The Far East: people and culture

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The pre-revolutionary architecture of Khabarovsk is manifested in the following styles.

1.Russian style – was very popular up to the October Socialist Revolution. It was based on the semantic association with the Russian architecture of 16-17th centuries. Russian architects wanted to juxtapose something purely traditional to western influence. The motives of ancient embroidery and ornamental patterns were carried over into architecture.

The specific trend of the “Russian style” – the so-called “Kirpichnoe Uzorochye” (the Brick Style) is most vividly represented in Khabarovsk.

Its typical features are the combination of gray and red brick, and patterned and figured brickwork on house fronts.

Also constructed in this style are:

the former mansion of the Bogdanovs (6, Shevchenko St.)

the Trade House of the Brothers‟ Ruff (the current children‟s musicschool)

the private residence of Plyusnin (15, Lenin St.)

the Trade Houses of the Pyankovs (3, Muravyov-Amursky St.)

the Plyusnins (1, Muravyov-Amursky St.)

the City Hall

the Female High School and etc.

2.Modernist style –This style appeared in England as an urge to bring something new to art in response to the decline of classicism and to eclectism. The modernist style became a popular style of architecture in

Belgium. It‟s characterized by the stylization of eastern exotic vegetable motifs (climbers, seaweeds, seashells) and asymmetrical composition.

At the end of the 19th century the modernist style was brought to Russia. In Khabarovsk some buildings still preserve the elements of this style. They are:

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the Trade House of Takeuchi (18, Muravyov-Amursky St.) – angled configuration

the Asplanad Hotel (Business-Center “Dalny Vostok”) – simple laconical façade, flexible shapes of original oval windows, decorative insertions

the Trade House of Lucht (84, Komsomolskaya St.) – special window grouping, semicircular vertical sections of stanchions

the former theatre “Grand-Illusion” (“Sovkino”)

the Trade House of Novopashennoy (68, Komsomolskaya St.) – an example of neo-classicism in the modernist style (unfortunately, the building was torn down in the 1990s and then rebuilt but with a considerable number of distortions).

3.Neo-classicism. The second half of the 19th century was marked by a new interest in classicism. The ideas of neo-classicism appeared within the modernist style and then took the form of an independent trend. This trend was most successful in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The building of the Stupiny‟s manor house (62, Pushkin St.) – what is known today as the Wedding Palace – belongs to the neoclassical type of a Moscow country estate (symmetrical composition, semicircular terrace, columns, double flight staircase (which is no longer existing).

The building of the State Bank (42, Muravyov-Amursky St.) is an example of the combination of neo-classicism with Soviet architecture (constructivism).

The change in the political situation in this country radically affected the architecture. At the beginning of the 20th century architects from Moscow and St. Petersburg came to Khabarovsk. They were:

A.K. Burov, V.M. Vladimirov – the building of the Far-Eastern Bank

D.L. Krichevsky, A.E. Gogello – the reconstruction of the theatrical building unit of the Officers‟ House

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The Khabarovsk architects of the Soviet period were:

N.D. Belavencev – the Khabarovsk Teacher‟s Training Institute

M.P. Brelgin – the Amur Hotel, the water-tower

K.S. Alabyan – the Railway Academy, etc.

4.The Soviet style in architecture – constructivism – became firmly established in the 1920s. It was based on a difficult economic situation and aimed at pragmatism. Since the 1920s a few public, administrative and educational institutions have been erected. Examples of these institutions are:

the City Council (19, Muravyov-Amursky St.)

the fire station (45, Karl Marx St.)

the House of Commune, etc.

5.The 1950s introduced what is sometimes called “neo-classicism of the second wave”. This is “Stalinsky classicism”. It was characterized by an urge towards classical architecture as a symbol of magnificence. While walking around the city one may easily recognize the buildings of

“Stalinsky architecture”. As a rule, they have symmetrical shape with the axis of symmetry accented by some elements like a pediment, a balcony and window decoration. Some examples of Stalinsky classicism are the buildings of 4, Shevchenko St.; 153, Volochaevskaya St.; 68, Turgenev St., the Red Army Commanders Headquarters (5, Seryshev St.), etc.

6.The construction style of the 1960-1980s was characterized by standard, monotonous houses. During that time period there was also a failed attempt to solve the problem of massive housing shortages throughout the country by building on a massive scale. Examples of buildings of that time period are the hotels “Intourist” and “Tourist” and the movie house “Khabarovsk”.

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Nowadays remarkable changes in architecture are taking place in Khabarovsk. The change from massive scale planning to individual design gave birth to an absolutely new kind of architecture. The city is changing rapidly. The problem of heavy traffic is currently being solved by the construction of road junctions, overpasses and a new bridge across the Amur River. New shops, department stores, a circus and a sports complex have recently been erected. Parks, streets and squares are now being reconstructed. Our city is becoming more beautiful and comfortable. The aim of modern designers and architects is to equip the city with modern amenities as well as to preserve its historical heritage. The fundamentality of the past and the agility of the future in architecture should be in harmony to create a certain atmosphere around people, so that they can live and work successfully to make our city and our territory more beautiful and attractive.

