Apartment residential building for Krayispolkom

 

 

The eight-storied 100-apartment residential building for Krayispolkom is one of the most interesting residential buildings in Novosibirsk-shows artistic explorations of a modern-type Soviet dwelling house in the late 1930s. The building was designed with comfortable apartments and a convenient layout. The house was to accommodate public servants of Krayispolkom in 10 five-room apartments, 30 four-room apartments, 40 three-room apartments and 20 two-room apartments. The apartments had a well-thought set of living and auxiliary spaces, good proportions of rooms and a favorable room orientation providing good insulation.

The 100-apartment residential building plays a crucial role in the ensemble of Yakov M. Sverdlov square. A heavy stylized colonnade in the ground floor accentuates the three-part division of the facades. The middle part of the main facade facing the square is set off by the rhythm of flat pilasters attached in the corners of the building by wide, curved balconies. The central part of the upper floors of the main facade is somewhat recessed from the other wall surfaces, which imparts plasticity to the entire volume of the building. A simple attic is topped with a light cornice. The house had beautifully decorated balconies and loggias, thoroughly made individual details, like brackets and balcony rails, window and door head moldings. Much attention was given to the corners facing the square. The building's silhouette is thereby emphasized.

While under construction in 1934-1935 the building's decor was made significantly more complex. Vitalii S. Maslennikov, an architect of exquisite artistic taste, participated in developing general composition and plastic details of the facades. Maslennikov introduced new decorative elements in the facade composition. Here he oriented to the architecture of Auguste Perret. Later Andrei D. Kryachkov defined the building's architecture as French Neo-classicism.

In 1937 Andrei D. Kryachkov's projects - the Soviets House in Irkutsk, the Soviets House in Krasnoyarsk and the 100-apartment residential building for Krayispolkom - were displayed at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et des Techniques in Paris. The projects were awarded with a Grand Prix diploma and with a Gold medal. The building became a sort of model for Novosibirsk architects. The house was for a long time a prestigious dwelling for the Siberian elite.

 

 

Vocabulary

eight - storied-восьмиэтажный

 

residential - жилой

 

auxiliary - подсобный, вспомогательный

 

set off - выгодно подчёркивать, оттенять

 

impart- придавать

 

volume of the building - объём здания

 

bracket - кронштейн

 

balcony rails - решётки балконов

 

head molding - сандрик

 

molding - формовка

 

dwelling - жилье

 

Exercises

 

I. Try to translate the following words without using a dictionary:

Comfortable, Soviet, apartments, cornice, loggia, silhouette, diploma, prestigious, elite.

 

II. Define the part of speech of the following words:

Interesting, exploration, public, favorable, auxiliary, orientation, plasticity, beautifully, individual, significantly.

III. Answer the following questions:

1.When was 100-apartment residential building built?

2.Who was it built for?

3.How many three-room apartments are there in this house?

4.What is the middle part of the main facade set off by?

5.What imparts plasticity to the entire volume of the building

6.What is the attic of the building topped with?

7.Does the house have any balconies or loggias?

8.What did Vitalii S. Maslennikov introduce?

9.Where were Andrei D. Kryachkov's projects displayed in 1937?

10.What awards did the 100-apartment residential building get at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et des Techniques in Paris?

IV. Choose the correct preposition:

1. The building was designed … comfortable apartments and a convenient layout.

a) to

b) with

c) by

2. The middle part of the main facade facing the square is set off … the rhythm of flat pilasters attached in the corners of the building … wide, curved balconies.

a) of, by

b) from, to

c) by, by

3. The central part of the upper floors of the main facade is somewhat recessed … the other wall surfaces.

a) from

b) on

c) in

4. A simple attic is topped … a light cornice.

a) for

b) to

c) with

5. Much attention was given … the corners facing the square.

a) at

b) in

c) to

6. The projects were awarded … a Grand Prix diploma and with a Gold medal.

a) from

b) with

c) by

V. Choose the correct form of the verb:

1. The 100-apartment residential building … a crucial role in the ensemble of Yakov M. Sverdlov square.

a) play

b) plays

c) played

2. A heavy stylized colonnade in the ground floor … the three-part division of the facades.

a) accentuates

b) was accentuated

c) were accentuated

3. The central part of the upper floors of the main facade … somewhat … from the other wall surfaces.

a) was … recessed

b) is … recessed

c) has … recessed

4. Much attention …to the corners facing the square.

a) were given

b) was given

c) was gave

5. While under construction in 1934-1935 the building's decor was made significantly more complex.

a) is made

b) are made

c) was made

6. Maslennikov … new decorative elements in the facade composition.

a) was introduced

b) introduced

c) is introduced

7. Later Andrei D. Kryachkov … the building's architecture as French Neo-classicism.

 

a) defined

 

b) define

 

c) was defined

 

