Yakov Chernikhov "Architectural fantasies"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Architecture is one of the most visible forms of human expression, covering the entire history of mankind as such. Most ancient civilizations are even identified by their surviving architectural relics.

The role of architecture in our daily life is simply astronomical. Architecture surrounds us on a daily basis, from the cool houses we admire in the pages of magazines to the historic and iconic buildings we immediately recognize. The architects behind these buildings and homes paved the way for ingenious design, cutting-edge innovation and pioneering our built environment.

There are many artists who have changed the perception of architecture. Over the centuries, people have built monuments, temples, churches, palaces and many other marvels of architecture.

In the modern era, architecture has developed beautifully with the improvement of modern technology.

An article about the architectural fantasies of Yakov Chernikhov should begin with the statement of Arthur Skizhali-Weiss, who, reflecting on the history of the genre of "architectural fiction", names only two names of Giovanni BattistaPiranesi and Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov.

Too many famous architects and modern architects consider Yakov Chernikhov their teacher, which is not surprising. After all, it is to him that we owe the ideas of organizing the space of cities, both residential development and industrial sites. Along with such masters as Ledoux, Piranesi and others, Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov is one of the best and most honored representatives of the graphics of the genre of architectural fantasy. Let's dwell on this in more detail.

What is "architectural fantasy"

At the turn of the 20-30s of the last century, the Soviet architect and graphic artist Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov (1889-1951) published a number of books in what was then Leningrad, which brought him worldwide fame. These are “Fundamentals of Modern Architecture”, published in 1930, “Designs of Architectural and Machine Forms” - in 1931. But Yakov Chernikhov's book “Architectural Fantasies. 101 compositions”, published in 1933. It is she who is considered an architectural masterpiece.

Architectural fantasy or composition of buildings and structures in a three-dimensional drawing (axonometry) of an architectural complex that does not exist, and will not exist soon due to the lack of a sufficiently developed material and technical base.

But if the essence of architecture is to excite spatial sensations in a person, as many knowledgeable people say, then Chernikhov's graphics do it perfectly!

The master himself in one of his books says that the basis for his work on architectural fantasies wasthe desire to imagine everything that can appear in the mind of an architect: dreams, thoughts, visions, dreams.

According to him, it was the desire to convey his ideas, ideas and fantasies, regardless of the existing orders, rules and approaches and the possibility of implementation in reality, to present to others ideas that speak in full force about their necessity, even if not it would be possible to put them into practice now.

It is difficult to give a more precise definition than the definition given by the author himself.

Other works by Yakov Chernikhov

The “Cycle of Picturesque Architecture” can be considered a symbol of subtle, dream-like, not reality, not constrained by conventions of fantasizing. It includes, firstly, "Architectural Tales", which the master created at night, and, of course, "Architectural Landscapes". Chernikhov consciously and clearly chooses the theme of fairy tales of extraordinary cities, considering it necessary to fulfill in reality the result of "unbridled fantasizing" and admire the result. The effect of the resulting images of the "unlimited fantasy" of the master is simply stunning. You can study the completed drawings-architectural fantasies with a visual effect with a magnifying glass and for a very long time, constantly finding something new. As if the author was trying to leave clues to posterity. Perhaps it was so… The works are small in size, but the huge energy of the drawings and the refinement of their execution fascinate.

First time exhibited and immediately great interest

Unsurpassed graphicsYakova Chernikhova, looking to the future and filled with the pathos of the turbulent age of technological progress, was first presented to the public at the exhibition "2222 Architectural Fantasies". It was held in 1932 in Leningrad and made a splash.

Interest in Chernikhov was also due to the fact that the publication of such books by this particular author was not prepared by anyone or anything. Prior to this, Chernikhov did not take part in architectural competitions, did not participate in any associations and, in general, was not very famous. The appearance of architectural fantasies in graphics, masterpieces that are not similar to other works, immediately caused the effect of a bomb that suddenly exploded in the architectural world: why did such a phenomenon suddenly appear in our rather narrow circles, everyone wondered?

It was after the exhibition that Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov, a Soviet architect, artist and graphic artist, suddenly gained wide popularity: they started talking about Chernikhov, wrote about him, admirers of talent appeared - he forever entered the history of world architecture.

The result of "unrestrained fantasizing"

Beautifully and tastefully published in Leningrad “Architectural fantasies. 101 Compositions (1933) give us a new world, the world of free creativity as Chernikhov saw and understood it.

In these works, scientific in form, he uses the word "fantasy" no less than the word "construction". Inventing something new for Yakov Chernikhov means the greatest freedom of thinking for an architect as a professional. He wrote that fantasy works best if a person develops graphic skills, the ability to put the image on paper. It was the ability to fantasize and the ability to capture mentally what was seen with the help of graphics that should have become the basis for the further development of architecture. This is how the famous architect saw our future.

What is so unusual about the master's work?

Chernikhov experiments with form and color: he even uses the gothic architectural fantasy, his multiple Suprematist elements move and rotate, creating images that pulsate at different speeds and in different rhythms, the color gets a full-fledged sound and expands the boundaries of our imagination. The master is sure that colors, shapes and structures themselves create unique musical forms of graphic harmony. The composer of modern architecture, the Soviet Piranesi, was called Yakov Chernikhov by many contemporary authors. And they weren't exaggerating at all.

In addition to the unlimited freedom and musicality of Chernikhov's works, contemporaries noted their surprisingly original, unique character and filigree workmanship. He created something unique.

