Baltic modernism in Belgrade: Design of the building of the Monopoly Administration and the Ministry of Finance in Belgrade (1908) by Krichinsky and Vasilyev

Abstract

The term “Baltic Modernism” in the contemporary architectural historiography is used to denote a specific regional branch of international Art Nouveau movement with the centers in Saint Petersburg and Helsinki, that spread from Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn and other Baltic cities in the period from 1900 to 1914. Although it was a blend of Nordic and Slavic artistic components it was endowed with a stylish consistency grounded on steady personal relationships between the Baltic architects. This also accounts for the renown Russian architects, Stepan Krichinsky (Stepan Samojlovič Kričinskij) and Nikolay Vasilyev (Nikolaj Vasil’evič Vasil’ev), whose awarded competition drawing for Belgrade Palace of Monopoly Administration and the Ministry of Finance (1908) has been partially addressed in the Serbian historiography. Albite comprehensive, it has never been fully examined in the architectural context from which it was derived.

Keywords

• architecture
• Serbia
• Russia
• Monopoly Administration
• Krichinsky
• Vasilyev