Alexander Pomerantsev
Encyclopedia
Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev was a Russia
n architect and educator responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural projects realized in Imperial Russia and Bulgaria
at the turn of the 20th century. An accomplished eclecticist
, Pomerantsev practiced Art Nouveau
, Byzantine
, Russian Revival
styles and collaborated with leading structural engineer
s of his period in creating new types of commercial building
s.
and graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
in 1874. He furthered his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts
(1874–78), winning the Academy scholarship for a five-year study tour of Italy
, France
and Switzerland
(1878–1883). In 1887 he was awarded title of Academic of Architecture for his study of Cappella Palatina
(1887, revised edition 1911).
First buildings by Pomerantsev were built in Rostov-on-Don
; the block-sized Moskovskaya Hotel (1885, now City Hall) and Gench Building (1883) were at that time the largest structures in the city. These building followed the European eclectic tradition.
, his first large, and perhaps his most conspicuous project. It was "a turning point in Russian architectural history, not only because it represented the apogee of the search for a national style but also because it demanded advanced functional technology applied on a scale unprecedented in Russian civil architecture." Pomerantsev provided overall planning and architectural design, Vladimir Shukhov
– structural design. According to William Craft Brumfield
, "that the enormous Upper Trading Rows functioned, if imperfectly, is a tribute both to Shukhov's design and to the technical proficiency of Russian architecture toward the end of the century. The use of reinforced concrete
for the interior walls and vaulting
eliminated the need for thick masonry
support walls and provided the space for circulation and light. For maintenance, there was a network of basement corridors, beneath which was a subbasement with heating boilers and an electrical generating station. Every element of professional architecture, from educational institutions to the open competition system, contributed to the project." Critics noted disjunction of functional concrete and steel structure and elaborate Russian Revival
styling that consumed 40 million bricks. While upper floor galleries benefited from Shukhov's skylights, lower level suffered from inadequate ventilation, and, as a result, demand for shop space in the building did not meet the expectations.
in Nizhny Novgorod
, an event heralded as the guiding light for the upcoming 20th century. Master plan and principal pavilions of the exhibition are credited personally to Pomerantsev. Most pavilions relied on novel steel frame
load-bearing structures designed by Shukhov; they "represented the most advanced use of metal-frame construction for their time and possibly the first use of a metal membrane roof
" (Shukhov Rotunda
). Pomerantsev's Pavilion of Arts was based on traditional structure, but stylistically predated Charles Girault
's Petit Palais
(1900) and is considered the forerunner of emerging Russian Art Nouveau
. When the Pavilion was eventually torn down, its framing and finishes were reused for the People's House theater in Saint Petersburg
.
, Nikolai Markovnikov) of the Moscow Smaller Ring Railroad, a 54 kilometer ring freight line around the city. Pomerantsev provided architectural design to 20 stations of the Ring, employee housing, warehouses, roundhouse
s and water tower
s, as well as to two of Proskuryakov's bridges (now demolished, see Andreyevsky Bridge
and Krasnoluzhsky Bridge
). Regular traffic on the Ring commenced in July 1908. Station designs by Pomerantsev mixed motifs of Vienna Secession
, Victorian Gothic and traditional eclectisism leaning to neoclassicism
yet were clearly styled as a cohesive ensemble. All were built in unfinished red brick with white decorative inserts in line with industrial architecture of the period.
to Leon Benois
; both architects filed Russian Revival
proposals, however, Pomerantsev leaned to "red brick" churches of Alexander II period
covered with ornamental cliche
s and crowned with Thon-styled
dome; draft by Benois was a refined nod to Vladimir Rus architecture. In 1907-1911 Pomerantsev designed the new building for Moskovsky Rail Terminal, retaining Thon's original facade; the project did not materialize.
In 1898 Pomerantsev designed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
in Sofia
. The Neo-Byzantine cathedral, rated for 5,000 worshippers, was built to commemorate Russian dead of the 1877–1878 war. Work began in 1882, although most of the structure was actually built in 1904–1912.
