In particular, while walking around the capital, you can notice the imperfections of the work of restorers, namely the unsuccessful restoration of the original shades, which were foreseen by the authors of the buildings several decades or even centuries ago.
If we talk about the colorful, bright buildings of the capital, then the red building of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, built according to the project of Vikentii Beretti in 1843, can be considered the leader among them.
The watercolor painting "Kyiv University" made in 1846 by the artist Mykhailo Sazhyn serves as proof that the building was not always painted red: it depicts the western facade of the University named after T.G. Shevchenko
From the beginning, the architect planned to use a completely different color scheme for the facade, described in his agreement letter to Nicholas I: "You can paint the walls with yellow paint, and the cornices and belts - white... or just the same in lime color - I, for my part, should the intention to paint everything... to the color of granite with splashes." But the emperor, adhering to the capital fashion of those times, was inexorable: "Paint the same color as the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg."
Thus, the initial decision of the ensemble could have differed from the modern one, if not for the unexpected result of dyes sent from Northern Palmyra. Since there were no guarantees, standards, catalogs and detailed instructions for mixing pigments with the base then, the mixture of gray lime, Italian mummy, ocher and Olonets green spoiled and gave an unpredictable result. After that, the architect Oleksandr Beretti (son of Vikenty) decided to repaint the building in a rich shade of red.
The color scheme of the walls of the Red Building is directly related to the color of the ribbons of the Order of St. Volodymyr
The radical coloring gave rise to a number of rumors - this is both the extreme degree of marginal nihilism, and the debauchery of the students of the alma mater, for which the emperor ordered the brothers to be shamed. And the blood of students gnawing at the heavy granite of science. There were several more versions, but the official one is that the color solution of the walls is directly related to the color of the ribbons of the Order of St. Volodymyr.
An elite educational institution and a landmark of the capital — these statuses are already the basis for maintaining the building in its original form. And if enough attention is paid to the renovation, then the regularly restored tone leaves much to be desired - currently the facade is faded and burnt.
The building of the National Opera of Ukraine was another example of the controversial result of the restoration works. The monumental monument of architecture in the Beaux-Arts style, erected in 1901 according to the project of Viktor Schroeter, is located in the very heart of the city. The author paid attention to every detail on the facade, forming its complex tectonics and decoration.
Schroeter also took care of the color solution, forming it from a harmonious combination of beige and gray shades. However, during the modern restoration, which is still ongoing, the color scheme was changed. Residents of the capital have been publishing photos on their Facebook accounts for several months, demonstrating that the specialists did not get into the existing shades, thereby turning the walls of the monumental building into a testing ground.
We spoke with the chief architect of the city Oleksandr Svystunov and his predecessor Serhii Tselovalynyk, who headed the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the KMDA from 2010 to 2015, about working with color in a historical environment and the cases that arise during the restoration of the originally conceived shades.
Expert opinion
Oleksandr Svystunov
Director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the KMDA, chief architect of the city of Kyiv
Oleksandr Svystunov, director of the department of urban planning and architecture of the KMDA, chief architect of the city of Kyiv. Photo: Yuriy Ferendovych/PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
About regulation of the color decision of building facades in the city
It is very difficult to regulate the color solutions of building facades. It is always the author's decision, which can then be approved or condemned by the community. If the building fits into the context, the townspeople are photographed against its background, they talk about it in a positive way. If it is not talked about at all, it is also not bad: it means that the architect coped with his task, was able to organically fit his creation into the environment without violating its integrity.
Is it necessary to regulate color solutions at all, to adhere to a single color palette characteristic of the existing urban environment? Yes, but it is necessary to determine: how and who will deal with this settlement? In my opinion, this is the function of professionals - I am talking about the city planning council, which has been significantly limited in its functions since 2011.
Today, architects coordinate the color decision of architectural buildings with their customers and mostly think within the limits of their object. Ideally, panoramic thinking is desirable here: you should assess the context, inquire about the opinion of colleagues, historians, and society. And in order to collect a pool of such people, a town planning council is needed. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate such issues collegially, taking into account the opinion of professionals.
