others - an international plan of communication, for which, in principle, it is intended - to connect countries and continents. Granite verticals, glass belts. Space. Monumentality. Beautiful, mesmerizing. Despite the fact that in the project the building is made absolutely exactly programmatically, economically, rationally. It was too innovative for the time. Now they could easily build it and they would be right.

The good news is that they built a beautiful Soviet embassy in Romania and a huge number of other objects. In addition, Alexey Shchusev was active in teaching almost until the end of his life - 1949, and wrote more than two hundred scientific papers.

Moscow Architectural Institute

(State Academy)

Abstract on the topic “Architect Shchusev”

Modern Soviet and foreign architecture

Work is done

IV year student, 6th group

Eremeev Rodion

Moscow 2013

Biography

Early creativity

Soviet period

“The most daring design cannot and should not conflict with the artistic principles of architecture” A.V. Shchusev

Biography

A.V. Shchusev was born on September 26 (October 8), 1873 in Chisinau into a noble family. Father - Viktor Petrovich Shchusev, caretaker of charitable institutions. Mother - nee Maria Korneevna Zozulina.

In 1891-1897, Shchusev studied in St. Petersburg at the Higher Art School of the Imperial Academy of Arts under L.N. Benoit and I.E. Repina. In 1895, having learned from the newspaper about the death of General D.P. Shubin-Pozdeev, without recommendations, came to the widow with a ready-made sketch of a tombstone and managed to convince her to give the order to him. A square chapel under a tent was built at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

For his graduation project “The Manor’s Estate” Shchusev was awarded the Big Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad. After graduating from the Academy, Shchusev went to Central Asia as part of an archaeological expedition, exploring two ancient architectural monument Samarkand - the tomb of Tamerlane and the cathedral mosque of Bibi Khanum. The impressions from this trip had a significant influence on the architect’s further work. In 1898-1899, Shchusev visited Tunisia and a number of Western European countries, visiting Vienna, Trieste, Venice and other cities in Italy, as well as England, Belgium and France, where in 1898 he attended the Julian Academy in Paris. A report exhibition was compiled from the drawings of this period, which received an approving review from I.E. Repina.

Early creativity

After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Shchusev settled in St. Petersburg. Among his earliest works, we must first mention the first strictly scientific restoration. In the 1900s, he recreated the Church of St. Basil in Ovruch of the 12th century (the greatest specialist of that time, P.P. Pokryshkin, took part in his examination; assistant - architect V.N. Maksimov). From that time on, Shchusev began a creative struggle with eclectic architects, who had previously decisively “corrected” ancient buildings. The leader of this pan-European trend of “artistic” or “stylistic” restoration was E. Viollet-le-Duc. Among his Russian followers were architects F.F. Richter and N.V. Sultanov. Shchusev contrasted their by that time outdated methods with a completely different approach, carefully studying and measuring fragments of the 12th century, and preserving them as much as possible. I.E. wrote about his work. Grabar, noting that it “is of absolutely exceptional interest, both in terms of the techniques first used in this area, and in terms of the scientific data that emerged as a result of excavations and strict measurements that preceded the beginning of the construction work. The restorer set himself the goal of including the existing ruins of the walls into the temple that was supposed to appear after the restoration, while in the new walls he managed to include not only the remains of the ancient walls that were still standing, but all those structural parts of them - arches, cornices, and even individual groups of bricks that were found in the ground, sometimes at considerable depth." Shchusev received the title of academician in 1910 for the restoration of this temple.

Since 1901, he served in the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod. One of the first independent orders was the design of an iconostasis for the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Shchusev’s programmatic work of the 1900s was the church, designed by order of P.I. Kharitonenko, a sugar manufacturer, philanthropist and collector, on his estate near Kharkov, Natalevka, was treated as a temple-museum for the ancient Russian icons he collected. Shchusev created here one of his most expressive buildings, the sculptural decoration of which was carried out by S.T. Konenkov and A.T. Matveev, and the mosaic panel above the entrance, apparently, by N.K. Roerich, who collaborated with him in the implementation of the project of the Trinity Cathedral of the Pochaev Lavra near Kiev.

In St. Petersburg in 1902, he fulfilled a secular order from Count Yu.A. Olsufiev - remodeling and adding to the family mansion on the Fontanka. Olsufiev was the chairman of the committee for the construction of a memorial temple in memory of the Battle of Kulikovo and ordered the architect to design it. Shchusev created an inspired work in the neo-Russian version of the Art Nouveau style. The Temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field was almost completed by 1917. Defending his non-trivial plan - a building with an asymmetrical main facade, Shchusev almost finally quarreled with Olsufiev, who tactlessly demanded to make a different facade, with towers of the same type in shape, and the architect, who delayed construction, was nevertheless able to make an unwanted compromise. Only during the last restoration of the temple-monument was his idea realized (but in a very crude design of the covering). The icons, painted specifically for the temple of V.A. Komarovsky, disappeared without a trace.