Pomerantsev' last major work was also a church dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky
(his own patron saint
). It was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
in the remote Miusskaya Square of Moscow. The large 17-dome Russian Revival
church was conceived in 1900 by Pomerantsev and Victor Vasnetsov to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation reform of 1861
. Pomerantsev himself contributed financially to the construction that dragged from 1910 until the February Revolution
. In 1934 Arkady Mordvinov
and Alexey Dushkin
proposed conversion of the unfinished cathedral into the Radio House skyscraper
; the plan never materialized and the dilapidated concrete shell was torn down in 1952.
.
In 1893 the Academy reformed its architectural school, creating three parallel graduate workshops, and assigned Leon Benois
, Pomerantsev and Antony Tomishko (after the death of Tomishko in 1900 his seat was awarded to Mikhail Preobrazhensky. The first graduation under the new rules (1896) was not good for Pomerantsev; only one of his students passed the bar compared to ten for Benois and ten for Tomishko. Although Pomerantsev was the eldest of three professors, Benois was clearly more popular among students, and his workhop regularly had more regular students than Pomerantsev’s (1902: 27 vs. 14, 1903: 22 vs. 9 etc.). His best known alumni included Ivan Rylsky, Alexander Tamanyan and Sergey Serafimov.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n architect and educator responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural projects realized in Imperial Russia and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
at the turn of the 20th century. An accomplished eclecticist
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
, Pomerantsev practiced Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
, Byzantine
Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian Empire
Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian Empire emerged in the 1850s and became an officially endorsed preferred architectural style for church construction during the reign of Alexander II of Russia , replacing the Russo-Byzantine style of Konstantin Thon...
, Russian Revival
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
styles and collaborated with leading structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
s of his period in creating new types of commercial building
Commercial building
A commercial building is a building that is used for commercial use. Types can include office buildings, warehouses, or retail . In urban locations, a commercial building often combines functions, such as an office on levels 2-10, with retail on floor 1...
s.
Training and early career
Pomerantsev was born in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture was one of the largest educational institutions in Russia. The school was formed by the 1865 merger of a private art college, established in Moscow in 1832, and the Palace School of Architecture, established in 1749 by Dmitry Ukhtomsky. By...
in 1874. He furthered his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
(1874–78), winning the Academy scholarship for a five-year study tour of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(1878–1883). In 1887 he was awarded title of Academic of Architecture for his study of Cappella Palatina
Cappella Palatina
The Palatine Chapel is the royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily situated on the ground floor at the center of the Palazzo Reale in Palermo, southern Italy....
(1887, revised edition 1911).
First buildings by Pomerantsev were built in Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
; the block-sized Moskovskaya Hotel (1885, now City Hall) and Gench Building (1883) were at that time the largest structures in the city. These building followed the European eclectic tradition.
Upper Trading Rows
In 1889 Pomerantsev won an open competition to design the Moscow Upper Trading Rows (now GUM) on Red SquareRed Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
, his first large, and perhaps his most conspicuous project. It was "a turning point in Russian architectural history, not only because it represented the apogee of the search for a national style but also because it demanded advanced functional technology applied on a scale unprecedented in Russian civil architecture." Pomerantsev provided overall planning and architectural design, Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov , was a Russian engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new methods of analysis for structural engineering that led to breakthroughs in industrial design of world's first hyperboloid structures, lattice shell structures, tensile...
– structural design. According to William Craft Brumfield
William Craft Brumfield
William Craft Brumfield is a contemporary American historian of Russian architecture, a preservationist and an architectural photographer. Brumfield is currently Professor of Slavic studies at Tulane University....