Assignments from the text “The Architecture of Khabarovsk”

I.Match the following words with their definitions:

i.a house, flat or other shelter in which someone lives

j.the front of a building, especially one that is large or impressive

k.a place where two or more roads join together or cross

l.a very large area of land that belongs to one person, usually with a very big house on it

m.work that is done to keep a building machine or a piece of equipment repaired and in good condition

n.a decoration shaped like a triangle built over the top of a door, window, etc.

II.Find in the text synonyms to the following words and word combinations.

1.to cause something, to make something happen –

2.to study, to review –

3.a flyover (Br.) –

4.to take care of a place or building –

5.to destroy –

6.to build again –

7.relating to towns and cities –

8.boring, similar –

9.to become –

10.present (adj.) –

11.to influence, to impact –

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12.police station –

III. Explain the difference between the following words: to restore – to rebuild

brickwork – masonry overall plan – ground plan dwelling – private residence

IV. Find the English equivalents to the following:

V.Answer the following questions:

-What triggered the development of Khabarovsk?

-What names went down in the history of city architecture?

-What buildings of the pre-revolutionary time period remained intact?

-What architectural styles are represented in Khabarovsk?

-Which buildings are typical of these styles?

-What can you say about current affairs in the sphere of building construction in Khabarovsk?

VI. Translate into English:

1.Городской сад был спланирован с самого начала заселения военного поста Хабаровска.

2.Величественный храм Успения Пресвятой Богородицы был сооружен по проекту архитектора Бера. В 1893 году в соборе был похоронен первый генерал-губернатор Приамурского края А.Н. Корф.

3.Главная улица Хабаровска раньше называлась «улица Большая графа Муравьева-Амурского».

4.В сравнении с массовой деревянной застройкой (numerous wooden huts) первые кирпичные здания выглядели очень впечатляюще.

5.В первое десятилетие ХХ века в Хабаровске стали возводить купеческие особняки, дома городской знати, торговые и общественные здания: Городская Дума, торговые дома Плюсниных, Пьянковых, женская гимназия и другие.

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6.К сожалению, практически все старые здания не сохранились в первоначальном виде, а многие были разрушены.

VII. Make 10 sentences of your own using the words from the text.

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TEXT 9.

THE KHABAROVSK STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Education is what survives when

what had been learnt has been forgotten.

/ B. F. Skinner / The Khabarovsk State Pedagogical University opened its doors in 1934.

Since the time of its foundation the University has earned an outstanding reputation. It has been providing liberal arts and science education to students of all backgrounds and has been training teachers for the education system of the Russian Federation. The institution was awarded the rank of University in 1994 by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The University staff train highly qualified professionals, managers and coordinators for the education system and advance pedagogical science by doing fundamental and applied research.

Today it offers professional education at 3 institutes and 8 departments: the Institute of Psychology and Management; the Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Information Science; the Department of History; the Department of Philology; the Department of Arts and Graphics; the Department of Biology and Chemistry; the Department of Physical Training; the Oriental Languages Department; the Institute of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication (ILIC) and the International Collaboration Center.

ILIC was created in June 2000 on the basis of the oldest University department – the Department of Foreign Languages, established in 1940. The major goal of the new institute is the creation of a flexible system of continuous education in foreign languages, which includes pre-university, university and postgraduate studies. The institute incorporates three majors: theory and methods of teaching foreign languages and cultures which provides the qualification of Linguist-Teacher; translation and theory of translation with the qualification of Linguist-Translator; and theory and practice of intercultural

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communication which gives the qualification of Linguist-Specialist in intercultural communication.

Graduates possess knowledge of a linguistic system as an integral, historically developed functional unity and understand the social nature of language, and its variants. They have the systematic understanding of the interconnections between the national language, history and culture; the national and cultural peculiarities of the target language countries and their own country. They know the peculiarities of polyethnic surroundings, interethnic and inter-cultural communication.

The graduates demonstrate practical knowledge of two foreign languages: major – English, French or German and minor – Japanese, Chinese, Korean, English, German or French; and skills to comprehend specific features of impersonal and mass communication and speech impact.

The University also offers Postgraduate programs in 13 fields of study. The programs are of two types: full time and correspondence programs.

The course of studies takes five years. The University has been licensed and certified in all majors by the Authorized Committee of the Ministry of education of the Russian Federation.

The majority of the faculty members have Candidate or Doctorate degrees. Many of the teaching staff also have been trained abroad and published their research works in numerous journals, books and textbooks. They also participate in territorial, national and international conferences. The faculty members view students as partners, and the number of students involved in research activities is constantly growing.

The University has a large campus. There are 6 classroom buildings, which have all necessary facilities for education: multi-media classrooms and laboratories with modern equipment; three dormitories; an outpatient clinic and a sports field. The University library is supplied with over 500,000 volumes.