An equally significant project by A.V. Shchusev created at the request of a representative royal family, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, who came from Darmstadt (then the center of the formation of European Art Nouveau). The influential customer supported Shchusev’s architectural concept and did not interfere with its implementation. This is a well-preserved Moscow Martha and Mariinsky monastery with the Church of St. Martha and St. Mary in the hospital building (1909) and the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin, which became the compositional center of the entire ensemble (1908-1912). The temple with a large onion dome on a high drum resembles in shape the ancient Russian analogues of Novgorod and Pskov, but at the same time it is completely original, like all other parts of the complex, including the elegant gate with the gatekeeper. The decorative reliefs here were made by S.T. Konenkov based on drawings by Shchusev and N.Ya. Tamonkin, an employee of his workshop. The wall painting in the cathedral was done by Shchusev’s close friend M.V. Nesterov, who was helped by young P.D. Corinne.

Shchusev considered each of his buildings from the 1900s to 1910s as a creative manifesto. He became the leader of the neo-Russian style (the national version of modernism). His recognizable author's style is characterized by: a free interpretation of the motifs of ancient Russian architecture, the dynamics of forms, often asymmetrically arranged, large decorative details brought to the point of grotesqueness. Less expressive than the buildings in Russia, Shchusev designed and built outside of it: the Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior in San Remo (the project was implemented by the Italian architect Pietro Agosti), and the Church of St. Nicholas with a hospice house in the Italian city of Bari (the consecration of the temple took place May 9 (22), 1955). In 1915, at the Moscow City Fraternal Cemetery in the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye, the Church of the Transfiguration was founded according to the design of Shchusev (1918), which was later demolished (1948) during the development of a new district of Moscow - Sandy Streets.

Shchusev became the winner of the custom competition for the complex of buildings of the Kazansky railway station in Moscow and at the end of 1911 he was officially approved as the chief architect of the construction. He competed with F.O. Shekhtel, who completed projects that were very similar in nature. The architect built the Kazan station for almost 30 years, starting in 1913. To do this, he moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. According to the plan of the customer, supported by the architect, the picturesque composition of the entire structure, consisting of numerous volumes reminiscent of an entire town, decorated with a tower and a clock, reflected the character of old Moscow. The decor of the station, designed in bold reinforced concrete structures, is reminiscent of the motifs of ancient Russian Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan and Ryazan architecture, as well as the Syuyumbike tower in the Kazan Kremlin. The use of white stone decor on the red brick background of the walls is made in the spirit of Russian Baroque of the 17th century (Naryshkin Baroque). Unfortunately, the station's covered glazed landing stage, consisting of three cylindrical vaults, designed for Shchusev by the famous engineer V. G. Shukhov, could not be implemented. This would be the most extravagant part of the project, although it was designed in a very modern way for 1913, using high parabolic reinforced concrete arches. Interior decoration and painting of the vaulted hall of the restaurant according to sketches by E.E. Lansere continued until the end of the 1930s.

architect Shusev urban planning

Soviet period

After the October Revolution A.V. Shchusev was among the most sought-after architects. In 1918-1923, he led the development of the “New Moscow” master plan, at the stage of the first sketches, disagreeing with the version of I.V., who further departed from this work. Zholtovsky. This plan was the first Soviet attempt to create a realistic concept for city development in the spirit of a large garden city. The project was aimed at clear zoning of the territory, preservation of the historical center and many individual ancient public buildings and churches, development of “green wedges” from the center to the periphery, reconstruction of a number of highways, Moscow river port and a railway junction, etc. The “New Moscow” project had a completely different focus than the “Stalinist” master plan for Moscow of 1935, a plan for the reconstruction of the capital, which is often incorrectly described as a development of Shchusev’s ideas. Shchusev moved the administrative center to the St. Petersburg highway, and according to the general plan of 1935, it was fundamentally superimposed on the historical center. Shchusev was in favor of identifying the best ancient buildings (his employees examined the city while working in the commission for the protection of monuments of the Mossovet), while during the implementation of the general plan of 1935, many historical buildings and neighborhoods were demolished. The Shchusevsky plan was sharply criticized in 1924-1925 by the city administration, and only the construction of Lenin's mausoleum allowed the architect to avoid repression. It is important to note that the master plan “New Moscow” was associated with the idea of creating numerous workers’ settlements around Moscow (behind the ring railway) like European garden cities (project of the Architectural Workshop of the Mossovet, scheme by B.M. Sakulin). Further, the idea of polycentric development of Moscow was developed by S.S. Shestakov in the “Greater Moscow” project - larger-scale, but also virtually not taken into account. The general plan “New Moscow” clearly expressed the idea of developing a city layout with radial-ring highways, today criticized by transport specialists, but it was a completely feasible project aimed at improving the lives of citizens, the convenience of pedestrian traffic and development technical means city services (reconstruction of the river port and railway junction).

Shchusev was the chief architect of the first All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft-Industrial Exhibition, held in 1923 in Moscow in the area of the current Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture. He supervised the construction of a number of pavilions, the organization of the entire construction (more than two hundred different structures), and he himself designed one of the most noticeable pavilions (as a reconstruction of the building of a liquidated plant).

In 1922-1932, Shchusev was chairman of the Moscow Architectural Society.

Shchusev's most famous work was the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. The very first wooden mausoleum was erected under the guidance of an architect in a matter of hours on the day of V.I.’s funeral. Lenin January 27, 1924 Already the very first structure was a cubic volume with a stepped completion. In the spring of 1924, Shchusev created the second version of the building, to which two stands were added. When it became clear that the leader's body could be preserved for a long time, the need arose to build a long-term mausoleum. The competition for its construction was won by A.V. Shchusev and in October 1930 a new building was erected from reinforced concrete, lined with natural stone granite and labradorite. In its form one can see a fusion of avant-garde architecture and decorative trends, now called Art Deco style.