We can use color, but this technique should not violate the integrity of the object
About working with color
The maximum allowable intervention, if we are talking about architectural monuments, is exclusively restoration, which aims to fully preserve the identity of the building and its every detail.
I believe that if the building is recognized as an architectural monument, then interference with its image or structure is unacceptable. As for other buildings, their color may change, but everything must be within the framework of the law, with respect for copyright. Only then can these changes be accepted. Adding a bright accent to an already established architectural environment is possible, but it should be appropriate. For example, across from St. Andrew's Church on St. Andrew's Road, there is a tiny one-story building that was recently painted in a bright color.
I believe that the church is dominant in this place, and this building should not draw attention to itself. This is the case when the architect did not take into account the historical layer, the context. Therefore, even if the building does not have the status of an architectural monument, but is located in the historical, central part of the city, any changes in the color decision of the facades must go through an expert commission, which should consist not only of members of the city planning council, but also of experts of the Scientific and Methodological Council and necessarily historians.
Building of the National Opera of Ukraine, 1901. Architect: Viktor Shreter. Photo: Tatyana Andrus
We need, first of all for ourselves, to regulate the procedure for working with buildings, to clearly bring it under the regulations. If the customer wants to repaint the building, the procedure is as follows: documents were collected, it was determined that it is not a monument, possible changes to the street format, points of perception, harmony with the existing building were discussed at the city planning council. And only after that they made a decision.
We cannot turn the city into a patchwork quilt. Personally, I am confused by what is happening in Kyiv, when it is considered acceptable to highlight an architectural landmark, say, a pharmacy, with a contrasting color on the corner of the facade. We are determined to fight this, and I think that in the near future the street certification and planning of their improvement will work effectively. This applies in particular to the infamous "balcony kings".
And I in no way belittle the importance of color — for example, new schools in sleeping areas solve not only social problems of providing educational places. The construction of bright, functional objects in previously rather gloomy places creates a positive atmosphere. Residents of the districts are very satisfied, and there is a desire from these bright spots to develop improvement works in the future.
For monuments of national importance, all RAL colors must be prescribed once and for all
About the lack of a comprehensive approach in working with color
Young architects usually tend to fall under the influence of fashion, global trends and compare themselves to objects that already exist. Kyiv "Comfort Town" is a large-scale complex, powerful in terms of color solutions. This is a completely compositionally coordinated autonomous cluster. However, there are people who see that this project is successful and say "Oh, colored houses! I'll take it and make the same one." They do not understand that this complex is integral, harmonious, and are simply engaged in "coloring". In the case of kindergartens, such an approach is justified, because the very function of the building involves bright colors.
But when a similar solution is applied to other types of buildings, it becomes a problem. For example, a classical school with elements of Ukrainian baroque, built according to a typical project, of which there are many in Ukraine. And for it, a colored facade with "psychedelic" colors is proposed - where there is green, and purple, and many more colors... Knowing the psychology of color perception and the formation of architectural elements, I perceive this as an attempt to impose a color pattern on a classical building, which completely breaks the whole volume, the entire integrity of the object.
However, when I try to explain that in this case more restrained colors are appropriate, my opponent insists on his point and gives examples of bright, colorful buildings. We can use color, but this technique should not violate the integrity of the object. You shouldn't use an already completed architectural image for your own self-expression.
Building of the National Opera of Ukraine, 1901. Architect: Viktor Shreter. Photo: Tatyana Andrus
About color cases during restoration
This aspect must be settled. There is a corresponding public demand. We have all become more demanding, we want the yard, street, and neighborhood to be attractive and well-maintained. I consider what is happening now in Kyiv to be abnormal. During the restoration of facades, of course, it is necessary to start from documents, from the facade decoration passport and color according to RAL standards. I consider it necessary to create a separate commission on the basis of the urban planning council, which will deal with these issues.
In my lifetime, I have seen the main building of the Taras Shevchenko University in 3-4 different shades. You can continue, each time choosing a paint, choosing "by eye", but I believe that it is necessary to document in the restoration task once the chosen color according to the RAL standard. And add this number to the archive catalogs. Didn't guess? Not pretty? They identified the culprit, forced him to buy the right shade of paint and repaint everything.
For monuments of national importance, all these RAL colors must be prescribed once and for all. And then there will be no more misunderstandings, mistakes in the choice of shades and complaints about the performers' poor eyesight. First of all, this is the area of responsibility of specialists in restoration work - they are obliged to control the process, as strictly as every modern architect is responsible for the quality of the completed works, keeping a log of the author's supervision.
I like the resonance caused now by the restoration of the Opera House: it shows that people are not indifferent and care about their city. Therefore, it will be quite logical if the result of the discussion becomes an official document, a regulation. I hope it works.
Serhii Tselovalnyk
Director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the KMDA from 2010 to 2015.
Serhiy Tselovalnyk, director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture of the KMDA from 2010 to 2015.
About the legislative framework that regulates the color decisions of building facades, and how this process takes place in our city
Despite the fact that in post-war (I mean World War II) Kyiv there were no clear provisions, laws, rules regarding the use of color in buildings, still every project during its passage through the city planning council and registration in the archive/cadastre had to be approved by the main administration of the architect and the facade decoration passport approved by the customer with their image, indicating the parts of the building to be painted in one or another color, given here in tabular form.
However, in the 70s, there was an example of the application of a color program for an entire street in Kyiv — Velika Zhytomyrska. It was designed, if my memory serves me, in KyivNDIPmist by architects Yevreinov, Tkachikov, Orekhov, and others. In 1983, before the celebration of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv, there was even an attempt to carry out works according to the project in kind... In general, it is a thankless job to discuss colors with someone: not everyone has a friend for color and taste, right? I once tried to delve deeply into this area of architecture... I read Makarevich's books "Light Architecture", Yefimov's "Color in Architecture", Stepanov's "Color in the Interior" and many others.
It is better to trust reliable, proven manufacturers of dyes, and not to "do chemistry" on the knee
I remember that Georgian architects Shio Tatishvili and Nodar Shoshitashvili from the Institute of Urban Environment Design proposed a method of implementing a color program for the Bakuriani resort. I will summarize the essence briefly: we took one street leading from the mountains towards the distant sea (I think Borjomi-Ahalkalaki), walked with the camera from top to bottom, clicked thousands of pictures (there were no "numbers" then) with reference to each point on streets, printed out all the pictures, tried them all on candy with a hole puncher — millions of circles: science! (As the great Andrii Antonovych Karnabida said: "Where there are circles, there is science!") And... they chose the "middle" shade by chaotically mixing the confetti with magical circular hand movements.
It turned out to be somehow not white, as in optical mixing, and not gray, as on the palette, but "somehow". Sisley and Seurat rest in their post-impressionism. Then, based on the "average of some" color in contrast to the prevailing color in nature (it was calculated as a percentage in the photo: so much of the sky (blue), so much of the mountains, etc.) they gave the color scheme to the houses according to this principle : warm shades - to the mountain (the color of the sky, as a rule, prevailed there), cold - to the valley (greenery and soil are more vivid colors). It turned out great, but no one understood the scientific explanation back then...
View of the street Khreshchatyk, Kyiv. Photo: Yurii Ferendovych PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA
On compliance with the initial design decision regarding color, if the building represents historical and cultural value
This is determined by laboratory tests. They study the layering of paint, get to the primary ones, study the composition and analyze the processes of aging, "burning out" of dyes... I think that's right!
About color incidents similar to those that happened to the Kyiv Opera House and the red building of the Shevchenko University
There are not enough chemists in regulatory bodies, probably. Apparently, it is better to trust reliable, proven manufacturers of dyes, and not to "do chemistry" on the knee... After all, for something they produce so-called color books with numbered, i.e., clearly recorded in catalogs, RAL colors, guaranteed in real-life application... Otherwise, how will it turn out it often happens: "Boss, your color does not fit into any spectrum!".
See also:
Flaws and perfection: architectural heritage under the hood of prejudice
https://pragmatika.media/ru/spasti-rjadovogo-riherta/