VI. Match the beginnings of the sentences to their ends using the information from the text:

1.The building was designed with comfortable… a) a favorable room orientation

providing good insulation

2. The house was for a long time… b) French Neo-classicism

3. Here he oriented to the architecture of… c) three-part division of the facades

4. The building became… d) the corners facing the square

5. The apartments had a well-thought set

of living and auxiliary spaces, good

proportions of rooms and… e) Auguste Perret

6. Much attention was given to… f) a prestigious dwelling for the Siberian elite

7. A heavy stylized colonnade in the

ground floor accentuates… g) a sort of model for Novosibirsk architects

8. Later Andrei D. Kryachkov defined

the building's architecture as… h) apartments and a convenient layout

 

VII. Find in the text the synonyms to the following words:

a flat, subsidiary, isolation, inhabitable, conclusive, to emphasize,

to assign, elegant, substantially, a scheme, demonstrate.

 

VIII. Translate from English into Russian:

§ layout

§ to accommodate

§ a servant

§ favorable

§ pilaster

§ surface

§ volume

§ brackets

§ balcony rails

§ moldings

§ artistic taste

IX. Retell the text.

City Trade Building

(Museum of Regional History).

 

 

Novonikolaevsk Town Council asked the Tomsk architect Andrei D. Kryachkov to design the Trade Building on the Market Place. 16 shops to rent, each with an area of 136 m2, occupied the first floor. The second floor accommodated the Municipal Duma, the Town Council, the Treasury, a branch of the State Bank and a room for 1000 people. In the basement there were storage facilities, a boiler- room and an electric generator. Glass blocks in lead furring located on the pavement level provided lighting of the storage facilities. A similar construction still can be seen in Omsk, where Andrei Kryachkov at the same time built a Trade Building (Kryachkov's project was awarded the first prize at a competition).

The lengthy two-storied brick Trade Building of Novonikolaevsk has symmetrical facades, executed in the style of Russian Art Nouveau. The facade facing the Market Place had a little dome-topped fire tower. The arrangement of the fire tower with a lightning rod required a different decorative design for tops of lengthy eastern and western facades. Their composition is based on the contrast between the redbrick wall surface, white-plastered details and green-colored roofs of the building.

Andrei Kryachkov used the same decor for twelve elementary schools. It contrasted with the rest of the buildings in the new city and shaped a peculiar "specialty" of construction works financed by the local government. The first level is interpreted as a ground floor, it is rusticated and plastered.

Taken the overall brick construction of the walls, the most crucial elements- socle and capping slabs - are coated with grey granite. The exterior decor of the Trade Building in Novonikolaevsk reflected Kryachkov's impressions of the contemporary European architecture that he had seen during his half-a-year long tour of Germany, France and Italy in 1907. The Siberian architect was under the influence of the predominant currents of the European architecture of the time: the Wiener Sezession and the German Jugendstil. But the layout and decoration of the Trade Building in Novonikolaevsk also reflect the influence of Siberian architecture, namely of the City Trade Building for selling farinaceous foods ("Farinaceous Store Building") erected in Tomsk in 1907-1908. Kryachkov was familiar with that building designed by Tovii L. Fishel, a city architect and a representative of Art Nouveau.

It is noteworthy that Kryachkov mastered the Art Nouveau decorative arsenal only superficially, and not as an integral conception of architectural forms. This resulted in the stylistic discord between the interior and exterior of the building. So, Kryachkov used Corinthian order to decorate the reinforced concrete framework-four columns supporting the overhead cover of the sales room-that was new for the time. The Trade Building has gone through numerous repairs and alterations- some of the decor elements of the interior and of the facades have been lost, the fire tower has been dismantled, the through passage has been walled up.