In 1925-1926 A.V. Shchusev completed the project for the Central House of Culture for Railway Workers, as a development of his own project for the Kazan Station. Convenient here auditorium with a cantilevered amphitheater (engineer A.V. Kuznetsov). In 1926-1929 A.V. Shchusev worked as director of the State Tretyakov Gallery. Subsequently, he was involved in the addition of new halls to the main building of the gallery (the author of the project, an employee of Shchusev’s workshop A.V. Snigarev), which did not interfere with the perception of the main facade, made before the revolution according to the drawings of V.M. Vasnetsova. Shchusev was also a member artistic association"The Four Arts".

His competition design for the Central Telegraph building was innovative in architecture. In this case, Shchusev provided strong competition to the Vesnin brothers and left far behind in terms of innovation the implemented project of I.I. Rerberg.

In the style of Moscow constructivism, he (with co-authors D.D. Bulgakov, I.A. French, G.K. Yakovlev) developed a brilliant project for the building of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture (Moscow, Orlikov Lane, 1/11), which was almost completely implemented. The building was built in 1928-33. Now it houses the Ministry of Agriculture.

This was the style of the sanatorium he designed in Matsesta (1927-1931), the building of the Mechanical Institute on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street in Moscow (now the building belongs to the Military University), and the house of artists of the Moscow Art Theater in Bryusov Lane.

During the reconstruction of Moscow in the 1930s, A.V. Shchusev headed one of the architectural workshops, from which many projects emerged, covering not only the capital, but also other cities of the country. The most significant and partially implemented project was the construction of Smolenskaya and Rostovskaya embankments with residential buildings; as a result of its partial implementation, a semicircular residential building appeared (Rostovskaya embankment, no. 5). At this time, the workshop designed another residential building (the house of the Bolshoi Theater artists in Bryusov Lane, as well as the residential building of the USSR Academy of Sciences on Kaluzhskaya Street (Leninsky Prospekt, see below for a list of all projects).

Hotel "Moscow" became one of the first large Soviet hotels. Its initial design was carried out by architects L.I. Savelyev and O.A. Stapran. However, government officials (or Stalin personally) did not like their concept (first a constructivist building, and then reflecting the transitional style from constructivism to art deco). Shchusev was invited as a co-author capable of saving the project, which was at that moment at the construction of the main frame. The problem was solved by adding a laconic decor in the form of a six-story eight-column portico, arcades in the center of the main facade, turrets at the corners of the building. The implicit asymmetry of the main facade of the hotel still gives rise to the retelling of the myth that Stalin allegedly signed the project exactly. middle of the drawing, where two options were combined. In fact, asymmetry is more characteristic of Shchusev’s work than symmetry.

According to the projects of the workshop of A.V. Shchusev, where many employees worked, the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge (engineer, his brother P.V. Shchusev), the Soviet Embassy in Bucharest, the building of the Intourist Hotel in Baku (1934), the building of a branch of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Tbilisi, construction of an opera and ballet theater began in Tashkent (completed in 1947). These buildings clearly demonstrated the architect's desire to follow national traditions, but the author’s personality was largely lost, although, for example, when creating decorative elements in the Tashkent theater, Shchusev used his own drawings and templates made in his youth, during an archaeological expedition in Samarkand.

Since 1938 A.V. Shchusev was a member of the Academic Council created to guide the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, together with P.V. Shchusev, he developed a project for the vertical layout of the Lavra.

In 1934, a decision was made to move the USSR Academy of Sciences from Leningrad to Moscow, for which it was necessary to provide academic institutes with working premises. The Presidium of the Academy was located in the Neskuchny Palace on Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya Street and in 1935 a competition was held for the development of an academic campus behind the Kaluzhskaya Zastava Square. The competition was won by Shchusev, who headed the Academproekt workshop, specially created to solve this large-scale task, which was to build 40 buildings for academic institutes, museums, libraries and service institutions in the Cheryomushki district of Moscow.

During the design process, the idea of constructing a Presidium building in the center of this complex took shape, that is, at a considerable distance from the city center, it was not supported and the previous building on Kaluzhskaya Street was reconstructed for it. (Leninsky Prospekt).

Of the many institutes, only the Institute of Genetics was built before the war (work on it was completed in 1939), although designs for the buildings of the Institute of Organic Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Metallurgy and the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering were also created. All these projects were implemented only in the post-war years. Before the war, a new residential building was built for the Academy of Sciences on Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya Street, where A.V. himself moved in 1939. Shchusev.

In 1940, work began on the project for the NKVD building on Lubyanka Square, as a reconstruction of one of the apartment buildings of the pre-revolutionary Insurance Company "Russia", which was never completed during the author's lifetime.

