We continue to bring back the forgotten and acquire new expertise in Ukrainian traditional architecture — on 3 August the fourth seminar of the series of events "Heritage That Inspires" was held at the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov.
Knowledge is best acquired not from dry reports and books, but during live communication and practice, in a circle of experts and like-minded people, with whom you can discuss and joke. And even get a little bit under the rain - we hope that this way the harvest of ideas for your own projects inspired by the event will be even more generous.
The fourth meeting was dedicated to the mysterious Ukrainian Police. Areas where, in ancient times, villages were hidden in forests and separated by rivers, where buildings were built without nails, houses were easily sawed in half, and stoves... were carried on sledges.
Anatoly Boreyko, head of the "Polyssia" exposition department of the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine
Anatoly Boreyko, scientist, head of the Polissia exposition department of the Open Air Museum, and Oleg Volosovskyi, architect, founder of the loft buro studio, adviser on architecture and design at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine, shared some of the secrets of this region with Ukrainian architects as part of a popular science tour of the museum locations and a master class.
The curator of the excursion, scientist Anatoliy Boreyko, tells the participants about the natural and architectural features of Polissia and the life of the Polish people
You can read about how the previous meetings dedicated to Poltava region, Slobozhan region and Podil went here, here і here.
There are 2 more seminars coming up that you can join.
- on 17 August — Carpathians. Curator: Olena Gromova.
- on 31 August — Ukrainian village of the 20th century. Curator: Tamara Vasylenko.
Link to participate you will also find at the end of the material in the following meetings, which will be held in the appropriate locations of the Museum.
The rain did not get in the way of getting to know the authentic building traditions and emphasized the somewhat gloomy beauty of Polissia
In accordance with the theme of the event and the practical part (master class), the following partners join the seminars: loft bureau, BUDZIRKA, "Vitex Ukraine", L. Decor, Gudani Group.
Information support: PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA.
Anastasia Vesnyanka, marketing director of BUDZIRKA, and Kostyantyn Kovshevatsky, editor-in-chief of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
What exactly happens: during the one-day meeting, the participants get acquainted with the peculiarities of the construction traditions of a certain historical and geographical region, the experience of architects of the past, the materials and methods used, the principles of organizing spaces and interiors, and the production of objects. At the master class, participants work with natural materials, ceramics, paints and try their hand at reproducing old techniques.
As we have already mentioned, this is not a standard lecture history, but an ethnographic and architectural journey through time with the support of curators-scientists, architects, manufacturers, where there is plenty of informal communication.
Time to tell what happened at the last meeting dedicated to Polissy.
Windmills are an integral part of the scenery of the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov. Polish windmills have a tent construction method
Visiting the Poles
This word, which many of us perceive purely as a popular Ukrainian surname, is actually the historical name of the inhabitants of Polissia.
At the beginning of the excursion, some participants unexpectedly learned that they too are the most truly modern Polish pike: scientist, head of the exposition department of the "Polyssia" museum, Anatoly Boreyko, said that the border between such historical and geographical regions of Ukraine as Polissia and Naddnipryanshchyna passes practically in the middle of Kyiv.
Polishchuki is an ethnokon (a name tied to the area) of the inhabitants of Polissia
The expert intrigued the participants of the event: the current seminar and the architecture that the guests will get to know will be different from the previous ones. He spoke about the geographical and natural features of Polissia, which make it unique and have influenced the daily life of the inhabitants and architectural practices.
Serhiy Dzyubak, founder of Gudani Group, and Oleg Volosovsky, architect, founder of loft buro
Predominant forests, a large number of swamps, and the isolation of settlements helped to better preserve traditions. In the past, the inhabitants had infrequent contact even with neighbors from the nearest villages, lived a simple natural life and used everything that nature and the forest gave to the maximum.
Wood was primarily used for construction and creation of household items. It is not a very resistant material to the tests at times, but it is easier to transport than, for example, adobe walls of buildings from other regions. Therefore, it was in the "Polyssia" exposition of the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov that scientists managed to demonstrate all the authenticity and original objects of the past. There is one more feature of Polish housing that helped historians, but we will talk about it a little later.
A house from the Verestya farm, built in 1587. Wood is a material that is easier to disassemble and transport. Thanks to these qualities, the scientists managed to demonstrate Polish architectural authenticity well at the exhibition
Forest people by themselves
Before inspecting the buildings, Anatoly Boreyko said: all Polissia houses were dusty, i.e. without chimneys. During the use of the stove, cooking, lighting, all the smoke went directly into the room, so the walls of the huts were periodically washed. This mainly distinguishes them from what the audience has seen before in previous expositions.