 

 

Vocabulary

to design - проектировать

 

market place - базарная площадь

 

to rent - арендовать,снимать

 

treasury - казначейство

 

branch - отделение

 

storage facilities - склады

 

boiler- room - бойлерная

 

glass blocks in lead furring - стеклянные блоки в свинцовой обрешётке

 

fur - мех, (зд.) покрывать, (обшивать рейками, досками)

 

lengthy - протяжённый

 

to face - выходить (лицом)

 

dome topped tower - башня, увенчанная куполом

 

fire tower - пожарная,башня

 

lightning rod - громоотвод

 

white - plaster - белая штукатурка

 

to rusticate - рустовать, нарезать русты (насекать)

 

to plaster - штукатурить

 

overall - общий

 

crucial - ключевой, критический, решающий

 

capping slab - карнизная плита

 

layout - планировка

 

farinaceous - мучной

 

overhead - верхний

 

repair - ремонт

 

alteration - переделка

 

to wall up - заделывать, замуровывать

 

 

Exercises

 

I. Try to translate the following words without using a dictionary:

Architect, municipal, electric generator, design, contrast, elementary, tour, conception, stylistic.

II. Define the part of speech of the following words:

Basement,European, lengthy, symmetrical, government, superficially, numerous, competition.

III. Answer the following questions:

1.Who did Novonikolaevsk Town Council ask to design the Trade Building?

2. What occupied the first floor?

3.What was located on the pavement level?

4.Where can we see a similar construction?

5.What kind of facades did Novonikolaevsk Trade Building have?

6.What decor did Kryachkov use both for Trade Building and for twelve elementary schools?

7.What currents of the European architecture influenced Andrei D. Kryachkov?

8.Why did Kryachkov use the Corinthian order?

9.Have there been any repairs or alterations of the City Trade Building?

 

IV. Fill in the gaps with the suitable verbs from the text and translate the sentences:

1.The second floor …the Municipal Duma, the Town Council, the Treasury, a branch of the State Bank and a room for 1000 people.

2. Glass blocks in lead furring … on the pavement level provided lighting of the storage facilities.

3. The arrangement of the fire tower with a lightning rod … a different decorative design for tops of lengthy eastern and western facades.

4. The first level … as a ground floor, it is rusticated and plastered.

5. Taken the overall brick construction of the walls, the most crucial elements- socle and capping slabs … with grey granite.

6. The exterior decor of the Trade Building in Novonikolaevsk … Kryachkov's impressions of the contemporary European architecture.

7. It is noteworthy that Kryachkov … the Art Nouveau decorative arsenal only superficially, and not as an integral conception of architectural forms.

 

V. Give the Russian equivalents to the following words and words combinations:

Shops to rent, town Council, branch of the bank, storage facilities, fire tower, white-plastered details, elementary school, crucial elements, to be coated with, to be under the influence, farinaceous foods, stylistic discord, to be walled up.

 

VI. Find the false sentences and correct them:

1. The second floor accommodated the elementary schools, the shops to rent, the hospital and a room for 100 people.

2. Brick blocks in steel furring located on the pavement level provided lighting of the storage facilities.

3. The lengthy three-storied brick Trade Building of Novonikolaevsk has symmetrical facades, executed in the style of Russian Post Modernism.

4. The arrangement of the fire tower with a lightning rod required a different decorative design for tops of lengthy eastern and western facades.

5. Taken the overall brick construction of the walls, the most crucial elements- socle and capping slabs - are coated with red brick.

6. The Siberian architect was under the influence of the predominant currents of the American architecture of the time.

7. So, Kryachkov used Composite order to decorate the reinforced concrete framework.

8. The Trade Building has gone through few repairs and alterations.

 

VII. Give the brief descriptions of:

The façade of trade building; the second floor; the first floor; the basement; the decoration of City Trade Building.

 

VIII. Translate from Russian into English:

§ городской совет

§ казначейство

§ бойлерная

§ рыночная площадь

§ громоотвод

§ карнизная плита

§ симметричные фасады

§ протяженные фасады

§ рустовать

§ штукатурить

§ переделка

§ замуровывать

IX. Explain the meaning of the following figures:

16; 136; 1000; 1907.

X. Retell the text.

PROMBANK

(City administration)

 

 

