"Brick Style"

Categories / Architecture/Architectural Styles
"BRICK STYLE". The term used in Russian art-historical literature for a so-called rational trend in architecture from the second half of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Those who built in the the "Brick Style" tended to reject stucco decoration that imitated historical styles and shapes, and opted instead to either leave the brick walls exposed or cover them with ceramic tile facades. For decoration, they mainly used brick brought from abroad, usually from Germany, to create layering effects or connections between different brick colours; ceramic and natural stone details were introduced. Buildings with non-plastered facades had already appeared in St. Petersburg during the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries (in industrial and shop buildings, barracks, sometimes park pavillions). As an independent trend, the "Brick Style" was formed in the middle of the 19th century, particularly in works by architect P.I. Tamansky (building of the Arsenal on Kronverk), G.A. Bosse (the German Reformed Church), and especially by R.B. Bernhard (Main Gas Factory, 74 Obvodny Canal Embankment, 1858-1862; Evangelic Womens' Hospital, 2-4 Ligovsky Avenue, 1870-1871, together with O.G. Gippius). Furthermore, the style developed in the creative work of architects V.A. Schreter and I.S. Kitner, including the A.I. Nissen apartment house and factory (1872-73, 183 Fontanka River Embankment) and the V.F. Strauss residence (1873-1874, 9 Second Line of Vasilievsky Island. Both architects considerably influenced their contemporaries. Important examples of the "Brick Style" are the V.A. Schreter private residence (112 and 114 Moika River Embankment, 1890-91 and 1897-99), the P.Y. Bekel residence (23 Second Line of Vasilievsky Island, 1881-83, architect F. K. Punshel), the G.G. Eliseev residence (64 Fontanka River Embankment, 1889-1890, architect G.V. Baranovsky), and the Kresti (Crosses) prison complex. The "Brick Style" was widely prevalent in industrial architecture. Some methods gleaned from the "Brick Style" were used by masters of the Russian style at the late 19th century (architects A.A. Parland, V. A. Kosyakov, see article on the Kosyakovs, N.N. Nikonov). Another notable adherent of the "Brick Style" was architect K. K. Schmidt; his buildings - which included the V.V. Tis mansion (3 Syezzhinskaya Street, 1897-98), the Alexandrinsky Women's Refuge (49-51 Bolshoy Avenue, Vasilievsky Island, 1897-99), his own private residence (13 Khersonskaya Street) and the G.A. Schultze residence (now 22 Kuibysheva Street, both designed in 1901-1902) - he made stylistic transitions mediaeval architecture motifs and the modernist style. At the beginning of the 20th century, brick (mainly of a light grey colour) became one of the most popular materials for facades; it was often used by architects R.F. Melzer, A.I. von Gogen, and A.S. Khrenov. During that period, the "Brick Style" was transformed in a sort of rational Art Nouveau.

References: Пунин А. Л. Архитектурные памятники Петербурга: Вторая половина XIX в. Л., 1981; Кириков Б. М., Штиглиц М. С. Петербург немецких архитекторов: От барокко до авангарда. СПб., 2002.

B. М. Kirikov. Baranovsky Gavriil Vasilievich
Bekel P.Ya.
Bernhard Rudolf Bogdanovich
Bosse G.A. (see Bosse Yu.A.)
Eliseev Grigory Grigorievich
Gippius Otto Gustavovich
Gogen Alexander Ivanovich von
Khrenov Alexander Sergeevich
Kitner Ieronim Sevastianovich
Kosyakov Vladimir Antonovich
Meltzer Roman (Robert-Friedrich) Fedorovich
Nikonov Nikolay Nikitich
Nissen Andrey Ivanovich
Parland Alfred Alexandrovich
Punshel Fedor Karlovich
Schmidt Karl Karlovich
Schreter Viktor Alexandrovich
Schultze G.A.
Strauss V.F.
Tamansky Peter Ivanovich
Tis V.V.
2nd Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 9
2nd Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 23
Bolshoy Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 51
Bolshoy Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 49
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 183
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 64
Khersonskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 13
Kuibysheva St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 22
Ligovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 4
Ligovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 2
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 112
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 114
Obvodny Canal Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 74
Syezzhinskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
St. Peter’s German Reformed Church
Kresty Prison.