ARCHITECTURE OF SAINT PETERSBURG HOSPITALS: FROM PETROVSKY BAROQUE TO HI-TECH. PART V. MODERN

Abstract

This article continues the research project on hospital architecture in St. Petersburg from a historical perspective: from Baroque on to High-Tech. The fifth part of the cycle is devoted to the Art Nouveau era, a trend that emerged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as a counterweight to eclecticism. During this period, old artistic forms and techniques were rethought, and various types and genres of art were brought together and merged. The architectural and artistic image of an Art Nouveau building necessarily took into account the functional purpose of the structure — primary attention was paid to the layout of the interior spaces, which in turn influenced the external forms. Architectural structures of this period are distinguished by asymmetry, abundance of fancifully curved lines and shapes, liana-like twists and interweavings. The artistic and architectural-compositional features of the style are considered using the example of the Children’s City Hospital “In Memory of the Sacred Coronation of Their Imperial Majesties”, the Orthopedic Institute, Olga’s Shelter for the Sick in Memory of Gregory, the Community of Sisters of Mercy of St. George and the Kronstadt Naval Community of Sisters of Mercy of the Russian Red Cross Socie ty, the St. Petersburg City Hospital for the Mentally Ill in the Name of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, the A.E. Bari Hospital, Maternity Hospital No. 1, and the Central Hospital of the Post and Telegraph Department. Art Nouveau architecture, which replaced eclecticism, marked the beginning of a new art, creatively transforming the entire history of European art. While using all the architectural innovations of this style, the hospital buildings of St. Petersburg retained classical austerity, but what was most important, they were entirely functional. The Art Nouveau era was reflected not only in the decorative design of buildings, but above all in the functional equipment of hospitals, the competent planning of buildings, and the creation of a more comfortable environment for medical institutions.