THE HOUSE OF THE CENTRAL COUNCIL IN KYIV: TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE IMAGE

Abstract

The article deals with the history of the construction and functioning of one of the most famous Kyiv buildings, which was used as the premises of the Ukrainian Central Council during the Ukrainian Revolution. The construction and the concept of this building are analyzed, and a description of the interior and exterior finishes. The process of transition of the building to the status of the house of meetings of the Central Rada was revealed in detail, its further fate was revealed, the functional transformation that took place with it in different periods of existence was investigated. Thus, the author found out that the building was erected in 1910-1912 by architect P. Alyoshin for the Tsarevich Aleksey (Romanov) Pedagogical Museum in the Art Nouveau style based on the Russian Empire style. From March 1917 the Ukrainian Central Rada worked here (it became a full-fledged "master" of the building since October 1917). It was time when the first changes in the exterior and interior of the house occurred - the Russian imperial coat of arms and the corresponding inscriptions were removed; the UNR coat of arms - Trizub was mounted on the wall; instead of the bas-relief portrait of Tsarevich Alexei, a portrait of Taras Shevchenko was placed, the imperial symbolism was dismantled. A little later, the boardroom was decorated with the emblems of five provinces whose Ukrainian jurisdiction was recognized by the Provisional Government (in 1923, the emblems as a relic of the "counter-revolutionary Council" would be abolished by the new government). In 1920-30s the building on Volodymyrska Street hosted many Soviet institutions (the Institute of International Relations, the Proletarian Museum and the Kyiv Provincial Eastport, the Museum of the Revolution, and the Kyiv Regional Executive Committee). In 1937 it was decided to arrange here a branch of the Moscow Museum of Volodymyr Lenin, having completed and reconstructed the existing premises. Architect Alyoshin, while maintaining the unity of style, extended the sides of the interior and closed them with a block parallel to the man's part, which formed a small courtyard. Interior planning and decoration have also undergone changes - so much of the stucco has been removed, and polychromy has been eliminated (similar activity occurred in the early 1950s). The general conclusion is that changes and transformations of the house on Volodymyrska Street, unconventional for Kyiv architecture, in most situations were controlled by architect P. Alyoshin, who retained the architectural features of the early twentieth century, and the introduction did not violate the overall impression.

Keywords

• building of the Central Council of Ukraine
• construction
• transformation
• first half of 20th century