Name
Civil Engineering Institute
Years of construction
1931
Architect
Address
Науки, 14
Avant-garde and Art Deco as two different approaches for the building of the educational institution
Institute of Civil Engineering (now University of Radioelectronics) In 1930, the Kharkiv Construction Institute (CBI) was founded based on the Construction Faculty of the KhPI and the Faculty of Architecture of the Kharkiv Art Institute. The new educational institution was set aside newly formed Dzerzhinsky Square (modern Freedom Square) in the city center, the territory of Shatylivka. The building was designed by architects Yakiv Steinberg and Rozalia Friedman, in collaboration with I. Zaslavsky. It is known that in the 1930s Y. Steinberg and R. Fridman were professors at Kharkiv Civil Engineering Institute (KhCEI) and members of the Union of Architects in Kharkiv. In November 1930, the project of the (KhCEI) building was published by Steinberg in the Construction journal. It was an experimental building designed in the spirit of constructivism. The architects paid special attention to the functionality of the building. Since the Institute curriculum was developed as early as 1932, the architects planned divided faculties, connecting it with premises to be shared by all students. The structure was four-storied and H-shaped. The staircase halls in the distribution building led to perpendicularly located educational buildings, intended for different departments. Stairwells or ramps were located in the halls of the long building and at the opposite edges of the transverse buildings. The basement and second floors had corridors. The ground floor and part of the basement were intended for laboratories; the second floor was divided into small rooms for group classes; on the third floor, there were drawing rooms with free planning (later an enfilade system). The stairs located on opposite sides of the corridor led to the laboratories and drawing rooms. Near the stairs were toilets, storages, professors' offices with small libraries. At the ends of the perpendicular buildings were large auditoriums-amphitheaters. The library and the great hall were planned in the inner cour d'honneur. The main entrance had to be at the intersection of former Lenin Avenue (now it is Nauki Ave.) and Serpowa street. Steinberg's project was implemented halfway - by 1932 only the part adjacent to the avenue was built. Therefore, the buildings in the depth of the site were built only in the 1970s, by other architects. In July 1941, the building of the Institute housed a hospital. During World War II it was badly damaged. In June 1944, the reconstruction of the educational building in Shatylivka began. Teams of students led by professors worked on the construction site. In 1944–1945s, the head of the Department of Architectural Design and Composition of Institute, Associate Professor Dmitry Torubarov completed the project of the building's reconstruction. Although the appearance of the building was "modernized" by classical elements, the principles laid down by Y. Steinberg were preserved. In early 1947, an expert council in Moscow concluded that the eclectic architecture of the Institute, proposed by Torubarov, "does not meet the important needs of today." In October 1947 the institute was reorganized into the Kharkiv Mining and Industrial Institute, and Torubarov moved to work at another university. And officials decided to order a new project. The architect of this new project was the Head of the Department of Architectural Design and Composition Noah Podgorny. He took into account the increase in the number of mining specialties, planning educational buildings, workshops, student dormitories, and buildings for new faculty Reworked in classical forms, the project (Stalinist Art Deco style) received good reviews. In contrast to the style of the 1930s and the first laconic building, the postwar approach dictated the division of the interior spaces of public buildings and the creation of grand premises The main lobby, the meeting hall, the foyer, 2 large auditoriums, the gym, the reading room, the dining room and the offices of the authorities were considered grand premises. But this program was not fully implemented. Today the facades of the buildings are fully in line with the project of the 1950s, but, in fact, Podgorny completely redesigned only the perpendicular building of Steinberg; he also completed 2 buildings that enclosed the courtyard of the former main entrance and re-created the main building with the assembly hall on the site of the burned library. With the completion of a complex of dormitories and houses for teachers, he was able to preserve the old buildings. The decor on the facades brought the whole complex to the same stylistics. But laconism of the 1930s' architecture made these buildings look like minor, low-value parts to compare with richly decorated new buildings. The value of original interiors, restoring and preserving them remains a challenge for the future. Olga Shvydenko
Civil Engineering Institute / Educational Institution / Kharkiv National University of RadioElectronics
Steinberg J., Friedman R. / 1931/ 1952 - reconstruction Pidgorny N. / 14, Nauki avenue
Educational institution / Constructivism
Monuments of architecture / Reconstructed
Romanticism of Industrial Revolution
Influence of classical art
Constructivism
Art Deco
Influence of Ukrainian folk architecture
Influence of European Modern architecture