- Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood
caption=Former Titov Building (1912-1915), present-day site ofPresidential Administration of Russia
name=Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood
nationality=Russian Empire
Soviet Union (inactive)
birth_date=May 17 ,1867
birth_place=Moscow
death_date=June 18 ,1930
death_place=Moscow
practice_name=Moscow Mercnant Society
Own practice
significant_buildings=Titov building
12-14Novokuznetskaya Street
7-7Malaya Polyanka Street
(all in Moscow)
significant_projects=
awards=|Vladimir Vladimirovich Sherwood (Russian: Владимир Владимирович Шервуд, also spelled Shervud,May 17 ,1867 —June 18 ,1930 ), was a Russianarchitect who worked inMoscow in 1895-1914 inArt Nouveau style and "modernized classics" variant ofRussian neoclassical revival that predated modernist architecture of 1920s. [Article is based on Sherwood's biography in ru icon "M. V. Naschokina. Arkhitektory moskovskogo moderna" (Нащокина М. В. Архитекторы московского модерна. Творческие портреты. — 3-е издание — М.: Жираф, 2005.) ISBN 5-89832-043-1]Biography
Vladimir Sherwood, junior, was the son of
Vladimir Osipovich Sherwood (Владимир Осипович Шервуд, 1832 — 1897), architect of theState Historical Museum inRed Square . His brotherSergei Vladimirovich Sherwood (1858 — 1899) also became an architect but died prematurely; another brother,Leonid Vladimirovich Sherwood (1871 — 1954) became asculptor based inSaint Petersburg .Vladimir Sherwood graduated from the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1895, and was employed first as the house architect of Bromley Steel Works (1898 — 1903) and by the Moscow Merchant Society — a businessconsortium responsible for redevelopment ofKitai-Gorod andCentral Squares of Moscow (1903 — 1910). Sherwood is credited with work on the new master plan for Kitai-gorod, partially executed beforeWorld War I , although exact extent of his input has not been reliably studied.His first independent work was a
Gothic revival Reck Mansion on the Garden Ring (destroyed). It was followed by an extant apartment block inSmolenskaya Square which remained Sherwood's only pure example of Art Nouveau. As he gained experience, popularity of this style faded and Sherwood's later works gradually moved from simplified Art Nouveau to "modernized classics". His career peaked in the five years preceding the outbreak ofWorld War I . Sherwood became notable as the author of numerous rental apartment and office buildings; three of his projects are listed on the protected buildings register: 12-14Novokuznetskaya Street [This location,Embassy of Indonesia in Moscow , actually includes four protected structures. Units 4 and 5 (southern building) is credited toIvan Rerberg , unit 9 toGustav Helrich , unit 8 (northern building) to Sherwood with secondary credit to Helrich. Source: ru icon Register of protected buildings, Moscow Heritage commission [http://www.mkn.com.mos.ru/index.php?action=show_rubric&id=169] ] , 7-7Malaya Polyanka Street (Ivan Shmelyov home), and a large neoclassical block at 1,Solyanka Street . [Credited equally to Sherwood,Ivan German andAlexey Sergeev ]Sherwood's best known work, Titov Building, at 4,
Staraya Square , was a radical departure from his Art Nouveau practice. Stylistically it was in line withRussian neoclassical revival , however, the design emphasized thesteel frame structure and was marked by unusually large glass surfaces providing adequateinsolation to deep office floors of thismixed-use building . Sherwood refused to useclassical order altogether, creating "classical atmosphere" with carefully measures indents of stone-cladpilaster s andcornice s, and a modest, purely decorativepediment . Contemporaries marked this style as "modernized classics" ( _ru. модернизированная классика); it was reused bystalinist architecture to the point where Titov Building is frequently mistaken for a mid-20th century government edifice.In 1920s—1991 former Titov Building housed the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headquarters and became the symbol of party apparatus. It is currently occupied by thePresidential Administration of Russia . Titov building, completed in 1915, remained the last recorded work by Sherwood; he lived the remaining 15 years of his life in Moscow but was not involved in construction projects anymore.References
ee Also
Architects involved in Kitai-Gorod redevelopment by Moscow Merchant Society, 1890s-1917:
*Alexander Kaminsky
*Roman Klein
* Ivan Kuznetsov
*Fyodor Schechtel
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