- Roman Klein
Infobox Architect
caption=Pushkin Museum, 1896-1912
name=Roman Ivanovich (Robert Julius) Klein
nationality=Russia
birth_date=March 31, 1858
birth_place=Moscow
death_date=March 05, 1924
death_place=Moscow
practice_name=own practice
significant_buildings=Pushkin Museum
Middle Trading Rows
Moore and Merilise Stores
significant_projects=Shelaputin Schools in Moscow
awards=|Roman Ivanovich Klein ( _ru. Роман Иванович Клейн), born Robert Julius Klein, was a
Russia narchitect andeducator , best known for his NeoclassicalPushkin Museum inMoscow . Klein, an eclectic, was one of the most prolific architects of his period, second only toFyodor Schechtel . In 1880s-1890s, he practicedRussian Revival and Neo-Gothic exteriors; in 1900s, his knowledge of Roman and Byzantine classical architecture allowed him to integrate into the Neoclassical revival trend of that period.Biography
Education
Klein was born in an ethnic German merchant family. He trained at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1873-1874), with Vladimir Sherwood on the construction site ofState Historical Museum (1875-1877), and at theImperial Academy of Arts (1877-1882), winning a study tour toItaly andFrance (1883-1884), where he assisted Charles Garnier in preparation to theExposition Universelle (1889) . Klein returned to Moscow in 1885, worked as junior architect at local firms and went independent in 1888.Pushkin Museum
Most of Klein's professional career revolved around the 16-year Pushkin Museum project. The public contest of 1896, managed by
Moscow State University , awarded first prize toPyotr Boytsov ; Klein used Boytsov's general layout but the exterior and interior styling is Klein's own, undisputed work. His knowledge of Greek and Byzantine classics was evident, however, the University also wanted perfection in other historical interiors (Egyptian, Babylonian) and sent Klein on two overseas study tours (1897, 1899-1900). Klein had studied the latest forms of museum construction inEurope , and he built a temple to the arts that expressed civic pride and private patronage, thus pleasing his benefactor, Nechaev-Maltsov, and creating what Lukomskii would have called approvingly a "European" building, noticeably different from the public and commercial buildings whose neoclassicism derived from the localEmpire style . Klein employedVladimir Shukhov forstructural engineering of ceilings and sunroofs,Ivan Rerberg and other younger architects. The museum was generally complete by 1907; finishing works and expansions lasted to 1912.Commercial success
Klein was in high demand among Moscow businessmen expanding their retail and warehouse facilities. He completed such high profile buildings like Neo-Gothic
TsUM department store (1906-1908, originally, Moor and Merilise store) inPetrovka Street and pseudo-Russian Middle Trade Rows inKitai-gorod (1901-1902). Klein also completed a number of banks and office blocks inKitai-gorod and other districts of Moscow.Less known is his prodigious input to industrial architecture; Klein was the house architect for Moscow industrialists like Giroud, Huebner (textile and rubber mills in
Khamovniki District ) and Gougon (steel mills inLefortovo District ). His lesser customers ranged from country farms and breweries to Moscow' first aircraft plant (Khrunichev ). Most of these buildings, with few exceptions, were later rebuilt or demolished.Klein contributed to the
Devichye Pole campus project, building the Cancer Clinic, Gynaecology Clinic and student dormitories in 1896-1903; his own house and rental apartment building were located in nearby Olsufyevsky Lane. He designed numerous Orthodox, Lutheran and Catholic churches in Moscow and other cities and supervised construction ofMoscow Choral Synagogue (designed bySemyon Eybushits ). As a private architect to Shelaputin family, he completed various Shelaputin Schools (for general and professional education).Critical assessment
Modern critics place Klein's talent below his contemporaries like
