Ukrainian Modern took shape on the traditions of progressive architecture with the use of historical architectural forms. The style was founded on the canons of folk building, the ritual character of religious structures and the achievements of European architecture. UAM developed on the territory of Ukraine during 1903-1941, and in those years about 500 remarkable structures were built — religious buildings, zemstvo schools and hospitals, and public buildings. Not all of the representatives of the national architectural heritage have survived to our days, but many of the monuments can be called true masterpieces of Ukrainian art.
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| The Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore (UAM) |
The most striking and one of the first examples of UAM is the former building of the gubernia zemstvo, which now houses one of the oldest and most interesting museums of Ukraine — the Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore.
The museum bears the name of the outstanding artist and architect whose design was recognised as the best. The author's idea was realised in 1903-1908. By the efforts of the pupils of the ceramics school in Myrhorod and the potters of Opishnia, the tiles with which the building was faced were made. In the decoration of the interiors and the hexagonal window and door openings, ornamental painting in national motifs, stone carving and majolica panels were used.
The facades are adorned with images of the coats of arms of the towns of the Poltava gubernia, executed in the Ukrainian language.
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| The building of the Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore - an icon of the UAM style |
In time, domestic architects developed the idea of embodying the national heritage in the construction of buildings, for the native is more understandable and closer to the soul than borrowed and alien achievements. In
Poltava, the cradle of UAM, one can find the decoration of residential buildings using elements of Ukrainian Modern.
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| Poltava. 36 Nebesnoi Sotni Street. A residential building (UAM) |
Unfortunately, not all Ukrainians are characterised by a careful attitude to the national heritage. One of the monuments of UAM is located on Zinkivska Street. The chapel of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victor was built by the Poltava gubernia zemstvo in 1911-1914 to the design of I. A. Kalbus in honour of the meeting of representatives of the Poltava gubernia with Emperor Nicholas II during the celebrations of 1909 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava.
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| Poltava. The chapel of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victor (UAM) |
This architectural monument of local significance is surrounded by high-rise blocks, whose residents spend time on the steps of the chapel talking, husking seeds and drinking beer. The wonderful Opishnia tiles are crumbling, the fragments of the floral ornament are falling apart, and on the stylobate lovers of wall painting have left their imperishable drawings.
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| Poltava. The chapel of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victor (UAM) |
Next to the chapel a new church has been built with attempts to reproduce some features of UAM, but externally the structure resembles a cheap eatery with images of bottles of the frothy drink consumed by the regulars of the gatherings by the chapel.
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| Poltava. The new church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victor |
One of the most talented Masters in the UAM style was Opanas Heorhiiovych Slastion, in whose creative list are zemstvo schools and public buildings with characteristic turrets and stone patterning. The haters of Ukrainian culture did not recognise the uniqueness of Slastion's designs, and many distinctive buildings were destroyed or rebuilt. The exquisite resort complex in
Myrhorod has not survived, but one can still see the former house of Doctor Rubtsov in the town where the painter, ethnographer and architect Slastion taught at the art-and-industry school. At 112 Troitska Street stands one of Slastion's first designs — a single-storey house built in 1912. The house has been rebuilt and has lost its veranda, but the brick cornice and the window casings have remained.
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| Myrhorod. Poltava region. 112 Troitska Street. The house of Doctor Rubtsov. Design by O. H. Slastion |
The pioneer of Ukrainian Modern lived on this same street in house No. 86, the owner of which was the founder of the Myrhorod resort, Doctor Ivan Zubkovskyi. On the wall of the house, bas-relief images have immortalised the memory of the famous owner and resident.
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| Myrhorod. Poltava region. 86 Troitska Street. The house of Doctor Zubkovskyi, in which O. H. Slastion lived |
Travelling through the bountiful Poltava region, it is impossible not to visit the capital of pottery, the world-famous Opishnia. In 1916, to the design of Vasyl Krychevskyi and the technologist Yurii Lebishchak, a pottery demonstration point of the Poltava gubernia zemstvo was erected.
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| Opishnia. Poltava region. The Museum of the Krychevskyi Family (UAM) |
Since 2013 a museum of the Krychevskyi family has been open in the building.
On the facade of the historical monument, bas-reliefs have been set up of the innovators of UAM who realised their ideas in
Opishnia.
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| Opishnia. Poltava region. The Museum of the Krychevskyi Family (UAM). Memorial plaque to Vasyl Krychevskyi |
On Soborna Street, a small single-storey building with trapezoidal windows and doors attracts attention. Once a bus station was located in it. The elegant structure is not in use, but is well preserved.
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| Opishnia. Poltava region. Soborna Street. A commercial building (UAM) |
The residents of an ordinary two-storey brick house used, as decoration, Opishnia ceramic tiles with images of a floral ornament.