, "that the enormous Upper Trading Rows functioned, if imperfectly, is a tribute both to Shukhov's design and to the technical proficiency of Russian architecture toward the end of the century. The use of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
for the interior walls and vaulting
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
eliminated the need for thick masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
support walls and provided the space for circulation and light. For maintenance, there was a network of basement corridors, beneath which was a subbasement with heating boilers and an electrical generating station. Every element of professional architecture, from educational institutions to the open competition system, contributed to the project." Critics noted disjunction of functional concrete and steel structure and elaborate Russian Revival
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
styling that consumed 40 million bricks. While upper floor galleries benefited from Shukhov's skylights, lower level suffered from inadequate ventilation, and, as a result, demand for shop space in the building did not meet the expectations.
1896 Exhibition
In 1895 Pomerantsev was appointed chief architect of the 1896 All-Russian ExhibitionAll-Russia exhibition 1896
The All-Russia industrial and art exhibition 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod was held from May 28 till October 1 , 1896. The 1896 exhibition was the biggest pre-revolution exhibition in Russian Empire and was organized with the money allotted by Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia...
in Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, an event heralded as the guiding light for the upcoming 20th century. Master plan and principal pavilions of the exhibition are credited personally to Pomerantsev. Most pavilions relied on novel steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
load-bearing structures designed by Shukhov; they "represented the most advanced use of metal-frame construction for their time and possibly the first use of a metal membrane roof
Tensile structure
A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and no compression or bending. The term tensile should not be confused with tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression elements....
" (Shukhov Rotunda
Shukhov Rotunda
Shukhov Rotunda, round exhibition pavilion for the All-Russia Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod of 1896 with lattice hanging covering and the World First Membrane roof . Designed by Vladimir Shukhov in 1895...
). Pomerantsev's Pavilion of Arts was based on traditional structure, but stylistically predated Charles Girault
Charles Girault
Charles-Louis Girault was a French architect.Born in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, he studied with Honoré Daumet at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He received the first Prix de Rome, awarded him in 1880 on the basis of a design for a hospital for sick children along the...
's Petit Palais
Petit Palais
The Petit Palais is a museum in Paris, France. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 to Charles Girault's designs, it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts ....
(1900) and is considered the forerunner of emerging Russian Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
. When the Pavilion was eventually torn down, its framing and finishes were reused for the People's House theater in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Moscow Ring Railroad
Around 1900 Pomerantsev joined the team of engineers and architects (Peter Rashevsky, Lavr ProskuryakovLavr Proskuryakov
Lavr Dmitrievich Proskuryakov was a leading bridge builder of Imperial Russia.Proskuryakov was responsible for many bridges constructed along the Trans-Siberian Railway, including the one crossing the Kotorosl River in Yaroslavl , another spanning the Yenisey near Krasnoyarsk and the Khabarovsk...
, Nikolai Markovnikov) of the Moscow Smaller Ring Railroad, a 54 kilometer ring freight line around the city. Pomerantsev provided architectural design to 20 stations of the Ring, employee housing, warehouses, roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
s and water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
s, as well as to two of Proskuryakov's bridges (now demolished, see Andreyevsky Bridge
Andreyevsky Bridge
Andreyevsky Bridge name refers to a historical bridge demolished in 1998 and three existing bridges across Moskva River, located between Luzhniki and Gorky Park in Moscow.- Andreyevsky Rail Bridge :...
and Krasnoluzhsky Bridge
Krasnoluzhsky Bridge
The name Krasnoluzhsky Bridge refers to three existing bridges across Moskva River, located between Kievsky Rail Terminal and Luzhniki in Moscow.- Krasnoluzhsky Rail Bridge :...
). Regular traffic on the Ring commenced in July 1908. Station designs by Pomerantsev mixed motifs of Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
, Victorian Gothic and traditional eclectisism leaning to neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
yet were clearly styled as a cohesive ensemble. All were built in unfinished red brick with white decorative inserts in line with industrial architecture of the period.