From 1947 to 1957, the State Museum of Russian Architecture (now the State Research Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev) was created in Moscow. Its organizer and first director was the architect N.D. Vinogradov, who repeatedly collaborated with Shchusev and enjoyed his support in this case. A significant place in Shchusev’s activities in the 1940s was occupied by projects for the restoration of cities destroyed during the war: Istra (1942-1943), Novgorod (1943-1945), Chisinau (1947), etc. One of the last creations of A.V. Shchusev became the Moscow metro station "Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya", reflecting the triumph of victory over fascism. This is a large-scale station, inscribed in a cylindrical tube of the largest diameter. Unfortunately, the underground lobby with mosaic panels based on the sketches of P.D., completed after the author’s death. Korina, was made with a somewhat exaggerated relief of the decor, which did not correspond to Shchusev’s project.

Shchusev died in Moscow on May 24, 1949. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 1).

Biography

In 1891-1897, Shchusev studied in St. Petersburg at the Higher Art School of the Imperial Academy of Arts under L. N. Benois and I. E. Repin. In 1895, having learned from a newspaper about the death of General D.P. Shubin-Pozdeev, without recommendations he came to the widow with a ready-made sketch of a tombstone and managed to convince her to give the order to him. A square chapel under a tent was built at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

For his graduation project “The Manor’s Estate” Shchusev was awarded the Big Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad. After graduating from the Academy, Shchusev went to Central Asia as part of an archaeological expedition, exploring during the trip two ancient architectural monuments of Samarkand - the tomb of Tamerlane and the Bibi Khanum Cathedral Mosque. The impressions from this trip had a significant influence on the architect’s further work. In 1898-1899, Shchusev visited Tunisia and a number of Western European countries, visiting Vienna, Trieste, Venice and other cities in Italy, as well as England, Belgium and France, where in 1898 he attended the Julian Academy in Paris. A report exhibition was compiled from the drawings of this period, which received an approving review from I. E. Repin.

Early creativity

Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field, photo by Arssenev,

After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Shchusev settled in St. Petersburg. Among his earliest works, we must first mention the first strictly scientific restoration. In the 1900s, he recreated the Church of St. Basil in Ovruch of the 12th century (the greatest specialist of that time, P.P. Pokryshkin, took part in his examination; assistant - architect V.N. Maksimov). From that time on, Shchusev began a creative struggle with eclectic architects, who had previously decisively “corrected” ancient buildings. The leader of this pan-European trend of “artistic” or “stylistic” restoration was E. Viollet-le-Duc. Among his Russian followers were the architects F. F. Richter and N. V. Sultanov. Shchusev contrasted their by that time outdated methods with a completely different approach, carefully studying and measuring fragments of the 12th century, and preserving them as much as possible. I. E. Grabar wrote about his work, noting that it “is of absolutely exceptional interest, both in terms of the techniques first used in this area, and in terms of the scientific data that emerged as a result of excavations and strict measurements that preceded the start of the construction work itself.” works The restorer set himself the goal of including the existing ruins of the walls into the temple that was supposed to appear after the restoration, while in the new walls he managed to include not only the remains of the ancient walls that were still standing, but all those structural parts of them - arches, cornices, and even individual groups bricks that were found in the ground, sometimes at considerable depth." Shchusev received the title of academician in 1910 for the restoration of this temple.

Since 1901, he served in the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod. One of the first independent orders was the design of an iconostasis for the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Shchusev’s programmatic work of the 1900s was a church designed by order of P.I. Kharitonenko, a sugar factory, philanthropist and collector, on the Natalevka estate near Kharkov, interpreted as a temple-museum for the ancient Russian icons he collected. Shchusev created here one of his most expressive buildings, the sculptural decoration of which was carried out by S. T. Konenkov and A. T. Matveev, and the mosaic panel above the entrance, apparently, by N. K. Roerich, who collaborated with him in the implementation of the project of the Trinity Cathedral of Pochaevskaya laurels near Kiev.

In St. Petersburg in 1902, he carried out a secular order from Count Yu. A. Olsufiev - remodeling and adding to the family mansion on the Fontanka. Olsufiev was the chairman of the committee for the construction of a memorial temple in memory of the Battle of Kulikovo and ordered the architect to design it. Shchusev created an inspired work in the neo-Russian version of the Art Nouveau style. The Temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field was almost completed by 1917. Defending his non-trivial idea - a building with an asymmetrical main facade, Shchusev almost finally quarreled with Olsufiev, who tactlessly demanded to make a different facade, with towers of the same type in shape, and the architect, who delayed construction, was nevertheless able to make an unwanted compromise. Only during the last restoration of the temple-monument was his idea realized (but in a very crude design of the covering). The icons painted specifically for the temple by V. A. Komarovsky disappeared without a trace.

Cathedral of the Intercession of the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery (project by A.V. Shchusev), Moscow, photo by Ludvig14, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

A no less significant project was created by A. V. Shchusev by order of a representative of the royal family, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, who came from Darmstadt (then the center of the formation of European Art Nouveau). The influential customer supported Shchusev’s architectural concept and did not interfere with its implementation. This is a well-preserved Moscow Martha-Mariinsky monastery with the Church of St. Martha and St. Mary in the hospital building (1909) and the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin, which became the compositional center of the entire ensemble (1908-1912). The temple with a large onion dome on a high drum resembles in shape the ancient Russian analogues of Novgorod and Pskov, but at the same time it is completely original, like all other parts of the complex, including the elegant gate with the gatekeeper. Decorative reliefs here were made by S. T. Konenkov based on drawings by Shchusev and N. Ya. Tamonkin, an employee of his workshop. The wall painting in the cathedral was done by Shchusev's close friend M.V. Nesterov, who was assisted by the young P.D. Korin.