"An interesting element of a Polish house is the so-called sash windows," Boreyko continues. — The small windows were cut after the foundation of the building was ready. Smoke came out through them, they were opened so as not to suffocate. You can notice that they are completely different than, for example, windows in houses in Poltava region or Naddnipryan region. Another reason for such a choice of windows was protection from animals, which are many in the forest."
According to Boreik, living next to the forest, the Poles tried to use all possible natural materials to make their lives easier and not to work hard, for example, they made donkey huts by minimally cutting the roots of trees, or containers for storing grain and loose products from solid logs. They did not use nails, replacing them with wooden chopsticks, wood was very rarely cut, instead it was hollowed out or chopped.
To illuminate the houses in Polissia, they used "light" lamps made of poles or cloth and vines, which were placed over tubs of water to protect the house from fire. They aroused considerable interest among the tour participants.
Rye straw, which is not resistant to high humidity, is a traditional material for the roof of houses in Polissia. In the conditions of the Museum, for better preservation, it is often replaced by reed
The inhabitants of Polis were minimalists in their views on home furnishing and did not have many household goods in their houses, there was only what was necessary for life.
The scientist told the audience: it is characteristic of Polish architecture to rebuild, complete and move premises and housing, sometimes even depending on the season.
The stove by the door, the red corner, the table, the benches - an authentic Polish house imbued with minimalism
"Using wood, the Poles had the opportunity to dismantle the building, move it and put it back together again. The location of the premises in the yard and the change of their purpose were in accordance with the needs of the owner. One of the houses presented in the exhibition "moved" around the yard four times before it was taken away by our scientists," said Anatoliy Boreyko.
The excursion began with an inspection of the traditional hut built in 1587, which most fully reflects the traditions of the housing arrangement of our ancestors in Polissia. Then the scientist led the guests to the district court. 12 premises, connected according to a principle somewhat reminiscent of Carpathian barns, provided all residential and economic needs of Polish pike, safety for living and valuable things that were in the yard. Housing, granaries, sawmills, mills, starch mills, etc. were located here. Unlike the grazhda, the annexes of the Polis district court were not united by a common roof, and only the residential house had a ceiling as such.
Architect Olena Logvynets, interior designer Svitlana Serdyuk and Hlib Sinyavskyi, co-founder of Vitex Ukraine. Behind - a borti (a prototype of beehives) from the village of Bekha and a bell tower covered with shingles
The expert drew the attention of the tour participants to the fact that the district yard, presented in the museum exhibition, was assembled from several settlements: "The house, hayloft and storeroom were brought by our scientists from one village, the rest of the buildings - from others. If you look closely, you can see the difference in technique, the notches are different, because in ancient times each of the masters did it in his own way."
Each workshop lasts one day, from 10:50 a.m. to 18:00 p.m., and includes master class from partners "Connection of materials and techniques through time". In these workshops, guests work with traditional materials and get ideas on how to apply them in their own modern projects
Anatoliy Boreyko told the guests during the inspection of the granaries (outdoor granaries for grain storage) that recently married couples often lived in them in Polissia, if there were already too many residents in the house.
"Even in the 50s of the XX century. the young were still sent to the barn, and they lived there until they built their own house, and building it was very, very difficult. In order to get wood for the house, it was necessary to look at where and how the tree grows, what its top is, whether lightning struck it. They never took alder, because according to beliefs, it would mean bringing death to the house," said the scientist.
At the same time, if all building materials were available, a house in Polissia could be built in one and a half to two weeks, as in other Ukrainian regions.
"When cutting a tree for a house, a certain rite was performed - a gift to the forester. Money and bread were always put on the first stump, no matter how poor the family was," — Anatoly Boreyko
Windmills are an integral part of the scenery of the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov. Polish windmills have a tent construction method
The scientist drew the guests' attention to how the heating system was organized in different types of houses, depending on the number of rooms. Fires were an urgent problem for almost entirely wooden houses, but the stove remained the main home amulet. Made of wood and clay, the Polish stove was mounted on a sled so it could be dismantled and transported, much to the amazement of the audience.
"The house could burn down, but the clay oven did not. The building could be disassembled and this stove could be transported wherever needed. During the construction, the stove was placed as a priority, and the house was built around it," Boreyko explained.