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| Opishnia. Poltava region. Soborna Street. A residential building |
In the Chernihiv region, neighbouring the Poltava region, one can admire unsurpassed examples of UAM. The building of a former public school, built in 1912, is occupied by polyclinic No. 1 of the city of
Chernihiv. In 1920 the institute of physical methods of treatment, which bore the name of the revolutionary and Soviet diplomat Vorovsky, moved into the building. As part of decommunisation, the ornate inscription on the pediment was removed.
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| Chernihiv. Myru Street. Polyclinic No. 1 (UAM) |
At 41 Myru Street stands the Korolenko universal scientific library. Decorated with multicoloured majolica, the building was intended for a land bank.
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| Chernihiv. 41 Myru Street. The Korolenko universal scientific library (UAM) |
The monument to Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi beside the museum of the classic of Ukrainian literature was set up in 1930; the tombstone is executed with elements of UAM. The authors are the architect Petro Kostyrko and the artist Vasyl Krychevskyi.
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| Chernihiv. The monument to Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi beside the museum of the classic of Ukrainian literature |
In Western Ukraine one can find many testimonies of the spread of UAM. The former gymnasium and bursa of the Ukrainian Pedagogical Society was built in 1906-1908 to the design of the architect L. Levynskyi. In the decoration of the building there are Western Ukrainian motifs, which give it a distinctive character and a special refinement. Since 1945 this original example of UAM has been occupied by a teaching block of the Lviv Forestry University.
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| Lviv. 103 General Chuprynka Street. A teaching block of the Lviv Forestry University |
It is wonderful when the masterpieces of Ukrainian Modern belong to educational institutions or museums. The Villa "Hopliana" was built in 1928 for the burgomaster of
Drohobych and the owner of the resort of
Truskavets , Raymond Jarosz.
This pearl of wooden architecture is decorated with masterful carving, stained-glass windows and dormer windows. In 1992 an exposition of the world-famous artist Mykhailo Bilas was opened in the wooden palazzo.
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| Truskavets. Lviv region. The Villa "Hopliana". The Museum of Mykhailo Bilas |
Stryi — a transport hub connecting the European highways with the Ukrainian ones. The water tower at the railway station was built by caring craftsmen, who adorned this ground landmark and water-supply structure with a gabled roof and a non-trivial ornament.
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| Stryi. Lviv region. The water tower |
Ukrainian Modern influenced the architectural achievements in
Dnipro. The writer and Ukrainian-studies scholar Dmytro Yavornytskyi was the inspirer of the promotion of the national style in the Dnipro region. In the business centre stands the "Ukraina" hotel, known as the Khrennikov Building. This income house with a shop and a theatre was built in 1913; it is called by the name of its owner. In the years of the Hitlerite occupation the building was burned. During restoration it was not possible to fully reproduce the luxurious decoration, but a foundation plaque was found, on which are indicated the engineer-technologist Khrennikov, the architect Fetisov and the date of the laying of the foundation.
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| Dnipro. The "Ukraina" hotel, known as the Khrennikov Building (UAM) |
In the homeland of the Petrykivka wonder-painting, a pharmacy built in the 1920s caught my eye. Repairs have changed the broken roof and the authentic window frames of this health-protection establishment, but the main thing is that this little monument of
Petrykivka is alive and serves the people.
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| Petrykivka. Dnipropetrovsk region. Petro Kalnyshevskyi Street. A pharmacy |
The further east, the fewer examples of Ukrainian Modern have survived, and the rare specimens are disfigured by repairs and rebuildings. The building of the Assembly of the Nobility in
Sloviansk dates from 1913-1914. The architects Serdiuk and Kotliarevskyi created a real palace with towers, columns, brick cornices and a broken roof. During the war the luxurious building was damaged, and during restoration its characteristic details were lost. The concrete render in which the Palace of Culture was clothed added gloom to the building.
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| Sloviansk. Donetsk region. The building of the Assembly of the Nobility. 60 Universytetska Street |
The architect Yevhen Serdiuk built a house at 1 Kokha Street in 1910. Soviet-era extensions mutilated this Sloviansk monument with the status of a monument of history and architecture. The lack of understanding by citizens of the artistic and historical value of their dwellings is very depressing.
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| Sloviansk. 1 Kokha Street. A residential building with elements of UAM |
Some Ukrainians are inclined to forget about their roots and to treat carelessly the little pearls in their villages and small towns. In the settlement of Hrodivka in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region stands an abandoned former furniture shop. On the pediment the date of construction has survived — 1957. One of the trapezoidal windows was turned into a door, on the porch there are thickets of weeds, and the panes are broken.
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| Hrodivka. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A former furniture shop |
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