Andrei Ivanovich Stakenschneider (Андрей Иванович Штакеншнейдер) (1802–1865), also spelled Stackenschneider and Stuckenschneider, was a Russia

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. His eclectic approach and competence in period styles is manifest in ten palaces built to his design in St. Petersburg. He is often credited for turning Russian architecture

Russian architecture

Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots were established in the Eastern Slavic state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of Kiev, Russian architectural history continued in the principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, the succeeding states of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire,...

 from 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...

 to Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

.

Born into a prosperous family, Stakenschneider trained 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...

, helping Auguste de Montferrand

Auguste de Montferrand

Auguste de Montferrand was a French Neoclassical architect who worked primarily in Russia. His two best known works are the Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.-Family:...

 to supervise the construction of Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city...

. He was a revivalist, finding his inspiration in Greek, Renaissance, Baroque, and Gothic styles. His first independent work was a Neo-Gothic castle at Keila-Joa

Keila-Joa

Keila-Joa is a small borough in Keila Parish, Harju County, northern Estonia. It has a population of 309 .-External links:*...

, a residence of Count Alexander von Benckendorff

Alexander von Benckendorff

Count Alexander von Benckendorff, was a Russian Infantry General and statesman, Adjutant General of the H. I. M. Retinue and a commander in the Patriotic War of 1812 best remembered for having established the Gendarmes in Russia....

 near Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

.

In the late 1830s, Stakenschneider emerged as the chief court architect of Nicholas I of Russia

Nicholas I of Russia

Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...

. For this monarch and his children he designed the Mariinsky Palace

Mariinsky Palace

Mariinsky Palace, also known as Marie Palace , was the last Neoclassical imperial palace to be constructed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built between 1839 and 1844 to a design by the court architect Andrei Stackensneider....

 (1839–44), Nicholas Palace

Nicholas Palace

Nicholas Palace was one of several St Petersburg palaces designed by Andreas Stackensneider for the children of Nicholas I of Russia...

 (1853–61), New Michael Palace

New Michael Palace

The New Michael Palace was the third Saint Petersburg palace designed by Andrei Stackenschneider for Nicholas I's children...

 (1857–61), as well as the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

Belosselsky-Belozersky Palace is a Neo-Baroque palace at the intersection of the Fontanka River and Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia...

 (1846–48) for Princess Kochubey. In Peterhof he was responsible for the Farm Palace (1838–55), the Belvedere Palace (1853–56), and numerous garden pavilions.

Stakenschneider refurbished some rooms in the Winter Palace

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...

 and applied the Greek Revival idioms to the imperial palace in Oreanda, Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

(1842–52, burnt down 1882).