St. Petersburg is the main facade of the Russian Empire from Europe. According to it, the attitude of Western states to the new city and the entire Russian Empire will be formed. This was well understood by Peter I. But Russia has not yet had its architects capable of creating the truly European face of St. Petersburg. Therefore, the emperor invites Western talents here on a contractual basis, whose work at that time in Europe was almost impossible to find. And they are going. Often, arriving "a little bit", remain for many years, or even for life. And families are transported here. And they themselves serve the new sovereign, and their offspring, becoming subjects of the Russian Empire by inheritance law. So the life of one of the most famous masters of the late 19th - early 20th century, the architect Lidval F.I.
Curriculum Vitae
Baron Fedor Ivanovich Lidval is the son of a Swedish citizen, but was born not in his historical homeland, but in St. Petersburg. He had an excellent education, like many aristocrats: he graduated from elementary school at the Church of St. Catherine, located on Nevsky Prospect, the Real School and the School of Technical Drawing, and then - the Academy of the three most notable arts. Education, continued in the workshop of Lev Benoit, helped to determine the style of creativity and the purpose of buildings, to which the architect Lidval approached with care, creativity and responsibility.
For more than 25 years he devoted his master to his work, for more than 7 years he taught future architects, preparing high-level staff. A year after the events of 1917, he emigrated to Sweden.
Fedor Ivanovich Lidval lived a long and eventful life. He lived to be 75 years old and died in Stockholm.
Characteristic of creativity
The main field of creative application, the architect Lidval chose for himself the architecture of a profitable business. Most of its structures are apartment buildings and hotels. The master built his creations in the style of northern Art Nouveau. In accordance with it, the buildings of Lidval are massive and monumental, seem to be built for centuries. In accordance with the chosen style, he used mainly natural building materials - stone and wood. Stingy on the decor, they look strict and simple, but at the same time retain aristocracy and sophistication. The scale of the master’s plan is amazing.
Tolstoy house
In St. Petersburg, this is one of the most famous apartment buildings, erected by the project of F.I. Lidval. It is located on the embankment of the Fontanka River and Rubinstein Street. Why Tolstovsky? Everything is very simple - in St. Petersburg, people often gave apartment buildings the names of the landlord, in this case M.P. Tolstoy.
What is famous for the Tolstoy House in St. Petersburg? This building can be called a movie actor, because it is almost the protagonist of many famous films of the Soviet and post-Soviet period: “You never dreamed”, “Winter Cherry”, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson”, “Gangster Petersburg”, etc. .
The house, like other constructions of F.I. Lidval, was erected in the style of northern Art Nouveau that he chose. This nine-story long building with a large courtyard and many arches looks very monumental. It is also faced with hewn limestone. The lower part of the facade is highlighted with red brick and plastered. Embossed panels and oval windows, vases in niches were used as decor.
Astoria
The hotel in St. Petersburg is one of the buildings of the architect Lidval, which harmoniously blended into the already existing architectural ensemble of St. Isaac's Square. It is located at its intersection with Bolshaya Morskaya Street and is made in the form of a trapezoid with a narrow, slightly concave side along the eastern border of the square.
The creation of a hotel claiming to be one of the best in Europe was financed by the German organization Weiss & Freitag. In the work on the project, Lidval was assisted by his students - students and graduates of the Polytechnic Institute. The site, which was selected for the construction of a new hotel, was occupied by the dilapidated building of furnished rooms "Bristol".
The construction of the Astoria Hotel used the latest construction and design technologies, unique varieties of red granite from the Vyborg quarries, a large amount of glass and various tree species. Everything was done honestly and for centuries, which was useful later, when the First World War was on and the hotel became one of the important military facilities of the city.
Azov-Don Bank
The building of this commercial bank was erected by the architect Lidval not far from Astoria, on Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Both buildings, built next to the difference in the year, inherit northern modernism in their style. This is a fundamental element of ancient classics - an ionic column portico based on the order system and pilaster decor.
Natural stone was traditionally used in the design of the facades - the walls of the bank are lined with square plates of gray granite. They have a modest relief decoration in the form of garlands and medallions, not differing in color. Skillfully used asymmetry. This is all the more important because the areas on which the bank and the Astoria Hotel were being built were irregular in shape, which greatly complicated the work on the project.
Home for mom
Twice Fedor Ivanovich Lidval executed the order of his mother Ida Baltazarovna Lidval. Ida Baltazarovna was engaged in a profitable business and had several houses in St. Petersburg.
Initially, F.I. Lidval reconstructed her house on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, at No. 27. And then - on Kamennoostrovsky Avenue, under No. 1-3.
The first of them, purchased from the former owner Alexandra Afanasyevna Malm, housed the firm of the deceased husband, Ida Lidval - a trading house for tailoring. Part of the premises was leased to other companies, for example, for the manufacture of optics for citizens, a photo studio, etc. The reconstruction made in the house of F. Lidval at the request of my mother was reduced to installing elevators, small internal alterations and a superstructure on the 5th floor.
As for the second house, then all the work fell completely on the shoulders of the son. The plot was purchased by mother from Yakov Mikhailovich Koks on credit, and there were still wooden buildings left over from the previous owner. The house therefore began to be built on the far side of the plot. It consisted of a main building and two wings, the northern of which belonged entirely to the Lidwales. Here they lived, Ida Baltazarovna died here. The main building is decorated with a balcony, on the lattice of which is the monogram of Lidval and its surname is printed. This house was different from the others at that time, as it was the first in which the courtyard courdoner was located between the buildings.
All four buildings of the house are of different heights. The highest one faces Bolshaya Posadskaya Street and has five floors. The lower part of the facades of the buildings is laid with gray granite slabs, and the parts of the facade - with potted tiles. In addition, the house has ceilings and ceilings made of expensive wood, majolica tiles are used.