A lecture by a well-known Kyiv historian Myhailo Kalynitsky “Outstanding Kyiv architects of the early twentieth century - employees of the Polytechnic Institute” from the cycle of historical studies “Think about it” gathered on 24th of August in the NTB students and university lecturers, city tour guides and ethnographers, lovers of history and old-world.
It was about the builders, teachers and staff of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, who were famous architects of the XIX - early XX centuries. At the engineering department of the KPI (one of four, founded in 1898), future engineers taught construction, history of fine arts, drawing, etc. Before the lectures were recruited by qualified specialists. The names of many of them are engraved in the architectural history of myth.
| Olexandr Vasylyovych Kobelev (1860-1942), the awardee of the second prize in the competition for the project of the KPI construction, in 1900 he headed the construction of the entire complex of the Polytechnic Institute. From 1899 he taught in the KPI an architectural drawing and designing first as a full-time teacher, and from 1912 he was a professor. An article on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the architect, published in the Institute newspaper “Soviet student” in 1940, which was demonstrated by the lecturer (pictured), is called “the pride of the institute and the founder of the school of architecture and design”. |  |
| Vsevolod Adolfovych Obremskyi (1871-1940) worked as a staff architect at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute from 1902 to 1925, designed and built a dining room (now – building 35) and an outpatient clinic (now a hotel). At the same time she taught drawing and designing in the KPI. He participated in the competition among the teachers of the KPI for the design and construction of residential buildings for the Institute's staff (located to the left of the main building). | |
| The staff professor of the engineering department, Eugene Oskarovych Paton (1870-1953), has trained a lot of engineers-builders. In particular, Parkovyi bridge over the Petrovska Avenue designed by him in 1909, was recognized as the one having ideal form according to the latest computer calculations. |  |
| Professor of the KPI Grigoryi Dmytrovych Dubelir (1874-1942) worked at the KPI since 1904. He was recognized as a specialist in the theory of architecture and planning in urban planning. In 1920-30 he was engaged in optimization of the system of highways of Kiev, taking into account the further expansion of the city. |  |
| Mykola Ivanovych Maksymovych (1855-1928) was a hydrologist, a railway engineer, an architect. Staff Professor KPI from 1899 to 1928 (intermittently), taught the course of inland water connections at the Department of Civil Engineering. Its culmination was the design and construction (1895-1899) of a huge harbor in the Obolon Gulf. After reconstruction, it still forms part of the Kyiv river port. For this he comprehensively studied the water regime of the Dnipro River. The results were summarized in the two-volume illustrated edition of “Dnipro and its pool”, for which in 1900 he received a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. |  |
| A regular instructor in architectural design and architectural design (since 1917 - a professor), who participated in the design of the KPI buildings, Vasyl Olexandrovich Osmak (1870-1942) is the author of the Great Physical Audience project. It is now one of the most popular streaming audiences of the KPI, and at the beginning of the 20th century it simply struck contemporaries with its area (387.1 sq. m), height (from the floor to the ceiling above the table of the lecturer it reaches 13,4 m), the number of places for listeners and their location, which allows to clearly see and hear the lecturer from anywhere. The audience was equipped with a dual board of the same design, as now, with water and gas supply and drainage, pipes of which were brought to the lecture table for demonstration of experiments, etc. Since the audience was intended not only for lecturing polytechnic students, but for other public events, a separate entrance with a lobby from the front side was equipped. |  |
| The permanent teacher of the KPI (since 1898) Pavlo Ivanovych Hollandskyi (1861-1939) left on his own a lot of beautiful structures, public and residential buildings. In particular, numerous traditions for the family of sugar-manufacturers Tereshchenko (most of them today are architectural ruins), the city school named after Tereshchenko on the Yaroslaviv Val str., No. 40 (1905-1907 pp.), now – Ivan Karpenko Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television and others. |  |
| Among the invited teachers of the KPI are Ippolit Nikolayev (1870-1937), a teacher of architectural creations and designing, the son of the famous architect of Kiev, Volodymyr Nikolayev. Leaving a building in the territory of the Alexander Hospital, joined the construction of the monument to Alexander II in Tsarska Square, engaged in private building. |  |
Also known in the KPI were the then contemporary architects: Valerian Nikitovich Rykov (taught at the KPI in 1904-1910), Myhailo Pavlovych Bobrusov (worked as a city architect, in 1910-1911 he taught at the KPI ), Valentyn Augustovych Feldmann (worked in the KPI in 1912-1922 as the teacher of drawing and architectural design), Mykola Mykolayovych Yanishevskyi, Volodymyr Bezsmertny (taught at the KPI in 1922) and others.
Polytechnicians are meeting Myhailo Kalnytskyi the second time already. His activity does not require advertising. In his lectures, he reveals previously unknown historical facts that prompts specialists for further searches. And still M.Kalnitskyi is a graduate of the Kiev Polytechnic, and it is very pleasant..