Wood, hemp fibers, clay, and straw were used for the ceiling. Mixed together, they helped retain heat. The roofs were covered with rye.
For the safety of sleep in a dusty Polish house, where a lot of smoke gathered, the windows were opened at night, even in winter. The windows were not everywhere, the glass was mostly made in the South of Ukraine, and only wealthy owners could afford it, especially transparent glass.
The Polish stove was mounted on a sled, so it could be dismantled and transported
Scientist Anatoliy Boreyko repeatedly drew the attention of the seminar participants to the fact that a striking characteristic of Polish architecture is redevelopment and additions. Another tradition he mentions is the sawing of the house, for example, if a son got married and had to move to another village.
The house was really "cut up", part of it remained with the parents, and part was disassembled for transfer to another place. There is such a building in the Polissya exhibition, and the guests also inspected it.
Oleg Volosovskyi, architect, founder of loft buro, adviser on architecture and design at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine
In general, during the excursion, the group with the curator inspected a number of residential objects: the premises of the district court, one-room, two-room and three-room huts, so-called "long" type huts, a wealthy Polish estate of the 19th century.
Inspecting the buildings belonging to the 16th and 19th centuries, moved by scientists, the audience asked the head of the exposition department whether it is still possible to find "living" Polish architecture outside the museum. Anatoliy Boreyko says that such buildings are still preserved in the depths of Polissia, and right now there is communication with the owner regarding the transfer of the hut in Zhytomyr Oblast to the museum fund.
Low doors, which were usually found in Polissya houses, helped to preserve heat and had a sacred meaning: when entering, the guest seemed to bow to the house and the owner
An exemplary church and a unique kruporushka
During the excursion, the guests and the curator Anatoly Boreyk visited the Polish Resurrection Church from the Rivne region, built in 1789. The scientist said that in 1909 the sacred object was recognized by the Poles as a model of Polissia church architecture and was later planned to be transported to Poland. Work began on dismantling the decoration, the authentic iconostasis was removed, but the church remained in Ukraine due to the Second World War. During the Soviet years, when many churches were destroyed, a tractor workshop was located here, and despite all the threats, the building was preserved. Like all churches in Polissia, it is built on pillars, this has both a sacred and practical meaning - protection from the wet Polish weather.
The Church of the Resurrection from the village of Kysorichi in the Rivne region is a unique monument of the ancient Polish type of monumental structure with archaic construction techniques
Scientists of the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov found pictures of the original iconostasis, but the data are in the Moscow archives. Currently, the church is not functioning, there is a permanent exhibition of church antiquities from the end of the 18th - beginning of the 20th century. from the museum's funds.
Next, the guests viewed a rare sight - a kruporushka-tupchak from the village of Arkhipivka in Chernihiv Oblast. Currently, there are no such buildings left in Ukraine. The mechanism of shafts and millstones was set in motion by the power of two horses or oxen, which walked in a circle with a diameter of 8 meters. The author and first owner of the krauporushka is unknown, since the 1930s it served the collective farm, and later it was bought by scientists and restored to its original appearance.
According to scientist Anatoliy Boreyk, the inhabitants of Polissia were minimalists in everyday life and filled their homes with only the most necessary
Subsequently, the participants of the seminar moved to the exposition dedicated to the traditional fishing of Polissia. It is hosted by another unique building - a threshing floor, a place where grain was dried, because in Polissia, due to the climate, it was often harvested half-raw. The threshing floor, found by scientists in the Chernihiv region, is a large farm building with an area of almost 200 square meters. m. In the depth of the room there is an ovin — a sunken cage with an oven, thanks to which sheaves of bread were dried before threshing. Curator Anatoly Boreyko told the audience how this ancient system worked.
Gathering on Saturdays at the Open-Air Museum in Pirogov and learning new things has become a good tradition for architects, designers and manufacturers
Oleg Volosovsky: "We are not doing this project for ourselves, but for everyone, because it is our heritage"
The master-class part of the meeting was already traditionally held in a Carpathian barn, where the participants were faced with a creative challenge: painting fabric using the punching method (using paints, stamps and a hammer).
Architect, founder of loft buro, adviser on architecture and design at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine, and creator of the "Heritage that inspires" project Oleg Volosovsky addressed the audience with a welcome speech and thanked colleagues and partners for their cooperation and attention to the topic.
New seminars, which will be dedicated to the Carpathians and the village of the 17th century, are coming soon! The next one is already on August XNUMX, and we invite all fans of Ukrainian architecture to participate.
