Last week, addressed to the Minister of Culture of the Rostov Region A. A. Rezvanov received a letter (No. 01-09 / 1192 dated June 21, 2011) from V. G. Zhdanov, chief physician of the Moscow hospital No.1 named after N. A. Semashko ". The letter says that the hospital administration "in connection with the completion of the design of the reconstruction of the hospital … and the beginning of the construction of new buildings", asks "promptly" to consider the issue of excluding 3 hospital buildings from the register of cultural heritage objects, including the central physiotherapy building … Attached to the letter is a "schematic drawing of the general plan" made by one of the leading design institutes in Rostov (Rostovgrazhdanproekt).
This means that on the site of constructivist buildings, including the central one, the brightest in architecture, the hospital management plans to build new, 9 and 12-storey buildings in the near future. As a result of the implementation of this project, firstly, the monuments of avant-garde architecture, which currently have the status of newly identified heritage sites, will be destroyed (order of the Ministry of Culture of the Rostov Region No. 219.1 of May 25, 2007). Secondly, if construction takes place, the hospital ensemble of the 1920s, consisting of two-story buildings, faces complete spatial degradation.
In turn, over the past week, the leadership of the Institute of Architecture and Arts of the Southern Federal University (SFedU), signed by the head of the university, Professor V. A. Kolesnik sent letters of appeal with a request for help in preserving the monument of constructivism to the President of the RAASN A. P. Kudryavtsev, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation A. A. Avdeev and the Minister of Culture of the Rostov Region A. A. Rezvanov.
On June 24, one of the main regional newspapers, Nashe Vremya, published an article by Elena Sleptsova in defense of the hospital complex. The Society of Architectural Students has initiated a collection of signatures in defense of the hospital. It is planned to appeal for help to the Rostov branch of VOOPIiK, as well as to all organizations and individuals who can only help in preserving the unique cultural heritage site of the 1920s.
It is clear that the hospital needs both renovations and significant expansion. However, its territory is quite large - now the hospital owns 12 hectares, and only 7 of them are occupied by buildings of the 1920s. On the remaining 5 hectares, there are either wastelands or minor buildings.
Unfortunately, cases of demolition of architectural monuments of the 1920s have become constant in recent years in Rostov. Here I would like to recall the words of the Constitution of the Russian Federation: “Everyone is obliged to take care of the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage, to protect the monuments of history and culture” (Article 44, Part 3). Everyone means that not only a historian and restorer is obliged to take care of monuments, but also a doctor and a representative of the administration must understand the state significance of caring for monuments and participate in this process. In fact, we are becoming participants in a long-term struggle for the constructivist hospital complex. And it is not only the position of officials that is surprising. It is extremely depressing that a considerable part of the architectural community of Rostov over the past few years has been taking part in projects for the destruction of the monument of constructivism. Someone bashfully follows the customer's lead, realizing what is happening. However, there are many Rostov architects who do not see anything valuable in these "crumbling barracks". But none of them thinks that by their position they show the younger generation an example of how to treat the architecture of their predecessors, the country's cultural heritage and state laws. And the time will come when this young generation will, with a clear conscience, develop projects for the demolition of everything that we have built today.
It remains to be hoped that the leadership of the Ministry of Culture of the Rostov Region will show due resilience and adherence to principles and will not allow what the hospital administration asks for.
History reference
In 1927, a closed competition of projects for the construction of a regional hospital in Rostov-on-Don took place. The drafting of the draft design was entrusted to the architects I. A. Fomin and A. Roslavlev, gr. Ing. L. A. Ilyin, architects P. A. Golosov, A. Z. Greenberg and two other design organizations. Having considered the submitted projects, the jury decided to divide the prize equally between the architects P. A. Golosov and A. Z. Greenberg. The authors of the awarded works were entrusted with the development of the final project. The general plan of the hospital was based on the project proposal of L. A. Ilyin.
A site was allocated for the hospital closer to the outskirts of the city at the end of Voroshilovsky Prospect. The master plan was an almost symmetrical composition with a central axis oriented towards the avenue.
The program, developed with the participation of leading clinicians, provided for the construction of a medical institution that meets all the latest requirements of medicine and technology of that time. The planning solution of the hospital characterizes the pavilion type of planning structure, which became widespread in hospital construction even before the second half of the 19th century. as a measure to combat epidemic diseases. The main building, the surgical department, the Institute of Physiotherapy, the orthopedic, nervous and therapeutic buildings in the project were to be connected by dark passages at the level of the second floor. During the implementation process, a number of changes took place in comparison with the initial competitive projects.
Panteleimon Golosov and Alexander Grinberg in the second half of the 1920s. spoke from the standpoint of constructivism. This was reflected both in the competition projects and in the completed buildings. The architecture of the hospital buildings reflects the functional method characteristic of constructivism - the processes taking place in the premises of the buildings find a solution to the volumes and facades corresponding to the function. There is a variety of sizes and configurations of window openings - rectangular, round, tape, slit-like. The facades are made of facing silicate bricks, which was typical for the architecture of the 1920s.
Despite the partial alterations and staining of the brickwork, the architectural appearance of the constructivist buildings as a whole has been preserved. The appearance of new buildings in the second half of the twentieth century as a whole did not violate the original spatial solution of the complex. This makes the complex of buildings of the city hospital №1 named. N. A. Semashko (the former regional hospital) is a unique architectural and town-planning work of the avant-garde architecture of the 1920s.
To date, only 2 architectural monuments of the Soviet avant-garde have survived in Rostov, the authors of which are the capital's architects of the first magnitude. This is a complex of buildings of the city hospital №1 named after N. A. Semashko (P. A. Golosov, A. Z. Grinberg, L. A. Ilyin. Late 1920s) and the theater. M. Gorky (V. A. Schuko, V. G. Gelfreikh. 1930-1935). Considering that the authors of the theater did not belong to the group of constructivists, the hospital complex is a unique and only monument of mature constructivism in Rostov.
Bibliography:
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4. Esaulov G. V., Chernitsina V. A. The architectural chronicle of Rostov-on-Don. - Rostov-on-Don, 1999.
5. Tokarev A. G. Soviet architecture of Rostov-on-Don. - Project Russia. No. 20. Magazine - Moscow, A-Fond Publishing House, 2001
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7. Tokarev A. G. The monument to constructivism is under threat. - Project Russia. No. 42. Magazine - Moscow, A-Fond Publishing House, 2006.
8. Tokarev A. G. Central city hospital in Rostov-on-Don (late 1920s, architects P. A. Golosov, A. Z. Grinberg, L. A. Ilyin): a monument of constructivism facing the threat of destruction. - ICOMOS materials. Conservation and restoration (Text): scientific information collection / Ros.gos.b-ka, Informkultura. - Issue 4. Interregional project for the preservation of monuments of history and culture of the Soviet avant-garde - Moscow: RSL publishing house, 2006.
