Table of contents:
- Musical Theatre
- House-ship
- House on my feet
- State Bank building
- Residential building of the East Siberian railway
- NTI Center
Video: How a house-ship, buildings on "chicken legs" and other oddities appeared in an old Siberian city in the 1970s
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The architecture of the old city of Irkutsk delights with wooden architecture and Siberian Baroque, however, in addition to this, you can find many strange buildings here, as if anticipating the time with their originality. The style of these houses is non-rutalism, or, as it is also called by local lovers of architecture, “Irkutsk Renaissance”. Such buildings were built in the city mainly in the 1970s and 1980s: then non-rutalism was in vogue in our country. True, there is still controversy about whether they are beautiful.
Such buildings have such an unusual appearance that they seem to have moved here, to a Siberian city with a long history, from another part of the planet or from another era.
The style of "non-rutalism" is distinguished by the rejection of decor and embellishments, severity and at the same time originality. Le Corbusier's projects greatly influenced the formation of this trend in architecture.
Architects working in the style of non-rutalism pay great attention to planning, believing that it is necessary to design a building in an integrated manner, well thinking over the functionality of the use of space. As a result, something asymmetrically strange turns out, and there is always controversy about the aesthetic beauty of such houses (they are, let's say, not for everybody).
Several local architects applied their creative talent to the creation of unusual houses in Irkutsk. Especially - the architect Vladimir Pavlov, one of the best architects in the country. He headed the board of the Irkutsk organization of the Union of Architects of the USSR, was a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Architecture, his projects were repeatedly recognized as the best at All-Union reviews, and the International Union of Architects at the World Triennial even included him in the list of the best architects in the world.
Musical Theatre
Irkutsk Regional Musical Theater. N. M. Zagursky was built in the late 1980s. The original building immediately became popular with local residents, and soon the theater became a famous landmark of Irkutsk, moreover, its visiting card. However, the townspeople give the nicknames to this building not very positive: the crematorium, the crypt, the bomb shelter … But, as they say, the people know better.
House-ship
The nine-story Ship House was built in the 1970s. This is a gallery-type building with a sectional corridor system. By the way, this was the first house of this type in the Soviet Union. The author of the project is Pavlov again.
They say that in the Soviet years, in the friendly GDR, Irkutsk had a sister city - Karl-Marx-Stadt - and a similar house was allegedly built there.
House on my feet
This example of non-rutalism began to be erected according to Pavlov's design in the 1970s as an extension to the city administration building. However, there was not enough money, and the construction was stopped, although very little remained until the completion of the work.
For three decades, the House on its feet (as the townspeople called it) stood unfinished. In 2006, they wanted to continue construction, but the local authorities again lacked funds. Dismantling the building was cheaper. It was demolished in 2008.
By the way, in Irkutsk there is another "non-brutal" house on its feet - this is the residential building of Glavvostoksibstroy. With his "feet" he stands right on the sidewalks.
State Bank building
The building of the computer center of the State Bank (Central Bank for the Irkutsk Region) was built in the 1980s. Now it houses regional organizations.
The author of the project was the same Vladimir Pavlov and two more of his colleagues, Viktor Sukhanov and Artem Papanyan. The architecture of the facades was invented by Pavlov, having reworked Sukhanov's project: from the outside, the house is faced with light tiles, which are combined with bright red bricks.
In addition to non-rutalism, the building has signs of late Soviet modernism.
Residential building of the East Siberian railway
The building of the East Siberian Railway fits perfectly into the building ensemble of Russian Street in the city of Irkutsk, being its final element. The funds that were allocated for the implementation of this project (the customer was the railway department) allowed Pavlov to realize his wildest architectural fantasies.
After the completion of construction, in 1987, the architectural project was recognized as the best at the All-Union competition. By the way, this building is even exhibited in the Chicago Museum of Architecture in the United States.
NTI Center
The Center for Scientific and Technical Information (STI), now the Russian Academy of National Economy, was built in the 1970s. It cannot be seen from any angle, since it stands on a dais and adjoins the musical theater. The authors of the project are architects Pavlov, Dagdanova, Kholdeev, Sukhanov.
It is interesting that you can get inside the building not in the usual way, but only by stairs: the entrance is directly to the fourth floor.
Irkutsk is a wonderful city. And there are those who are ready to exchange even life in the capital for him. So, for example, did the actress Tatyana Skorokhodova, who at the peak of her popularity dropped everything and left for Irkutsk. Read: what did the star of the 1990s trade for her career in cinema.
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