Singer House
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Singer House (russian: Дом компании «Зингер»), also widely known as the House of the Book (russian: Дом книги), is a historic building in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It is located at the intersection of
Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt (street), Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg in Russian Federation, ...
and the
Griboyedov Canal The Griboyedov Canal or Kanal Griboyedova () is a canal in Saint Petersburg, constructed in 1739 along the existing ''Krivusha'' river. In 1764–90, the canal was deepened and the banks were reinforced and covered with granite. The Griboyedo ...
, directly opposite the Kazan Cathedral. It is recognized as a historical
landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
and has official status as an object of Russian cultural heritage. The building was constructed in 1902–1904 by the leading Petersburg architect of the time,
Pavel Suzor Count Pavel Yulievich Suzor (russian: Павел Юльевич Сюзор, French: Paul-Jules Persin comte Suzor, gw.geneanet.org 1844–1919) was a Russian architect, president of the Architects Society, and count. Biography Count Paul-Ju ...
, for the Russian headquarters of the
Singer Sewing Machine Company Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
. After the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
the house was
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
and since 1919 used for offices of the editors' houses of various magazines and publishers. The main city bookshop was opened in 1938 and stayed operative even during the
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 ...
. In the early 2000s the building was reconstructed. The Russian social network company
VKontakte VK (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; russian: ВКонтакте, meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predomin ...
has rented offices in the building since 2010.


History


Location

The first land records date back to the 1730s when the Empress
Anna Ioannovna Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...
ordered that her royal stables be relocated there, which were previously situated next to the
Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
. In 1742–1743 a wooden opera house was built there by
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...
; however, it was destroyed by fire on October 19, 1749. Only in the 1770s was the land occupied again — it was given to
Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
's personal priest Ivan Panfilov, who built himself a three-storey stone mansion. In 1820 it was bought out and rebuilt by for pharmacist Karl Imzen. Imzen leased some of the rooms to private
arendator In the history of the Russian Empire, and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, arendator (literally "lease holder") (, ) was a person who leased fixed assets, such as land, mills, inns, breweries, or distilleries, or of special rights, such as the r ...
s; one of them was Sergey Levitsky's
daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...
studio. In the 1860s the building was reconstructed by for new owners the Zhukovsky family. In 1900 the land was bought from the widow Olga Zhukovskaya by the Singer company for a sum exceeding 1 million roubles.


Construction

In 1900 the Singer Company bought lands in Podolsk to open its production centre there; it planned to expand its business not only into the Russian market but further to the east: to
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The company looked for a presentable headquarters so soon a piece of land on the most active business street in the Russian capital was chosen and bought for an enormous sum of money, more than 1 million roubles. To design and construct the building the company invited the most prominent Russian architect of that time –
Pavel Suzor Count Pavel Yulievich Suzor (russian: Павел Юльевич Сюзор, French: Paul-Jules Persin comte Suzor, gw.geneanet.org 1844–1919) was a Russian architect, president of the Architects Society, and count. Biography Count Paul-Ju ...
. The management of the Singer Company initially intended to construct a
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 ...
, similar to the
Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New ...
Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, it was at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadw ...
, the company headquarters under construction at that time in New York City, but the Saint Petersburg building code did not allow structures taller than the
Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
. Suzor found an elegant solution to the height limit: the six-story
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
building, crowned with a glass tower, which in turn is topped by a glass globe sculpture created by Estonian artist
Amandus Adamson Amandus Heinrich Adamson (12 November 1855 in Uuga-Rätsepa, near Paldiski, Estonia, then Russian Empire — 26 June 1929 in Paldiski, Estonia) was an Estonian sculptor and painter. Life Born into a seafaring family, Adamson excelled in wood car ...
. Suzor designed three general projects of the building and the discussion lasted for more than a year; only in 1901 was one of them approved by the client. During the dismantling of the old house it was found that its first store was below the pebbling level. To fully make use of the land, Suzor projected a two-winged six-storey house with two atriums covered by a glass ceiling. Due to the metal frame with brick layers and cement casting, the construction was strong enough to make the outer walls nonstructural and cut two-storey windows. The facades were lined with polished pink and gray
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
. Sculptors and A. G. Adamson created bronze decor. Adamson also designed the
valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
s on the front side. The dominant figure of the composition is the tower with a dome and a glass globe. The globe was belted with a golden ribbon with the Singer name. A bronze eagle with wide-spread wings was placed right under the globe. The dome was designed to support the existing composition of the neighborhood including Saint Petersburg City Duma and the
Church of the Savior on Blood The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, ''Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi'') is a Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia which currently functions as a secular museum and church at the ...
. The building received the most advanced engineering systems and communications of its time, designed by
Franz San Galli Franz San Galli (russian: Франц Карлович Сан Галли, ''Franz Karlovich San Galli''; 10 March 1824 – 30 July 1908) was a prominent Russian public figure, entrepreneur and inventor. In 1882 San Galli was granted a status of a ...
. Apart from heating, ventilation, canalization, and water supply, he created a special system to melt the ice on the roof in cold seasons. The luxurious interiors were designed in
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
style and richly decorated with lots of
carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...
, red wood, gilding, mosaics, and stained glass windows. The construction was completed in 1904. The Singer headquarters occupied the top store; the main hall with columns was used as its showroom. Other space was leased to commercial companies, bank offices, etc. Historians call the Singer House 'the first office center in St Petersburg'. For a brief period of time in 1917–1918 a US Embassy was located on the first floor. Peers criticized the Singer House and called it vulgar. The prominent Russian architect
Alexander Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...
compared its dome to a bottle of perfume, and another architect, Lev Ilyin, considered the building a bad neighbor for the Kazan Cathedral. Even Suzor's former student
Gavriil Baranovsky Gavriil Vasilyevich Baranovsky (russian: Гавриил Васильевич Барановский, also spelled as Baranovskii, - ) was a Russian architect, civil engineer, art historian and publisher, who worked primarily in Saint Petersburg ...
criticized the house as a dull and unremarkable creation.