Fyodor Schechtel orLev Kekushev (Maria Naschokina, p.255). All his work belong to eclecticism, which was normal for 1880s but completely outdated by 1900s. This may be interpreted as either loyalty to his personal style, or as inability to follow the novel trends of his period. Klein had his limitations, but his immense academic background and drawing skills allowed him to imitate styles likeVictorian architecture orRussian Revival . His buildings like Nekrasov House are sometimes listed asArt Nouveau , but Klein actually did not venture into this style. After 1905, when public discardedArt Nouveau , his neoclassical skills put him in the middle of Neoclassical Revival of 1905-1914.Educator and preservationist
Klein, a successful businessman, possessed excellent skills in educating and managing people. His architectural firm trained dozens of architects who excelled in
Art Nouveau (Yevlanov brothers), industrial architecture (Karl Gippius ), Neoclassical revival (Ivan Rerberg ) and laterconstructivist architecture (Grigory Barkhin ). Klein treated these internships as his own educational work, not just hiring labor. He advocated "finding out the unique, individual features of a trainee architect, and bringing up his own creative conscience" ("выявление индивидуальности проектирующего ... и в воспитании в нем художественного самосознания", Maria Naschokina, p.257), and promoted the French model of architectural workshops.In 1900s, Klein was active in
preservationism movement, performing surveys of historical buildings (notably,Domenico Giliardi 's University building); publication of his books about these studies was interrupted byWorld War I .Unlike other architects of his generation, Klein easily integrated into the
Soviet reality of Civil War period - he retained his formal employment as an architect of Historical and Pushkin Museums and the chair atMoscow State Technical University and even received practical (but unimportant) commissions in 1922-1923. He took part in the architectural competitions of early 1920s, side by side with the new generation ofavant-garde architects.Roman Klein died in 1924 and is interred at the German
Vvedenskoye Cemetery inLefortovo District .elected extant buildings
Moscow
*1885 Urusov apartment building, 13 Plotnikov Lane
*1885-1893 Perlov trading house, 19 Myasnitskaya Street
*1886-1888Varvara Morozova house, 14 Vozdvizhenka
*1888 8,Strastnoy Boulevard
*1888-1893 Russian and Siberian Banks, 12 Ilyinka Street
*1890-1892 7,Varvarka Street
*1893-1894 Snegirev House, 64 Plyuschikha Street
*1893-1893Devichye Pole clinics and dormitories
*1896-1898 Moore and Merilise department stores, 19Kuznetsky Most Street
*1896 Draft,Pushkin Museum , completed 1912
*1898 Simon house and factory offices, 26 Shabolovka
*1901 Shelaputin Gimnasium, 14 Kholzunov Lane
*1890s Prokhorov factories, 13-15 Rochdelskaya Street
*1890s Badayev Brewery, 12Kutuzovsky Prospekt
*1900-1902 University dormitory, 10-12 Bolshaya Gruzinskaya
*1901 Almshouse, 33 Shabolovka
*1900-1903 Shelaputin School for the Women, 15-17 Leninsky Prospect
*1905-1907 Electrical power plant, 8, Raushskaya Embankment
*1906 Nekrasov House, 20 Khlebny Lane
*1906-1908TsUM department stores, 2 Petrovka Street
*1906-1911 Completion of Moscow Choral Synagogue
*1907-1914 5, Myasnitskaya Street
*1907-1914 Giroud Factories, 11, Timura Frunze Street
*1908-1913Borodinsky Bridge
*1909-1911 Shelaputin Institute and School, 16-18 Kholzunov Street
*1900s Shelaputin School for Men, 7 Miusskaya Square
*1900sFili plant (Khrunichev )
*1910 18, Lva Tolstogo
*1912-1916 Coliseum Theater atClean Ponds
*1913-1918 University Expansion, 6 Mokhovaya StreetElsewhere
*1893-1896 Church of Our Savior Not Made by Hands,
Serpukhov References
*William Craft Brumfield, "Commerce in Russian Urban Culture 1861-1914", The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, ISBN 978-08-0186-750-7
*William Craft Brumfield, "The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture", University of California Press, 1991 [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft1g5004bj&brand=eschol contents]
*Russian: Нащокина, Мария, "Архитекторы московского модерна", М, "Жираф", 2005, стр.236-253 ("Maria Naschokina")
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