In 1857, an iron foundry was established in the block between the 25th line of Vasilievsky Island and the Maslyany Canal (now filled in) by the French merchant Felix Chopin. In 1873, in the same block, the Society of the Iron Rolling and Wire Plant was founded, which was renamed "Red Nail Maker" in 1921.

During the first Five-Year Plan, active construction of new buildings took place here, the most notable of which was the water tower of the rope workshop, built according to the project of architect Yakov Chernikhov, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, in 1930.

The water tower of the "Red Nail Maker" plant is recognized as a prime example of Constructivism and Soviet avant-garde style. The project for the new building of the Rope Workshop with the water tower was entrusted to the young architect Yakov Chernikhov, a graduate of the architectural and painting faculties of the Higher Art and Technical Institute. In 1927, he organized the Scientific Research Experimental Laboratory of Architectural Forms and Graphic Methods in Leningrad, where, together with his students and colleagues, he engaged in design and experimental work. Fascinated by the ideas of Russian avant-garde and futurism, particularly the works of Malevich and Kandinsky, he sought new forms and images in architecture, believing that the rule of the golden ratio and the classical triad of the Roman architect Vitruvius—“strength, utility, beauty”—were necessary but no longer sufficient foundations for the development of architecture in the new industrial society.

However, the building was not realized fully in accordance with Chernikhov’s project. In particular, the transverse skylights of the upper light were replaced by an extended longitudinal skylight. The facades also turned out differently. “The final version of the rope workshop (refined by Felger and Sakhnovsky) looks more simplified, frankly utilitarian; moreover, the building has been distorted by later alterations,” writes architectural historian Margarita Shtiglits.

The building has been abandoned for many years and partially declared unsafe. In the summer of 2021, adaptation of the rope workshop into an office building began by order. An elevator will be installed inside the tower, and where the water tank was located, there will be a room with an observation deck.

Margarita Shtiglits, author of the book Unceremonious Petersburg: The Heritage of Industrial Architecture, writes: “The tower somewhat resembles a nail. Symbolically, it embodies the ‘Nail Maker’ plant. The idea of a through vertical structure of posts supporting the round tank of the water tower has been preserved, and although the tower is in very poor technical condition, it has reached our days without distortion.

The final version of the rope workshop looks more simplified, frankly utilitarian; moreover, the building has been distorted by later alterations. All the more sharply and impressively perceived is the slender, easily soaring water tower. Its verticality sounds as a strong accent in the street perspectives, emphasizing the industrial character of this area.”

Architect Yakov Chernikhov, a Leningrad architect, was little popular among his contemporaries. Rediscovered abroad in the 1960s, he now appears to us as a kind of “mythical” ideologist of Constructivism. Hundreds of his graphic compositions, executed in various techniques, were free variations on the theme of the new in architecture; they also formed the basis of his books Fundamentals of Modern Architecture, Architectural Fantasies, and others. His books became a new milestone in the traditions of architectural graphics; the architect also authored many “practical” studies in the field of volumetric-spatial composition, design, and planning. Unfortunately, he did not manage to convey his ideas to us in “eternal” material. Almost nothing is known about his buildings.

The water tower at the “Red Nail Maker” plant, built according to Yakov Chernikhov’s design in 1930–1931, later entered all world reference books and architecture textbooks as a unique example of avant-garde Constructivism. The architect’s innovation lay not only in the striking design of the tower and the unusual arrangement of spatial-visual accents, where the rounded projection of the water tank rests on two thin columns, creating the illusion of a transparent nail leg, always painted in sky colors, but also in bold experiments with the form-shaping properties of reinforced concrete—the main building material of the first Soviet Five-Year Plans and the global industrial revolution of the first half of the 20th century.

Practically deprived of active practice during the years of Soviet industrialization, the architect received the title of “unrecognized genius” in his homeland, whose thoughts and “architectural fantasies” mostly remained only on paper, in the form of graphic works. Yet they found followers, and today the embodiment of his ideas can be seen in the outlines of many iconic projects realized by leading architects of the 21st century, including the futuristic structures of Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid. Ultimately, world architecture, at least the avant-garde part of the professional elite, followed the path predicted in the works of architect, graphic artist, and teacher Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov: “The path of constructing representations based on the principle of non-objective abstract elements, indicated by me, will undoubtedly occupy a dominant place in the future study of new forms.”

It was Chernikhov’s tower that the famous architect Zaha Hadid wanted to see when she first flew to Saint Petersburg in 2004. Then, on May 31, the Pritzker Prize ceremony was held at the Hermitage, where for the first time in the history of the world’s top architectural award, it was awarded to a female architect—Zaha Hadid. In turn, Zaha Hadid noted that it was a special honor for her to receive the highest architectural award in Saint Petersburg, as her artistic views were largely shaped under the influence of the avant-garde currents of Russian art and architecture that originated here. In particular, Suprematism and Constructivism are the styles that, according to Zaha Hadid, “allow the architect to liberate creative thought.”

In 1857, an iron foundry was established in the block between the 25th line of Vasilievsky Island and the Maslyany Canal (now filled in) by the French merchant Felix Chopin. In 1873, in the same block, the Society of the Iron Rolling and Wire Plant was founded, which was renamed "Red Nail Maker" in 1921.

During the first Five-Year Plan, active construction of new buildings took place here, the most notable of which was the water tower of the rope workshop, built according to the project of architect Yakov Chernikhov, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, in 1930. However, the building was not realized fully in accordance with Chernikhov’s project. In particular, the transverse skylights of the upper light were replaced by an extended longitudinal skylight. The facades also turned out differently. “The final version of the rope workshop (refined by Felger and Sakhnovsky) looks more simplified, frankly utilitarian; moreover, the building has been distorted by later alterations,” writes architectural historian Margarita Shtiglits.

The building has been abandoned for many years and partially declared unsafe. In the summer of 2021, adaptation of the rope workshop into an office building began by order. An elevator will be installed inside the tower, and where the water tank was located, there will be a room with an observation deck.

Margarita Shtiglits, author of the book Unceremonious Petersburg: The Heritage of Industrial Architecture, writes: “The tower somewhat resembles a nail. Symbolically, it embodies the ‘Nail Maker’ plant. The idea of a through vertical structure of posts supporting the round tank of the water tower has been preserved, and although the tower is in very poor technical condition, it has reached our days without distortion.

The final version of the rope workshop looks more simplified, frankly utilitarian; moreover, the building has been distorted by later alterations. All the more sharply and impressively perceived is the slender, easily soaring water tower. Its verticality sounds as a strong accent in the street perspectives, emphasizing the industrial character of this area.”

Sources:

M. S. Shtiglits, author of the book Unceremonious Petersburg: The Heritage of Industrial Architecture

https://dzen.ru/media/glavgosexpertiza/arhitekturnaia-fantaziia-iakova-chernihova-vdohnovivshaia-zahu-hadid-5ebcfe503773f11ee7199dc1

http://kanoner.com/2021/10/25/169086/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Водонапорная_башня_завода_«Красный_гвоздильщик»