Viktor Alexandrovich Wesnin

Viktor Alexandrovich Wesnin

Viktor Aleksandrovich Vesnin ( Russian Виктор Александрович Веснин ; born March 28 ^{. Jul} / 9. April  1882 ^greg. In Yuryevets ; † 17th September 1950 in Moscow ) was a Russian and Soviet architect and university lecturer .

Life

Wiktor Wesnin and his brothers Leonid and Alexander grew up in a wealthy family, where reading and music were cultivated. The parents encouraged their sons' interest in the fine arts from an early age . In 1891, Viktor and Alexander entered the Moscow Commercial Academy , which Leonid was already attending. After graduating in 1901, Wiktor and Alexander, like Leonid, studied at the St. Petersburg Institute for Civil Engineering (PIGI). In addition, the brothers drew and painted with Jan Ciągliński . In 1904 they interrupted their studies and worked as assistants to architects. During the Russian Revolution in 1905 , the brothers took part in strikes and demonstrations and worked in the political Red Cross. When the PIGI was closed as a result of the student unrest and her father could no longer support them, Viktor broke off their studies with his brothers and returned to Moscow to work in the workshops of Illarion Alexandrowitsch Ivanov-Schitz , Roman Ivanovich Klein , Pavel Pavlovich Wisnewski and Arshak Grigoryevich Ismirov and the offices of Boris Mikhailovich Velikovsky and Alexei Nikolajewitsch Miljukow . In Moscow, Viktor continued to study drawing with Konstantin Fjodorowitsch Juon and then studied independently with his brothers and Vladimir Evgrafowitsch Tatlin . They participated with joint projects in architecture competitions organized by the Moscow Architectural Society (MAO). They won first prize in the competition for the building of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture . In 1912 Wiktor Wesnin received his engineering degree. The brothers carried out their first independent work from 1913 on, mostly in Moscow, apart from a rental house in Nizhny Novgorod .

After the First World War , Alexander and Leonid Wesnin were drafted into the army, while Wiktor Wesnin continued to work as an architect and build military buildings. Thanks to the family’s business relationships, there were also orders for chemical factories in Savolschsk and in Stupino Raion and factories in Penza and Tambov .

Wesnin taught at the Moscow Technical University , where he and Alexander Vasilyevich Kuznetsov founded the architecture department (later the faculty ). Ivan Sergejewitsch Nikolajew and Georgi Michailowitsch Orlov were among his students .

After the October Revolution Wesnin built the building of the 1918-1921 superphosphate factory and to the workers' settlement in Rastjapino , a chemical plant in Saratov , a soda factory in Klyuchi and a rosin - turpentine factory in Wachtan, Rajon Shakhunya . In the competition for a palace of work in 1922, the joint project of the Wesnin brothers, which was a prime example of the new constructivism , received third prize. The brothers' joint projects included commercial buildings in Moscow, a people's house in Ivanovo (1924) and a music theater in Kharkov (1930).

In 1925, Wesnin built the Central Institute for Mineral Raw Materials, which Bruno Taut highly praised during his visit to Moscow. This was followed by workers' clubs in the Baku oil fields (1926–1929), the Iwselbank in Iwanowo (1927–1928), the Mostorg department store on Ulitsa Krasnaya Pressnja 48/2 in Moscow (1927–1929) and a sanatorium in Sochi (1928). Under the direction of Alexander Vasilyevich Kuznetsov, Wesnin built the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (ZAGI) at Ulitsa Radio 24 in Moscow (1925–1934) together with Gennady Jakowlewitsch Mowtschan , W. Mowtschan and L. Meilman . 1930–1937 the Wesnin brothers built the SIL - Palace of Culture in Moscow, which was restored by RP Aldonina from 1966–1976 .

Wesnin was an active member of the OSA group , which was led by Alexander Wesnin since 1925. From 1927 Wesnin headed the chair for industrial construction at the College of Civil Engineering . Wesnin was in contact with Le Corbusier , who valued the work of the Wesnin brothers very much, as did Grigori Borissowitsch Barchin .

When the various literary and art organizations were dissolved in 1932 following a decision by the Central Committee of the CPSU , Wesnin headed the organizing committee for a new Union of Architects in the USSR . In 1936, Wesnin became the first president of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR. From 1937 he headed the Union of Architects of the USSR until he gave up both positions for health reasons in 1949. In 1943 he became a Real Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR . In his last years he took part in the reconstruction of Zaporizhia .

Wesnin was buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.

Honors

• Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1945)
• Order of Lenin (1945)
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor (twice)
• Badge of Honor of the Soviet Union

Works

• 

  Ivselbank, Ivanovo

• 

  Mostorg Department Store, 48/2 Krasnaya Pressnya Street, Moscow

• 

  ZAGI, Moscow

• 

  SIL Palace of Culture, Moscow

Web links

Commons : The Wesnin Brothers  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Wiktor Alexandrowitsch Wesnin, photographs , Canadian Center for Architecture

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Great Soviet Encyclopedia : Веснины.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Чиняков А. Г .: Братья Веснины . Стройиздат, Moscow 1970.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Астафьева-Длугач М. И .: Л., В. и А. Веснины (1880–1933, 1882–1950, 1883–1959) . In: Зодчие Москвы . 1981, p. 122-134 .
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Чередина И.С .: Архитектор, который умел проектировать всё. К 125-летию со дня рождения академика В.А. Веснина . In: Вестник РАН . No. 4 , 2007, p. 341-350 .
5. ↑ Заволжск (accessed May 15, 2018).
6. ↑ Васильев Н .: Короткий период архитектурного лидерства . In: Московское наследие . No. 18 , 2012, p. 10–13 ( [1] accessed on May 16, 2018).
7. ↑ Russian Academy of Sciences: Веснин Виктор Александрович (accessed on May 16, 2018).
8. ↑ Веснин Виктор Александрович (accessed on May 16, 2018).