Прилог проучавању београдске архитектуре Николаја Петровича Краснова

Abstract

: Обележавајући архитектонске токове академског историзма Краљевине СХС/Југославије у периоду између два светска рата, Николај Петрович Краснов, академик архитектуре Петроградске академије наука, утиснуо је својом делатношћу препознатљив траг у формирање урбанистичког растера Београда. Завређујући својом свестраном уметничком продукцијом и плодним градитељским доприносима широко интересовање руских и српских историчара архитектуре, почев од деведесетих година прошлог века, Николај Краснов представља најчешћу тему изучавања архитектонске заоставштине руских емиграната на просторима бивше југословенске државе. Међутим, и поред значајних истраживачких помака, београдски опус Николаја Краснова релативно се споро изучава. Овај рад писан је с циљем обогаћивања историографског корпуса посвећеног београдској делатности истакнутог и цењеног руског градитеља, указујући на шест пројеката из Красновљевог престоничког опуса недовољно анализираних у досадашњој литератури – три нереализована идејна решења и три резиденцијално-пословна објекта, подигнута за приватне наручиоце

Among the many Russian-born architects who made a significant contribution to the architectural image of Belgrade between the two world wars, a special place is held by Nikolaj Petrovič Krasnov, bearer of the title of academician of architecture of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, virtually unrivalled in professional versatility and scale of engagement in the architectural community in the course of the 1920s. Krasnov’s prolific activity was mostly related to large-scale government projects and the Ministry of Construction, the most influential architectural design studio in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia. Apart from actively contributing to the creation of striking morphological sentences in Belgrade’s urban scenery, Krasnov was committed to developing various concept designs, not all of which could be realised for various reasons. The effort to elucidate the versatile Russian émigré’s architectural work as completely as possible should pay attention to the unexecuted designs that bear his signature. Krasnov’s unexecuted concept designs‒the competition submission mottoed “Feci quod potui...”, the land use site plan for the Opera House and a rough sketch for the villa for the princes within the royal residence complex in Dedinje‒are important illustrations of the breadth and nature of his professional pursuits. In the late 1920s, the construction of representative government buildings was nearly completed, and Krasnov, owning a wide renown strengthened by his work on the interior of the new royal residence, collaborated with private architectural firms in developing a series of designs for residential/commercial buildings for private clients, affluent members of the capital city’s elites. He designed buildings for the merchant Radojlović at 2a Braće Jugovića Street, of the Mitrović brothers at 9 Knez Mihailova, and the residential/commercial building at 14 Kneza Miloša, whose well-proportioned forms composed in accordance with the tenets of academism make a not negligible contribution to the urban landscape of downtown Belgrade. A remarkable and charismatic man of an inexhaustible working energy and ample professional experience, Nikolaj Krasnov was one of the most prolific architects of his times. His rich output and distinctive, academically honed handwriting that shaped some of the city’s landmark buildings characteristic for their formal perfection, coherent composition, layered façade articulation and refined application of rhetorical architectural ornament, rank him as one of the most important representatives of academic historicism on the interwar architectural scene.