Shchusev became the winner of the custom competition for the complex of buildings of the Kazansky railway station in Moscow and at the end of 1911 he was officially approved as the chief architect of the construction. He competed with F. O. Shekhtel, who completed projects that were very similar in nature. The architect built the Kazan station for almost 30 years, starting in 1913. To do this, he moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. According to the plan of the customer, supported by the architect, the picturesque composition of the entire structure, consisting of numerous volumes reminiscent of an entire town, decorated with a tower and a clock, reflected the character of old Moscow. The decor of the station, designed in bold reinforced concrete structures, is reminiscent of the motifs of ancient Russian Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan and Ryazan architecture, as well as the Syuyumbike tower in the Kazan Kremlin. The use of white stone decor on the red brick background of the walls is made in the spirit of Russian Baroque of the 17th century (Naryshkin Baroque). Unfortunately, the station's covered glazed landing stage, consisting of three cylindrical vaults, designed for Shchusev by the famous engineer V. G. Shukhov, could not be implemented. This would be the most extravagant part of the project, although it was designed in a very modern way for 1913, using high parabolic reinforced concrete arches. Interior decoration and painting of the vaulted hall of the restaurant according to the sketches of E. E. Lanseray continued until the end of the 1930s.

In 1912-1916, the architect designed railway stations in Sofrino, Krasnoufimsk, Sergach, Murom.

After the October Revolution, A.V. Shchusev was among the most sought-after architects. In 1918-1923, he led the development of the “New Moscow” master plan, at the stage of the first sketches, disagreeing with the version of I. V. Zholtovsky, who further departed from this work. This plan was the first Soviet attempt to create a realistic concept for city development in the spirit of a large garden city. The project was aimed at clear zoning of the territory, preservation of the historical center and many individual ancient public buildings and churches, development of “green wedges” from the center to the periphery, reconstruction of a number of highways, the Moscow river port and railway junction, etc. The “New Moscow” project was completely a different direction than the “Stalinist” master plan for Moscow of 1935, a plan for the reconstruction of the capital, which is often incorrectly described as a development of Shchusev’s ideas. Shchusev moved the administrative center to the St. Petersburg highway, and according to the general plan of 1935, it was fundamentally superimposed on the historical center. Shchusev was in favor of identifying the best ancient buildings (his employees examined the city while working in the commission for the protection of monuments of the Mossovet), while during the implementation of the general plan of 1935, many historical buildings and neighborhoods were demolished. The Shchusevsky plan was sharply criticized in 1924-1925 by the city administration, and only the construction of the Lenin Mausoleum allowed the architect to avoid repression. It is important to note that the master plan “New Moscow” was associated with the idea of creating numerous workers’ settlements around Moscow (behind the ring railway) like European garden cities (project of the Architectural Workshop of the Mossovet, scheme by B. M. Sakulin). Further, the idea of polycentric development of Moscow was developed by S.S. Shestakov as a larger-scale project, but also not actually taken into account. The general plan “New Moscow” clearly expressed the idea of developing a city layout with radial-ring highways, today criticized by transport specialists, but it was a completely feasible project aimed at improving the lives of citizens, the convenience of pedestrian traffic and the development of technical means of servicing the city (reconstruction river port and railway junction).

Shchusev was the chief architect of the first All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft-Industrial Exhibition, held in 1923 in Moscow in the area of the current Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after. Gorky. He supervised the construction of a number of pavilions, the organization of the entire construction (more than two hundred different structures), and he himself designed one of the most noticeable pavilions (as a reconstruction of the building of a liquidated factory). It was the diplomatic Shchusev who attracted many young and already established colleagues, as well as artists who had clearly shown themselves, to work on projects for various buildings.

In 1922-1932, Shchusev was chairman of the Moscow Architectural Society.

Shchusev's most famous work was the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. The very first wooden mausoleum was erected under the guidance of an architect in a matter of hours on the day of V.I. Lenin’s funeral on January 27, 1924. Already the very first structure was a cubic volume with a stepped completion. In the spring of 1924, Shchusev created the second version of the building, to which two stands were added. When it became clear that the leader's body could be preserved for a long time, the need arose to build a long-term mausoleum. The competition for its construction was won by A.V. Shchusev and in October 1930 a new building was erected from reinforced concrete, lined with natural labradorite granite stone. In its form one can see an organic fusion of avant-garde architecture and decorative trends, now called Art Deco style. It is very important that the Mausoleum fits well into the ensemble of Red Square without disturbing the historical environment.

In 1925-1926, A.V. Shchusev completed the project of the Central House of Culture for Railway Workers, as a development of his own project for the Kazan Station. There is a comfortable auditorium with a cantilevered amphitheater (engineer A.V. Kuznetsov). In 1926-1929, A.V. Shchusev worked as director Tretyakov Gallery. Subsequently, he was involved in the addition of new halls to the main building of the gallery (the author of the project, an employee of Shchusev’s workshop A.V. Snigarev), which did not interfere with the perception of the main facade, made before the revolution according to the drawings of V.M. Vasnetsov. Shchusev was also a member of the Four Arts art association.