Cathedrals
Pomerantsev lost the 1893–1894 competition for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in WarsawAlexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Saxon Square built by authorities of Imperial Russia in Warsaw, Poland, then under the rule of the Russian Empire. The cathedral was designed by distinguished Russian architect Leon Benois, and was built between 1894 and 1912...
to Leon Benois
Leon Benois
Leon Benois was a Russian architect. He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandre Benois and Albert Benois, and the grandfather of the actor Sir Peter Ustinov...
; both architects filed Russian Revival
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
proposals, however, Pomerantsev leaned to "red brick" churches of Alexander II period
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
covered with ornamental cliche
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s and crowned with Thon-styled
Konstantin Thon
Konstantin Andreyevich Thon, also spelled Ton was an official architect of Imperial Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow....
dome; draft by Benois was a refined nod to Vladimir Rus architecture. In 1907-1911 Pomerantsev designed the new building for Moskovsky Rail Terminal, retaining Thon's original facade; the project did not materialize.
In 1898 Pomerantsev designed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Built in Neo-Byzantine style, it serves as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world, as well as one of Sofia's symbols...
in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. The Neo-Byzantine cathedral, rated for 5,000 worshippers, was built to commemorate Russian dead of the 1877–1878 war. Work began in 1882, although most of the structure was actually built in 1904–1912.
Pomerantsev' last major work was also a church dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky was the Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military...
(his own patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
). It was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Moscow
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Moscow was the largest of a series of cathedrals erected in Imperial Russia in commemoration of Alexander Nevsky, the patron saint of Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III...
in the remote Miusskaya Square of Moscow. The large 17-dome Russian Revival
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
church was conceived in 1900 by Pomerantsev and Victor Vasnetsov to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation reform of 1861
Emancipation reform of 1861
The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms effected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. The reform, together with a related reform in 1861, amounted to the liquidation of serf dependence previously suffered by peasants of the Russian Empire...
. Pomerantsev himself contributed financially to the construction that dragged from 1910 until the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
. In 1934 Arkady Mordvinov
Arkady Mordvinov
Arkady Grigoryevich Mordvinov was a Soviet architect and construction manager, notable for Stalinist architecture of Tverskaya Street, Leninsky Avenue, Hotel Ukraina skyscraper in Moscow and his administrative role in Soviet construction industry and architecture.-VOPRA years:Mordvinov was born in...
and Alexey Dushkin
Alexey Dushkin
Alexey Nikolayevich Dushkin was a Soviet architect, best known for his 1930s designs of Kropotkinskaya and Mayakovskaya stations of Moscow Metro...
proposed conversion of the unfinished cathedral into the Radio House skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
; the plan never materialized and the dilapidated concrete shell was torn down in 1952.
Educator
Pomerantsev joined the faculty of the Academy in 1888; in 1893 he was elected full member of the Academy. Pomerantsev headed a department of its Art College since 1893 and briefly headed the Academy itself in 1899-1900. Since 1899 Pomerantsev also served as visiting professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and ArchitectureMoscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture was one of the largest educational institutions in Russia. The school was formed by the 1865 merger of a private art college, established in Moscow in 1832, and the Palace School of Architecture, established in 1749 by Dmitry Ukhtomsky. By...
.
In 1893 the Academy reformed its architectural school, creating three parallel graduate workshops, and assigned Leon Benois
Leon Benois
Leon Benois was a Russian architect. He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandre Benois and Albert Benois, and the grandfather of the actor Sir Peter Ustinov...
, Pomerantsev and Antony Tomishko (after the death of Tomishko in 1900 his seat was awarded to Mikhail Preobrazhensky. The first graduation under the new rules (1896) was not good for Pomerantsev; only one of his students passed the bar compared to ten for Benois and ten for Tomishko. Although Pomerantsev was the eldest of three professors, Benois was clearly more popular among students, and his workhop regularly had more regular students than Pomerantsev’s (1902: 27 vs. 14, 1903: 22 vs. 9 etc.). His best known alumni included Ivan Rylsky, Alexander Tamanyan and Sergey Serafimov.