Experiments of Ivan Zholtovsky

Abstract

The article is devoted to a little-studied problem of architect I.V. Zholtovsky's work - experimentation as an integral part of his creative method. Three of his works of the 1910s were studied. The origins of the methodology of "imitation", which was formed in the aesthetics of classicism, slightly transformed, but in general was preserved in the era of romanticism and the period of eclecticism and prevailed in the educational process of the Imperial Academy of Arts throughout the XIX century, are revealed. This methodology in many ways predetermined the worldview of Zholtovsky, which was clearly manifested in one of his most famous works - the Tarasov Mansion. Experiments with the order are considered in the examples of the rebuilding of the manor house in Pokrovskoye-Rubtsov and the construction of the Konovalovs' textile factory in Bonyachki (Vichuga). Bibliographic sources and notes of I.V. Zholtovsky's students (including those not published before) are used.