Moscow. The building of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture on Sadovo-Spasskaya, A. V. Shchusev, photo by NVO, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

In the style of Moscow constructivism, he (with co-authors D. D. Bulgakov, I. A. Frantsuz, G. K. Yakovlev) developed a brilliant project for the building of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture (Moscow, Orlikov Lane, 1/11), which was almost completely implemented. The building was built in 1928-33. Now it houses the Ministry of Agriculture.

House on Rostov Embankment in Moscow, photo by Lavanda Green, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

Hotel "Moscow" became one of the first large Soviet hotels. Its initial project was carried out by architects L. I. Savelyev and O. A. Stapran. However, government officials (or Stalin personally) did not like their concept (first a constructivist building, and then reflecting the transitional style from constructivism to art deco). Shchusev was invited as a co-author, capable of saving the project, which was at that moment at the stage of construction of the main frame. The problem was solved by adding a laconic decor in the form of a six-story eight-column portico, arcades in the center of the main facade, and turrets at the corners of the building. The implicit asymmetry of the main facade of the hotel still gives rise to the retelling of the myth that Stalin allegedly signed the project exactly in the middle of the drawing. , where two options were combined. In fact, asymmetry is more characteristic of Shchusev’s work than symmetry.

According to the designs of A.V. Shchusev’s workshop, where many employees worked, the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge (engineer, his brother P.V. Shchusev), the Soviet Embassy in Bucharest, the building of the Intourist Hotel in Baku (1934), and the branch building were built Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Tbilisi, construction of an opera and ballet theater began in Tashkent (completed in 1947). These buildings clearly demonstrated the architect’s desire to follow national traditions, but the author’s personality was largely lost, although, for example, when creating decorative elements in the Tashkent theater, Shchusev used his own drawings and templates made in his youth, during an archaeological expedition in Samarkand.

Since 1938, A.V. Shchusev was a member of the Academic Council created to guide the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra; together with P.V. Shchusev, he developed a project for the vertical layout of the Lavra.

Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya station in Moscow, photo by Lite, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

From 1947 to 1957, the State Museum of Russian Architecture (now the State Research Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev) was created in Moscow. Its organizer and first director was the architect N.D. Vinogradov, who repeatedly collaborated with Shchusev and in this case enjoyed his support. A significant place in Shchusev’s activities in the 1940s was occupied by projects for the restoration of cities destroyed during the war: Istra (1942-1943), Novgorod (1943-1945), Chisinau (1947), etc. One of the last creations of A. V. Shchusev became the Moscow metro station "Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya", reflecting the triumph of victory over fascism. This is a large-scale station, inscribed in a cylindrical tube of the largest diameter. Unfortunately, the underground lobby with mosaic panels based on the sketches of P. D. Korin, completed after the author’s death, was made with a somewhat exaggerated decorative relief, which did not correspond to Shchusev’s design.

Shchusev died in Moscow on May 24, 1949. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (site No. 1).

Teaching activities

Alexey Shchusev taught at the Stroganov School of Art and Industry (1913-1918), the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1914-1917), VKHUTEMAS (1920-1924), the Moscow Architectural Institute (1948-1949), etc.

Awards and prizes

Stalin Prize, first degree (1941) - for the architectural design of the building of the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute in Tbilisi (1938)
Stalin Prize of the second degree (1946) - for the interior design of the Mausoleum of V. I. Lenin
Stalin Prize, first degree (1948) - for the architectural design of the building of the A. Navoi Theater in Tashkent
Stalin Prize of the second degree (1952) - for the architectural design of the Komsomolskaya - Ring station of the Moscow Metro named after L. M. Kaganovich (posthumously)
The order of Lenin
two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor

Kishinev

The first building that Shchusev built in Chisinau was Karchevsky’s two-story dacha, located in Char Valley (now Kerchenskaya Street), and later Dragoev’s house on Pushkin Street corner Kuznechnaya (now Bernardazzi). In 1912, Shchusev built a church on the estate of landowner Bogdan (village of Kuhureshty).

Shchusev participated in the development of the general scheme for the reconstruction of Chisinau in 1945-1947. According to Shchusev's design, a monument to Lenin was built. It was installed on October 11, 1949 on the Central Square in front of the Government House (now the Great National Assembly Square). In 1991, the monument was dismantled and is currently located on the territory of the Moldexpo free economic zone. Shchusev also proposed a project for a bridge across the Byk River, which was deep at that time. The bridge that was built was much smaller than the originally planned size. Many projects were developed with active consultations from Shchusev: a railway station (built by German prisoners of war [ source not specified 1010 days]), "Children's World" store, etc.

In Chisinau, in the house where the architect was born and raised, there is now a museum in which his personal belongings, photographs and documents are stored.

Perpetuation of memory

In memory of A.V. Shchusev, a memorial plaque was installed in Moscow on the house where he lived from 1939 to 1949. (Leninsky Prospekt, 13). From 1949 to 1992, a street in Moscow was named after him (currently its historical name has been returned to Granatny Lane). The architecture museum in Moscow bears the name of A.V. Shchusev.