20th century

In 1919, not long after the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
, the building was given to the Petrograd State Publishing House. It quickly became the city's largest bookstore, and was subsequently named "The House of Books" in 1938. The bookstore remained functioning during the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
and was closed only for several months. When in 1941 a bomb hit the next house, the blast wave broke windows in the Singer House. Even then, the shop remained open after the staff boarded up the windows. In the 1920s the eagle sculpture disappeared. 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 ...
the Singer House became the center of literary life in St Petersburg. At different times it hosted prominent book publishers: Molodaya Gvardiya,
Mir Publishers Mir Publishers (russian: Издательство "Мир") was a major publishing house in the Soviet Union which continues to exist in modern Russian Federation. It was established in 1946 by a decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and has hea ...
,
Khudozhestvennaya Literatura Khudozhestvennaya Literatura (russian: Художественная литература) is a publishing house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The name means "fiction literature" in Russian. It specializes in the publishing of Russian and foreign wor ...
, , , IZOGIS, ,
Sovetsky Pisatel Sovetsky Pisatel ( rus, Советский писатель, r=Sovetskij pisatel, lit. "Soviet Writer") is a Soviet and Russian book publisher headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It focused on releasing the new works of Soviet authors. It was establish ...
, and many editorial offices for magazines and newspapers. From 1920 to the late 1950s the third floor was occupied by the state censorship committee. In 1999 all companies were moved out and the building was rented to Andrei Isaev's St Petersburg Real Estate Agency for 49 years.


Reconstruction

For almost a hundred years no restoration was done to the building. When it was rented to Isaev, the contract included an encumbrance of a complete restoration made in accordance with the . The historical and cultural examination alone took three years. The experts discovered that all metal parts of the construction were heavily corroded and required replacement. They also revealed a construction mistake that misplaced structural loading and caused deformation of the non-structural walls and floors. In Soviet times the remodelling caused further deformations, and as a result, the floor visibly began to sag. The technical wear on the engineering systems reached 70%. Until then, two apartments were still inhabited; the last families were relocated only in the early 2000s. During the reconstruction, all structural elements of the building were changed to reinforced concrete, and the foundation was strengthened with 2500 new piles and multiple layers of waterproofing. In 2003 the bronze decor and the facade sculptures were restored. Based on historical images, the interiors were reconstructed with the original design, including floor mosaics, marble stairs and Venetian stucco on the walls. Sculptor A. A. Arkhipov recreated the eagle statue under the glass globe. According to the reports, the restoration of the Singer House costed more than 1 billion roubles. The ground floor was opened in 2006 and the remainder in 2009. In 2010
Vkontakte VK (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; russian: ВКонтакте, meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predomin ...
rented the seventh floor of the building.


Gallery

File:Building in Petersburg 2.JPG, Side view, 2006 File:Eath-ball.JPG, The tower with the globe on the top, 2008 File:Zinger table.JPG, Entrance, 2008 File:Дом Зингера 4.jpg, Valkyries on the tower, 2008


Sources

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References


External links

{{Commons category-inline Commercial buildings completed in 1904 1904 architecture Nevsky Prospekt Art Nouveau architecture in Saint Petersburg Art Nouveau commercial buildings Buildings and structures in Saint Petersburg Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg