- Illarion Ivanov-Schitz
Infobox Architect
caption=Lenkom Theatre , former Merchant Club,Moscow , 1907-1908
name=Illarion Ivanovich Ivanov-Schitz
nationality=Russia
birth_date=March 28 ,1865
birth_place=Mikhailovka ,Voronezh Oblast
death_date=December 7 1937
death_place=Moscow
practice_name=Own firm
significant_buildings=Lenkom Theatre
Courses for the Women inDevichye Pole
Morozov Hospital
significant_projects=Miusskaya Square public buildings
awards=|Illarion Ivanovich Ivanov-Schitz ( _ru. Илларион Иванович Иванов-Шиц, 1865 - 1937) was a
Russia narchitect , notable for developing a unique personal style, blending theVienna Secession school ofOtto Wagner withGreek Revival features. His career peaked in 1902-1912 with severalMoscow buildings including the Morozov Hospital, the Merchant Club (now theLenkom Theatre ), Moscow Savings Bank, and the public buildings inMiusskaya Square . He was one of the few architects born in the 1860s who integrated into theSoviet establishment, earning theOrder of Lenin for various resort projects and for redesigning the interiors of theGrand Kremlin Palace in the 1930s.Biography
Education
Ivanov-Schitz graduated from the
Saint Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineers, which he attended from 1883-1888, with a gold medal. After a brief tour ofEurope , he relocated to Moscow, joining the firm ofMax Hoppener and later working for the City of Moscow. Another visit to Europe, in 1893, exposed him to Austrian architectOtto Wagner and his circle, who would form theVienna Secession group in 1897.Early career
His first realised design, co-signed by
Vladimir Sherwood (Jr.), was an 1889 apartment building at 32Tverskaya Street , Moscow (destroyed). His early works, such as the orphanage inDevichye Pole (1893), now housing Embassy ofVietnam , belong to the tradition of 19th centuryeclecticism , and do not stand out among hundreds of similar buildings. Over the first decade of his career, Ivanov-Schitz' style gradually moved towardsGreek Revival . Collaboration withLev Kekushev on his railroad projects and public buildings also exposed Ivanov-Schitz to practical applications of Kekushev's Belgian-inspired variety ofArt Nouveau .Mature works
In 1898-1900 he completed his first landmark building, an office block on the corner of
Kuznetsky Most andPetrovka Street . [http://mosmodern.race.ru/d005.html] This building, dominated by vertical ribs, was a clear departure from eclecticism. Despite quotations fromGreek architecture , it was regarded as unusually modern for its period; professionals called it "A Greek sort ofWagner " (Nachokina, p.223).From 1902 to 1903, Ivanov-Schitz formulated his own style, a modest blend of Secession and Greek revival. Unlike the extravagant Belgian Art Nouveau practiced by Kekushev, Ivanov's art appealed equally to financial institutions and charities; in fact, most of his works were undertaken for these two groups of clients:
* 1900-1905 Morozov Hospital
* 1902-1903 Moscow Savings Bank
* 1903-1906 Abrikosov's Nursery in Miusskaya Square [http://mosmodern.race.ru/o004.html]
* 1903-1906 Vvedensky People's House (destroyed, present-day Zhuravlev Square)After the revolution of 1905, his buildings become more rationalist, yet they clearly belong to the same style:
* 1907-1908 Merchant Club (present-day Lenkom Theatre)
* 1910-1912 Shanyavsky University in Miusskaya Square
* 1910-1914 Courses for the Women in Devichye Poleoviet period
Between 1908 and 1928, Ivanov-Schitz was officially employed as the architect of
Botkin Hospital in Moscow. He continued active construction work, engaged in various consultancied for theBolshevik s, and blended well into the new establishment. In 1922-1925, when most architects were unemployed, he had real construction jobs, expanding apartment buildings inTverskoy Boulevard and the Eye Hospital on theGarden Ring .In the 1930s, Ivanov-Schitz was a lead architect for the Medical-Sanitary Board (Лечсанупр), a state institution that catered for the Kremlin elite. He completed various high-profile resorts in
Sochi andBarvikha and was allowed to rebuild the halls of theGrand Kremlin Palace so it could seat the assemblies of theSupreme Soviet . In the 1990s, his alterations were torn down and the Palace was rebuilt to the original plans ofKonstantin Thon (1794-1881).Illarion Ivanov-Schitz, received the
Order of Lenin . In 1937 he died and was buried with honours atNovodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.References
* William Craft Brumfield, "The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture", University of California Press, 1991
* William Craft Brumfield, "Commerce in Russian Urban Culture 1861-1914", The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, ISBN 978-08-0186-750-7
* Maria Naschokina, "Arkhitektory moskovskogo moderna: tvorcheskie portrety", Moskva: Izd-vo "Zhiraf", 2005, ISBN 5-89832-043-1 pр.222-231 (Russian language)External links
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