Monument at the grave of Shchusev, Novodevichy Cemetery, photo by uploader, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

IN hometown architect, Chisinau, his name was given to one of the central streets and the children's city art school. Streets in a number of cities of the former Soviet Union are named in his honor:

Velikiy Novgorod
Lutsk (Ukraine)
Rybnitsa (Transnistrian Moldavian Republic)

Completed projects by A. V. Shchusev

Iconostasis for the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, late XIX century
Reconstruction of the Church of Vasily (XII century) in Ovruch, 1904-1905.
Women's Commercial Institute of the Committee of the Moscow Society for the Propagation of Commercial Education with a church in honor of the icon of Our Lady of the Seek of the Dead (1904-1905, Moscow, Zatsepa Street, 41/12), together with S. U. Solovyov, N. A. Shevyakov, A. U. Zelenko
Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent, from 1907 to 1912
Trinity Cathedral in the Pochaev Lavra, 1906-1912.
Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field, from 1911 to 1917
Church on the estate of landowner Bogdan (village of Cugureshti, Moldova), 1912.
Temple and main entrance to the estate of Pavel Ivanovich Kharitonenko in Natalevka (Kharkov region, Ukraine)
Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior in San Remo, 1913
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari 1913. Construction of the temple was completed only after the end of the First World War.
Complex of buildings of the Kazan station, 1913 (construction completed in 1928-30)
Commercial Institute on Zatsepa Street, now one of the buildings of the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics, 1914.
Church of the Transfiguration at the Fraternal Cemetery, 1915-1918. Demolished.
Moscow reconstruction plan “New Moscow”, 1918-1923. (with a large group of co-authors, but incorrectly attributed to I.V. Zholtovsky)
Central House of Culture for Railway Workers at the Kazansky Station, 1925-1928.
Lenin Mausoleum, 1924 - wooden, 2 options; 1927-1930 - stone
Two side wings of the State Bank building on Neglinnaya Street, 1927-1929. (together with Zholtovsky) This information has not been confirmed.
Narcozem building on Sadovaya-Spasskaya Street, 1928-1933. Co-authors: D. D. Bulgakov, I. A. French, G. K. Yakovlev.
Hotel Moscow, 1930s. The main authors are L. I. Savelyev and O. A. Stapran.
Hotel and sanatorium building in Matsesta, 1930s.
The building of the Mechanical Institute (now the Military University) on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, 1929-1934.
Residential buildings in Bryusov Lane: artists of the Moscow Art Theater No. 17 in 1928, artists Bolshoi Theater No. 7 in 1935
Reconstruction plan for Okhotny Ryad Street, Sverdlov Square, Revolution Square and Red Square, 1934. The work of a huge team, not Shchusev. Perhaps his idea was to move historical buildings instead of demolishing them.
Redevelopment of Leningradskoye Shosse (now Leningradsky Prospekt), 1933-1934. The work of the team without any obvious role of Shchusev.
Partially implemented project for the development of the Smolenskaya and Rostov embankments, 1934-1935. Only one residential building was completed on Rostov Embankment.
Big Moskvoretsky Bridge, 1935-1937 Engineer P. V. Shchusev
Branch of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee in Tbilisi, 1938. Demolished.
Residential building No. 13 for employees of the USSR Academy of Sciences on Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya Street, 1938-1939.
The building of the Institute of Genetics, 1938-1939.
Layout of sections of the Moscow River bank in the area of the Crimean Bridge, Zamoskvoretskaya part of the Garden Ring, late 1930s
Reconstruction of Oktyabrskaya and Dobryninskaya squares, late 1930s
NKVD building on Lubyanka Square, 1940-1947.
A complex of similar buildings of research institutes of the Academy of Sciences behind the Kaluga Outpost (Institute of Organic Chemistry, Institute of Physics, Institute of Metallurgy, Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering), project of the late 1930s, construction completed in 1951.
Reconstruction of the building of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences with the participation of engineer V. G. Shukhov (glazed covering of the meeting room). late 1930s.
The building of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR Alma-Ata. 1948-1953
Projects for the restoration of cities destroyed during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War(Istra, Veliky Novgorod, Tuapse, Chisinau)
Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya metro station, late 1940s, completed after Shchusev’s death by employees of his workshop. The underground lobby is decorated with mosaic panels based on the sketches of P. D. Korin

Articles by A. V. Shchusev in print

"The squares of the right bank of the Moscow River." Architecture of the USSR. 1939 No. 4. Page. 40, 41.
"Caring for people." Architecture of the USSR. 1939 No. 12. Page. 9, 10.
"National form in architecture." Architecture of the USSR. 1940 No. 12. Page. 53-57.

Notes

see http://www.moskonstruct.org/ndv
Register of historical and cultural monuments. Official website of Moskomnaslediya. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2009.