In what style did Yakov Chernikhov work

For a master of this magnitude, it is rather difficult to define his style, although most of his contemporaries call him constructivism, and Chernikhov himself - Piranesi constructivism. The use of those very Suprematist figures, elements, forms and methods of their use in the works of the architect is difficult to deny. But a number of authors believe that the drawings in his work “Architectural fantasies. Compositions connectthe flexible rhythm of modernity with the futurology of constructivism, adding poetry and expressionist effects to ordinary buildings. Many reviews of his work speak of symbolic formalism. Even Gothic is in demand! We understand that architectural fantasy has no limits, it peeps through the author's upward-looking skyscrapers and other structures.

Expressionism - yes, of course, because it is, among other things, a prophecy, a vision of pictures of the future. And all contemporaries noted not only the amazing capacity for work of Yakov Georgievich, but also his strange and amazing intuitive insight - foresight of future events. Yes, and we ourselves, looking at his architectural fantasies, imagine a certain world of the future.

Chernikhov himself is not embarrassed by the stylistic differences in the architecture of different latest trends and trends. He takes a figurative-stylistic module from any of them and applies his own principles of varying graphic schemes to it, obtaining a wide variety of compositions with a variety of visual effects, many of which turn out to be original and innovative.

Ornament and rhythm

The originality of variations and compositions of Chernikhov's architectural and graphic manner in many ways brought together a deep passion for the problems of ornament and rhythm ("rhythms are older than images") and an amazing mastery of many types of graphic techniques. The architect was sure that in modern times, graphics would become an additional language of communication for civilization, and therefore it is necessary not only to know this language, but also tolearn to master it perfectly.

Chernikhov becomes a mature architect during the period when the architectural avant-garde left the forefront of Soviet art. Architecture has remained architecture on paper, a bunch of unclaimed design fantasies and pure theory.

But it's hard to imagine that Yakov Chernikhov, who worked at construction sites, went from a foreman of an assembly team to an architect and developed projects mainly for industrial buildings and industrial complexes, would be a "pure theorist". Although the specific design problems that Ya. G. Chernikhov never lost sight of (clearly distinguishing the types and functionality of his images), yet forced his work to remain only projects. Full of visual aesthetic uniqueness, the works of the master paved their way into the future, retaining the best possibilities of avant-garde architecture, when all official criticism smashed the work of Yakov Chernikhov in all directions - there were such moments in the life of the famous architect.

Demanded today

The genre of architectural fantasy became especially popular at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Europe and America were changing, picked up by a whirlwind of rapid scientific and technological progress. Architects tried to create a new image of a rapidly developing civilization, the level of culture of which would be determined by the level of its technical achievements. Here, the work of Yakov Georgievich caught the eye of modern creators. Moreover, not only projects of buildings and large structures aroused interest, many ideas were taken for the architectural fantasy of the interior.

Of course, when trying to analyze a genre, it is necessary to take into account the temporal aspect, the importance of an architectural project for its era. Whether we were able to take into account all aspects or not is a moot point. We already live half, or even more, in the world of embodied architectural fantasies of the beginning of the last century. Projects from the beginning of the 20th century can no longer be a "hot novelty" for our time.

Pedagogy of Chernikhov

Few of the leading figures in contemporary art were teachers, but as a passionate educator, Chernikhov considered his books primarily textbooks, and his excellent graphics - just illustrations. He used his exceptional talents in the service of education and, unlike many other gifted and renowned artists and architects, did not prescribe specific styles or methods, instead focusing on practical subjects such as the use of materials or ways of representing form. The importance of the imagination for Chernikhov is evident in the title of the first chapter: "Fantasy and the Object". The art of graphic representation is primarily a way of depicting imaginary spaces, in which he excelled, and his desire for systematization forced him to share this knowledge with others. In his opinion, the ability to draw and draw was necessary, but the most important was the imagination. Chernikhov's work, even freely acknowledged by even his harshest critics, was unique, convincing evidence of the dominance of the imaginary over the factual and representative.

Chernikhov's first publication was revolutionary in terms of educational standardsof that time, but remained almost unnoticed by commentators. In his philosophy of education, realism simply wasn't an issue; ideally, the image should accurately represent what is happening in the artist's imagination, and graphic expression is much more important than creating the illusion of reality. He said that if we can somehow convey our thoughts and ideas in a visual form, without claiming to be correct, and if this image reflects our imagination, then we will have a clear conscience.

He divided his curriculum into three sections: Lines, Surfaces and Solids. Each of these was further divided into architectural, spatial and dynamic factors. The main thread is the rhythm of construction, which logically consists of two components: composition and color. There are seventy-two chapters in the book, each of which is devoted to a specific problem that needs to be solved and together demonstrating the sophistication of Chernikhov's concept. These tasks would surely enthrall any student with enough imagination, each accompanied by several dozen outstanding illustrations, of which there are a total of 1163. Unfortunately, this book contains only thirty-eight high-quality but very pale black and white graphics so she probably went largely unnoticed.

Exhibition of works by Yakov Chernikhov

On November 9, 2017, the State Museum of Architecture hosted the exhibition “Yakov Chernikhov. Images of Architecture”, which was visited by many eminent architects of ourtime.

The presented graphic works of the master, combined into cycles, including the cycle “Architectural fantasies. 101 Compositions aroused great interest, as did the architectural models and layouts made by the Foundation. Yakov Chernikhov (designed by Andrey Chernikhov) based on the architect's compositions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to recall some of the thoughts of Yakov Chernikhov about fantasizing in architecture, and there were a great many of them and all of them are worthy of attention and discussion.

1. Architectural fantasies are essential when working on any projects. They will allow real development not only for architects and architecture itself, but will give direction to the creation of new materials, etc.

2. The imagery of his fantasy, applied to ongoing projects, perfects this practice.

3. His fantasies should be used as one of the techniques in training future city planners.

4. The positive side of architects' fantasies is always multifaceted and huge.