Russian classicism, which is a style of architecture that became widespread in Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, combined elements of different styles in one work, preserving the dynamics and plasticity of Rococo and Baroque. Later, classical residential buildings and manor palaces began to appear, which later became examples of the construction of various country estates and the development of Russian cities.
The following architects of classicism are known: Starov I.E., Kazakov M.F., Blank K.I., Bazhenov V.I., Kokorinov A.F., Rinaldi A. and others. Their creations constitute one of the important chapters of the history of Russian architecture and a living artistic heritage, which continues to exist as museum values, as well as elements of modern cities.
Before the buildings were to be erected, Russian classicism suggested the creation of the so-called analogues of design drawings, this made it possible to precisely master this style from the drawings. Engravings were copied and sent to Russian cities. So, on them all the buildings were distinguished by the clarity of compositional reception, the fine drawing of details, the harmony of proportions and the conciseness of the volumes. The rooms were united into functional groups, the side wings connected the transitions, which formed the front yard. During construction, red brick was used, as well as white stone; columns with entablature were erected, smooth walls were erected with cut openings, facades with large relief, lancet arches, portals of entrances and more.
Thus, Russian classicism had the following principles:
1. The building was built in the form of a parallelepiped, and had to have three floors.
2. The residential facility should include a central building connected to the two wings by direct galleries.
3. The central building should be marked with a portico.
4. The boundaries of the facade are presented in the form of simple angles, the cavities were not decorated with anything, the windows were rectangular, the openings in which were unframed.
5. The only decoration of the building should be the portico of a huge order (to the entire height of the structure).
6. The columns are moved away from the walls for passage.
We can say that Russian classicism has reflections of Byzantine and Old Russian cultures, simultaneously with Baroque. The following buildings can serve as an example: Pashkov’s house, Tsarskoye Selo, Petrodvorets, Winter Palace, Moscow Senate and others.
This architectural style reached its peak during the construction of St. Petersburg. So, A. Leblon developed a city plan, according to which he had an oval star structure. To date, the main compositional basis of St. Petersburg is presented in the form of a trident.
Thus, the new architectural style that arose in Russia and became widespread on its territory in the eighteenth century was used primarily for the construction of Russian cities. Describes in more detail the origin of the style of G.V. Moskvicheva ("Russian Classicism". A manual for students of pedagogical institutes). The book tells about the great architects and their unique creations.