In 1925 the Moscow Architectural Society (MAO) organized a competition to design the facades of the building of the Industrial Bank (Prombank) of the USSR in Novosibirsk to "prepared plans and crosssections" by S.A. Shestov, a local Gosstroi engineer. The first floor held six stores with offices. On the second floor there was a transactions room in the center and two two-room apartments for directors in the left wing. The winning project was made and implemented by Alexander Shvidkovsky, Georgii Goltz and Sergei Kozhin. The Prombank building in Novosibirsk is very significant in the artistic heritage of architect and artist Georgii P. Goltz, one of the most talented followers of academician Ivan V. Zholtovsky's Neo-Renaissance school. Goltz graduated from VHUTEMAS, a world-renowned cradle of Russian avant-garde. At the beginning of his artistic career, when he had returned from his eight-month long tour of Italy and was under the influence of Alexander A. Vesnin's ideas, Goltz made several projects in the Constructivist manner. The Prombank building had brick exterior walls and an internal reinforced concrete framework. Its facade composition was based to the dynamic contrast between a pulsatory rhythm of massive pylons and large glass surfaces of high window-cases. Different sizes of bays were motivated by the pre-specified layout of the construction. On special occasions and on working days the building was decorated with agitation slogans and various propagandistic installations. The building's large dimensions determined the scale of the main square. Local newspapers mentioned the Constructivist architecture of the Prombank building and a Moscow touch in its ultra-modern forms. Addition of two stories and reconstruction resulted in a heavy classicist interpretation of the building caused by the necessity to form symmetrical composition of the ensemble on the city's main square, in front of the Opera Theater. Window openings were diminished; facades were decorated with flat five-storied pilasters of large order with big one-story-high massive capitals of socio-realistic interpretation, crowned with a mighty cornice and a high attic.

 

Vocabulary

 

store - магазин

 

transactions room - операционный зал

 

heritage - наследие

 

cradle - колыбель

 

exterior (interior) - экстерьер (интерьер)

 

internal - внутренний

 

pylon - пилон

 

surface - поверхность

 

window-case- оконная коробка, окно-витрина

 

ensemble - ансамбль

 

to diminish - уменьшать

 

pilaster - пилястр

 

mighty cornice - мощный карниз

 

high attic - высокий аттик

 

 

Exercises

 

I. Try to translate the following words without using a dictionary:

Industrial, local, engineer, artistic, talented, dynamic, pylon, propagandistic, installation, ultra-modern, interpretation, pilaster.

 

II. Define the part of speech of the following words:

Director, follower, academician, dynamic, occasion, heavy, massive, socio-realistic, mighty.

III. Answer the following questions:

1.When did Moscow Architectural Society organize a competition to design the facades of the building of Prombank?

 

2.What was there on the second floor?

 

3.Whose follower was Georgii P. Goltz?

 

4.What did he graduate from?

 

5.How much time did he spend in Italy?

 

6.What was the building decorated with on special occasions and on working days?

 

7.Why were two stories added to the building?

 

8. What were facades decorated with?

 

 

IV. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English:

1.На втором этаже находился операционный зал, а в левом крыле были апартаменты для директоров банка.

2.Внешние стены здания Промбанка были кирпичные, а внутри был железобетонный каркас.

3.Разные размеры ниш были обусловлены особой планировкой здания.

4.Большие размеры здания определяли масштаб главной площади города.

5.По рабочим дням, а также в особых случаях здание украшалось агитационными лозунгами и различными пропагандистскими инсталляциями.

6.Местные газеты отмечали Конструктивистскую архитектуру здания Промбанка, и Московские черты его ультрасовременных форм.

 

V. Fill in the gaps with the suitable adjectives and participles from the text:

1. The … project was made and implemented by Alexander Shvidkovsky, Georgii Goltz and Sergei Kozhin.

2. The Prombank building in Novosibirsk is very … in the artistic heritage of architect and artist Georgii P. Goltz.

3. Goltz graduated from VHUTEMAS, …cradle of Russian avantgarde.

4. The Prombank building had brick …walls and an …reinforced concrete framework.

5. Different sizes of bays were motivated by the …layout of the construction.

6. Local newspapers mentioned the Constructivist architecture of the Prombank building and a Moscow touch in its …forms.

7. Addition of two stories and reconstruction resulted in a … interpretation of the building caused by the necessity to form …composition of the ensemble on the city's main square.

 

VI. Prove the following using the information from the text:

1.The competition of the facades' design of Prombank was won by Alexander Shvidkovsky, Georgii Goltz and Sergei Kozhin.

2. Georgii Goltz was a representative of Neo-Renaissance school.

3. Alexander A. Vesnin's ideas influenced Georgii Goltz during his tour about Italy.

4.Prombank was built in the style of Constructivism.

5.Later the building was reconstructed in a heavy classicist manner.

6.There were added two more stories.

 

VII. Match the words and their definitions:

1.Framework; a) a short phrase that is easy to remember and is used in advertisements;

2.heritage; b) the place where something important began;

3.cradle; c) the way in which someone explains or understands an event, information, someone's actions etc.;

4.occasion; d) the main supporting part of a building;

5.slogan; e) the traditional beliefs, values, customs of a family, country or society;

6.interpretation. f) the time of an important event.

 

VIII. Retell the text.