Literature

Academician Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev (1873-1949): Exhibition for the centenary of his birth: Catalog / The author will enter. articles by E. V. Vasyutinskaya; Catalog compilers E. V. Vasyutinskaya, N. V. Sukhodolets; Rep. ed. Director of the Museum of Architecture named after A. V. Shchusev Candidate of Sciences architects V.I. Baldin - M.: Soviet Artist, 1974. - 68 p. - 1,000 copies.
Masters of Soviet architecture about architecture. T. 1. - M., 1975. - P. 150-205.
Afanasyev K. N. A. V. Shchusev. - M.: Stroyizdat, 1978. - 192 p., ill. - (Masters of Architecture).
Sorokin I. V. Stone artist: Pages of the life of academician A.V. Shchusev - M.: Moskovsky Rabochiy, 1987. - 320, p. - 50,000 copies.
Druzhinina-Georgievskaya E. V. Kornfeld Ya. A. Architect A.V. Shchusev. - M., 1955.
Works by Academician A.V. Shchusev, awarded the Stalin Prize. - M.: Publishing house. USSR Academy of Sciences, 1954.
Sokolov N. B. A. V. Shchusev. - M.: State. publishing house of literature on construction and architecture, 1952. - 388 p. - (Masters of Soviet architecture).
Khmelnitsky D. S. Stalin's architecture: Psychology and style. - M.: Progress-Tradition, 2007.
Shchusev A.V. Lenin Mausoleum. // Construction newspaper, January 21, 1940.
Alexey Shchusev Documents and materials / compiled by M. V. Evstratova, afterword by E. B. Ovsyannikova. - M.: S. E. Gordeev, 2011.
Ovsyannikova E. B. Shchusev’s work from a historical distance // Alexey Shchusev / Documents and materials / compiled by M. V. Evstratova. - M.: S. E. Gordeev, 2011.
Presentation of the new book “Alexey Shchusev” at MUAR on December 9th. MosConstruct (December 8, 2011). Retrieved February 8, 2012.
New books: Moscow. Avant-garde architecture. First half of the 1920s - second half of the 1930s. Directory guide; Alexey Shchusev / P. V. Shchusev. Pages of the life of Academician Shchusev / comp. and ed. M. V. Evstratova. MosConstruct (September 21, 2011). Retrieved February 8, 2012.

source: article in Russian-language Wikipedia as of the date of publication ru.wikipedia.org

Date of birth: September 26, 1873
Date of death: May 24, 1949
Place of birth: Chisinau

Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev- famous architect. And A.V. Shchusev was an academician and a Stalin Prize laureate.

Alexey was born on September 26, 1873 in the capital of the Bessarabian province - Chisinau. Father, Viktor Petrovich, controlled the activities of charitable institutions. Mother, Maria Korneevna, was engaged in housekeeping.

At the age of 18, Alexey began studying at the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg. He was lucky with his mentors - they were the outstanding Repin and Benoit.
In 1895, Shchusev made his debut as an architect. He read in the newspaper about the death influential official, came to the widow and impressed her so much that he received an order for a small tombstone.

After graduation, there was a reward for outstanding achievements - a trip to an archaeological expedition. The trip took place across Central Asia with a visit to Samarkand and its ancient monuments. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Timur’s tomb left a mark on the artist’s memory throughout his entire life. later life. This was followed by trips to Tunisia and a number of European countries. The final city was luxurious Paris. Shchusev turned all his impressions into sketches or full-fledged paintings, which Repin himself later approved.

After returning to St. Petersburg, Shchusev took up his immediate work - his first achievement was participation in the restoration of the Church of St. Basil. The work was carried out in a truly masterful manner - the twelfth-century building regained its previous form, harmoniously combining old and new elements.

This was followed by work on orders from the Holy Synod. This was the design of an iconostasis for one of the cathedrals of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Subsequently, he carried out orders from private individuals, such as the construction of a temple-museum to store a collection of icons.

A project for the restoration of a mansion on the Fontanka River, owned by Count Olsufiev, also became a private order. Unfortunately, the opinions of the architect and the client did not always coincide, and Shchusev was unable to fully realize his plan.

Another customer, Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, on the contrary, supported the creator in everything and the result was a grandiose project - the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

The architect also worked in Italy - the Orthodox Church in the city of San Remo and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari - these are his projects.
In 1911, the architect won the right to supervise the construction of one of the capital's largest stations, Kazansky. The construction lasted for 30 long years and the architect moved from St. Petersburg for this purpose.

After the revolution, he supervised the construction of “New Moscow”. His architectural talent allowed him to predict what the capital would look like decades later. Subsequently he directed the activities of the Tretyakov Gallery. After the war he organized the Museum of Architecture.
The most famous creation of the architect is probably the construction of the mausoleum in the center of Moscow.

Less known, but no less important work- this is the restoration in the post-war years of such cities as Istra, Chisinau, Novgorod.

Achievements of Alexey Shchusev:

Used new, gentle and based on scientific approach, methods for carrying out restoration of ancient buildings.
Author of the Russian version of the Art Nouveau style.

Dates from the biography of Alexei Shchusev:

1873 born in Chisinau
1898 start of travel through Africa and Europe
1901 beginning of service in the interests of the Holy Synod
1910 received the title of academician for the restoration of the Church of St. Basil.
1911 approved for the post of chief architect of the Kazansky railway station in Moscow.
1926 became director of the Tretyakov Gallery.
1929 supervised the construction of the mausoleum on Red Square.
1946 organized and began to manage the Museum of Architecture.
1949, May 24, died in Moscow.

Interesting facts of Alexey Shchusev:

Four times awarded the Stalin Prize
In four cities of the USSR there were streets named after Shchusev
Implemented 40 major projects– from religious sites to metro stations
A stamp was issued in Moldova in honor of the architect