10 of The Most Famous Russian Architects

10 of The Most Famous Russian Architects

Russia is famously known worldwide for having beautiful and unique architectural styles. These unique Russian architectural styles make it easy to differentiate a building designed by a Russian architect.

The architects behind the Russian style are skillful and innovative; they come up with new ideas often and are among the most accomplished designers in the world.

In this article, we have talked about some of the most famous Russian architects and their fantastic work throughout their architectural careers. Therefore, here are the ten most famous Russian architects of all time.

1. Zurab Tsereteli

Zurab_Tsereteli photo By Valerij Ledenev Wikimedia

Zurab Tsereteli is a Georgian-Russian painter, sculptor, and architect born on January 4, 1934. He has been president of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997. He went to Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, one of the oldest universities in Georgia and the Caucasus, and graduated in 1958.

Throughout his career, he received several honors and awards, such as People’s Artist of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in the field of fine arts, People’s Artist of the USSR (1980), People’s Artist of Georgia (1978), Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Art and Lenin Prize in 1976.

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2. Felix Novikov

Felix Novikov was a Soviet and Russian architect. He was born on August 3, 1927, and died on August 18, 2022. He was awarded the honorary title of People’s Architect of the USSR and the label’s last awardee.

His notable projects include residential buildings on embankments of the Yauza in the 1950s, the construction of the Palace of Young Pioneers in Moscow, and the Krasnopresnenskaya metro station in 1954.

3. Vasily Stasov

Vasily Stasov was a famous Russian architect born on August 4, 1769, and died on September 5, 1848. He came from a wealthy noble family since his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from one of the oldest aristocratic families.

The Gruzino estate near Novgorod is one of his early works; it was built for Count Alexey Arakcheyev in the 1810s. Unfortunately, however, it was destroyed during World War II. Other Stasov works include Kotomin House, a historical landmark building at Nevsky Prospekt 18 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and St. Nicholas Cossack Cathedral, the oldest church in Omsk, Siberia.

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4. Viktor Hartmann

Viktor Hartmann, a Russian architect and designer photo by Public Domain Wikimedia

Viktor Hartmann was one of the famous Russian architects. Apart from being an architect, he was as well a Russian painter. He was left orphaned at a young age, and his mother’s sister, known as L. Hemilian, together with her husband, architect Alexandre Hemilian took him in and raised him.

He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, founded by Ivan Shuvalov in 1757. He was the designer of the monument to the thousandth anniversary of Russia in Novgorod.

5. Joseph Bové

Joseph Bové was an Italian -Russian architect. He was born on November 4, 1784, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, and died on June 28, 1834, in Moscow, Russian Empire. He is still remembered as a famous Russian architect for his fantastic work in the architectural field.

After the fire of 1812 in Moscow, Bové was the one who supervised the reconstruction of Moscow. After that, he joined an architectural institution and studied architecture from 1802 to 1807. After he completed his studies, he started working as an assistant to Matvei Kazakov and Carlo Rossi.

Interestingly, his younger brothers, Michaele and Alessandro, also trained in architecture and later became Joseph associates.

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6. Fyodor Schechtel

Architect Fyodor Schechtel in the 1890s Photo by Unknown Author Wikimedia

Fyodor Schechtel was born on August 7, 1859, in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, and died on July 7, 1926, in Moscow, Soviet Union. He was one of the most famous Russian architects and stage designers.

He left a legacy behind when it came to architecture. In two decades of independent practice, he designed five churches, five theaters, 39 private residences, Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal, among other buildings in Moscow.

7. Gavriil Baranovsky

Architect Gavriil Vasilyevich Baranovsky (1860-1920) Photo by Unknown Author Wikimedia

Gavriil Baranovsky was a Russian architect, art historian, civil engineer, and publisher. He trained as an architect at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineers from 1881- 1886 and graduated with an honorary silver medal.

He was an assistant to Paul Susor from 1883 to 1885, his first architectural career. After 1888 he became a staff architect for the Baltic Shipyards. He also worked primarily in Saint Petersburg for the Elisseeff family.

8. Ivan Fomin

Ivan Fomin was born on February 3, 1872, in Oryol, Russia, and died on June 12, 1936, in Moscow, Russia. He was a Russian architect and educator. He began his career in Moscow in 1899, working in the Art Nouveau style.

Some notable buildings he has designed include the Government of Ukraine, Kyiv, Krasnye Vorota station, Moscow Metro, and Dynamo Building, Moscow.

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9. Lev Kekushev

L.N Kekushev photo by Unknown Author Wikimedia

Lev Kekushev was a Russian architect famously known for his Art Nouveau buildings in Moscow which were built in the 1890s and early 1900s. He used metal ornaments and his signature with a lion ornament or sculpture on his building, making them notable.

He was the first person to practice Art Nouveau, an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, in Moscow. He designed his apartment buildings in Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Varsonofyevskay Lane using the class completed in 1893.

10. Karl Blank

He was a Russian architect famously known as one of the last practitioners of Baroque architecture. Blank was as well the first Moscow architect to build early neoclassical buildings.

Karl built his most significant project, the Moscow Orphanage, from 1764 to 1781. It was designed to house 8,000 resident children and staff. However, only two-thirds of his original plan was completed at the time. The eastern wing was added later in the 1940s. The Moscow Orphanage is believed to be the first neoclassical building in Moscow, and even to date, it retains most of its original exterior.