Kyivans were shown an alternative Khreschatyk

/ Architecture /

On Wednesday, November 14, the exhibition "Recovery of Khreshchatyk: competition and design" opened in Kyiv, presenting alternative street reconstruction projects after the Second World War.

The exposition tells the story of a large-scale competition for projects to restore the central street of the capital of Ukraine, in which the best architects of the USSR participated.

"We tried to recreate the atmosphere as much as possible, but in fact we did more: because there was a first round in 1944-1945 and a second round in 1946. And we collected everything at once. No one has ever seen these works at one exhibition before," noted project curator Semyon Shirochyn at the opening of the exhibition.

The curator of the project is Semyon Shirochyn

In total, the exhibition presents about 80 original projects, the only model preserved from the 40s, examples of ceramics used to clad buildings. A film from archival materials about the restoration of Khreshchatyk and the holding of an architectural competition was also shown.

The organizers of the exhibition found part of the works in the family archive of the architect Oleksa Tatsy, and part of them in the Zabolotny State Scientific Architectural and Construction Library. Many works, according to Shirochyn's story, were considered lost, and he had to piece something together like a puzzle.

The result of complex search and restoration work was a unique exposition that shows how Khreshchatyk could have looked if some of the participants' works had come to fruition.

Exhibition "Restoration of Khreshchatyk: competition and design"

A little about the competition

Khreshchatyk was destroyed during the Second World War, but many damaged buildings could be saved. Instead, in 1944, a decision was made to widen the central street of Kyiv for reconstruction (Kreshchatyk was much smaller before the war). As a result, about 30 buildings suitable for restoration were demolished.

The competition for street restoration projects was conducted in two stages. About 1944 projects were submitted for participation in the first round, which took place in 1945-20 (16 of them were presented at the exhibition). Some were ordered by famous architects, others fought for a prize place in an open anonymous competition: that is why some of their authors are unknown today. As a result, the winners were determined, but none of the developments were implemented. Of all the projects submitted to the competition, only the "Kyiv" cinema was realized (the building was built on Bolshaya Vasylkovskaya Street, in Soviet times - Krasnoarmeyskaya Street).

Exhibition "Restoration of Khreshchatyk: competition and design"

In 1946, the second round was announced, in which only two teams of architects participated - Oleksa Tatsia and Alexander Vlasova (Chief Architect of Kyiv from 1944 to 1950). At the same time, everyone had their own "roof": it was said that Stalin was behind Vlasov, and Khrushchev was behind Tatsy.

In the second round, the winners were no longer chosen, but the presented ideas were used in further design. Different groups of architects worked on various buildings of the integral ensemble of Khreshchatyk. Construction began in 1949 and continued until 1960.

How Khreshchatyk could look like

The first stage of the competition took place when the Second World War had not yet ended, but many of the projects involved the construction of a pantheon of heroes in the center of Kyiv: in most cases, the memorial was proposed to be built in the form of a rotunda with a colonnade.

Another interesting idea that appeared in a number of works was the campanile - a tall tower. The Moscow architect Georgy Golts even suggested placing a museum and an observation deck in such a tower.

In addition, a viaduct could be built over Khreshchatyk - from Lypok to Iryninskaya Street. This idea was abandoned only in 1947.

Exhibition "Restoration of Khreshchatyk: competition and design"

Let us remind you that Khreshchatyk Street can be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites along with Independence Avenue in Minsk, Karl Marx Alley in Berlin and Marschalkowska Street in Warsaw as examples of post-war Soviet architecture.

Read more about the restoration of Khreshchatyk in Semena Shirochyn's article pilot number PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA.

The exhibition "Restoration of Khreschatyk: competition and design" takes place in "Khlebna" on the territory of the "Sofia Kyivskaya" National Reserve. To get to the exhibition, you need to buy an entrance ticket to the territory of the Sofia Museum (20 UAH - full, 10 UAH - reduced) and to the exhibition hall (40 UAH - full, 15 UAH - reduced) at the ticket office. You can visit the exhibition until March 31, 2019.