Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Oltarzhevsky (russian: Вячеслав Константинович Олтаржевский, 17 March 1880 – 24 April 1966) was an architect in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He was one of the first Soviet experts in

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

construction, notable for his collaboration with

Arkady Mordvinov Arkady Grigoryevich Mordvinov (russian: Аркадий Григорьевич Мордвинов; born Mordvishev (), January 27, 1896 – July 23, 1964) was a Soviet architect and construction manager, notable for Stalinist architecture o ...

on Hotel Ukraina (Moscow). Oltarzhevsky, one of the few architects hit by the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

in 1938, survived it and returned to active practice in 1940s.

Biography

Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky was born in a family of a government official in Moscow. He studied architecture at

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

(1901–1908) and in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

under

Otto Wagner Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...

(1905). He assisted older architects

Ivan Rerberg Ivan Ivanovich Rerberg (October 4, 1869 – 1932, Moscow) was a Russian civil engineer, architect and educator active in Moscow in 1897–1932. Rerberg's input to present-day Moscow include Kiyevsky Rail Terminal, Central Telegraph building and ...

, Illarion Ivanov-Shitz and

Marian Peretyatkovich Marian Marianovich Peretyatkovich (russian: Мариа́н Мариа́нович Перетя́ткович; 23 August 1872, in Usychi (Усичі in Ukrainian), Volhyn (now Ukraine) 22 May 1916, in Kyiv (Ukraine) was a Russian and Ukrainian ar ...

, and completed his first independent commission in 1909. His most visible building before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was the Northern Insurance in

Kitai-gorod Kitay-gorod ( rus, Китай-город, p=kʲɪˈtaj ˈɡorət), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants ...

(shared with Rerberg and Peretyatkovich). In 1924-1934, Oltarzhevsky lived in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with an official mission to study and evaluate modern construction technology, becoming the leading Soviet expert in highrise steel frame construction. Peretiatkovich

In 1935, Oltarzhevsky was appointed to be the chief architect of

All-Russia Exhibition Centre Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...

; in April, 1936 his master plan was officially approved. By 1938, Oltarzhevsky completed most of this plan, notably the ''Mechanisatsia'' stepped tower, a predecessor of late

stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...

towers. The fall of Commissar for Agriculture,

Mikhail Chernov Mikhail Chernov (born November 11, 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the Russian Superleague and the Kontinental Hockey League. Playing career Chernov was drafted 103rd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers ...

, arrested in 1938 for

Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

conspiracy, caused a domino effect in the Commissariat for Agriculture which supervised the Exhibition. Oltarzhevsky was arrested, too, but spared from death penalty and served his term in

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at ...

, as a town architect, until 1943. Meanwhile, his work at the Exhibition was branded ''alien art''; some of his buildings were torn down and rebuilt from scratch. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Oltarzhevsky was assigned to the Moscow Skyscraper Project. His own plans were discarded, because all jobs were awarded in advance to most influential Soviet architects. Oltarzhevsky joined

on his Hotel Ukraina skyscraper in

Dorogomilovo District Dorogomilovo District (russian: райо́н Дорогоми́лово) is a district of Western Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. The area of the district is . Population: Postal codes: 113000 to 119000. The district, ...

; both architects were awarded

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

in 1948 for conceptual drafts, before actual construction began. Before ''Ukraina'' was completed, Oltarzhevsky compiled his "Skyscraper Construction in Moscow ("Строительство высотных зданий в Москве", 1953), which remains a principal information source on late stalinist high-rise project.

External links

* Skyscraper draft by Oltarzhevsky, 194
www.muar.ru

Sources

* https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/groveart/abstract/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000063520 {{DEFAULTSORT:Oltarzhevsky, Vyacheslav Architects from the Russian Empire Architects from Moscow Soviet avant-garde Soviet architects Stalin Prize winners 1880 births 1966 deaths Soviet expatriates in the United States Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni