The highlight of the program: new life for the symbol of Leningrad avant-garde architecture
Author of the photo: Sergey Ermokhin
Recently, in St. Petersburg, the restoration of an iconic monument of the avant-garde era was completed – the rope workshop with the water tower of the Red Nailer plant. The investor spent 3 billion rubles on the restoration of the monument. “DP” found out how the work took place, which lasted almost 3 years, and whether other buildings in this style have a chance of being saved.
Restoration of historical buildings by investors in the Northern capital cannot be called a widespread phenomenon. It often happens that a business tries to sell non-core assets that were acquired along with land plots in attractive areas. As a result, the monuments do not find a buyer and fall into disrepair. Even if an entrepreneur appears who is ready to invest in such a property, he would rather choose a mansion in the classicist style or a strong red brick building of the 19th century to place a fashionable loft there. Even lovers of antiquity treated constructivist architecture in St. Petersburg for a long time without much reverence. In Russia, unlike Europe, where our avant-garde is in fashion, style remained misunderstood and underestimated for many years.
Loading ad block…
It was too bold
“Constructivist architecture was a radical experiment, it demanded readiness for the new, openness, it rejected authorities and standard techniques; it proclaimed a completely new approach to aesthetic qualities: beautiful – rational, economical, functional,” says candidate of architecture, independent curator Alexandra Selivanova. “That’s why The avant-garde has always been “inconvenient” for the state: it was uncomfortable for the power that thirsted for luxury in the 1930s, in the 1970s it reminded of the failed aspirations of the revolution, in the 1990s it demonstrated alien asceticism and rationality.”
As a result, many outstanding monuments of that period continue to be destroyed, and some valuable buildings have already been irretrievably lost. For many years, the building of the Rope Shop with the water tower of the Krasny Nailer plant on Vasilievsky Island was also under threat.
Ideal Zaha Hadid
A large-scale building with a high tower appeared on the corner of the 25th line of V.O. and the Oil Canal in 1930, when active construction of new industrial buildings began on the territory of the former iron-rolling and wire plant, renamed by the Soviets as “Red Nailer”. The rope workshop was commissioned to be designed by Yakov Chernikhov, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and VKHUTEIN.
By that time, he had organized the “Research Experimental Laboratory of Architectural Forms and Graphic Methods” in Leningrad, where he was engaged in design and experimental work with his students and colleagues. In addition to architecture, Yakov Chernikhov paid great attention to graphics. His works, full of expression and pathos of the technical age, subsequently influenced the development of architecture – many modern authors called him their inspiration. Suffice it to say that the world famous architect Zaha Hadid, visiting St. Petersburg, first of all went to look at Chernikhov’s creation.
The building on Vasilyevsky Island included all the characteristic features of the Soviet avant-garde. The outline of the tower resembles a nail, symbolically personifying the name of the plant. The round volume where the water tank was located is supported by racks of a through vertical structure. The composition is built on the contrast of the vertical of the tower and the extended workshop building; the contrast of forms, despite their laconicism, creates plastic expression.
Three years and three billion
In the fall of 2021, the Setl Group holding company, which is developing former industrial areas in this part of Vasilyevsky Island, took on the restoration of the crumbling Rope Shop with a tower. By the time work began, the building, which had stood neglected for decades, was in a severe state of disrepair.
As explained by Igor Pasechnik, head of NIiPI Spetsrestavratsiya LLC, which developed the restoration project, all buildings of that period were built from materials of poor quality. The slag concrete from which the walls were made and the reinforced concrete structures that formed the main frame of the building were in poor condition; only the foundation was well preserved. Plus, the monument underwent significant alterations and restructuring after the Great Patriotic War.
“We had to do a very serious repair of the walls – replacing the destroyed parts with new ones made of material corresponding to the original ones, so that they met modern standards and were safe for further use,” says Igor Pasechnik. “The majority of restoration work was carried out in the tower. The fittings , which had already fallen into disrepair, had to be exposed, strengthened with modern metal, and then re-solidified. Even the reinforced concrete structure had to be carefully restored.”
LLC “NIiPI Spetsrestavratsiya” worked in collaboration with its own architectural bureau Setl Group. The task was to adapt the workshop premises for public use. The interior space was divided into three levels, creating an atrium under the skylight, allowing the visitor to show the volume of the building. According to Igor Pasechnik, this open space filled with air and light preserves the original idea of Yakov Chernikhov. According to representatives of the developer, 3 billion rubles were spent on restoration. The building is currently undergoing finishing touches, and by the time of its opening there will be a temporary exhibition dedicated to the history of the Rope Shop.
Example for others
“When restoring buildings from the constructivist era, on the one hand, there is a certain simplicity in designing a new function; there are large spaces that in themselves are not something particularly valuable; they can be divided into functional zones,” explains Igor Pasechnik. “On the other hand On the other hand, the main difficulty is that most of these buildings are built from not very high-quality materials, which adds complexity to their preservation. But, in my opinion, the most important value lies in the city-forming role of these buildings, so they need to be restored and used as modern ones. functions”.
According to the academician of architecture, professor of the department of art history, SPGHPA named after. A.L. Stieglitz Margarita Stieglitz, who prepared a historical and cultural examination of the Rope Shop, now society is coming to understand the value of avant-garde architecture. The expert is confident that these bright, iconic, interesting buildings are well adapted for new purposes. The experience of the “Red Nailer” shows developers that many historical buildings can be restored and used for new needs, there is a wide range of functions, but, of course, an individual approach is needed in each specific case.
Loading ad block…
