pl. Ostrovskogo, 5, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191023
The income house of the Russian architect Nikolay Petrovich Basin rises on Ostrovsky Square, in the historic center of Saint Petersburg. The architectural ensemble of the square is considered one of the highest achievements of urban planning art and was formed with the participation of Karl Ivanovich Rossi. Basin’s income house stands out vividly against the backdrop of classical buildings and, according to some critics, brazenly and absurdly disrupts the surrounding formed ensemble.
As an example of such a review:
Against the backdrop of the theater stand beautiful wings with Theatrical Street between them, and they should have been bent up to Tolmazov Lane and ended there — that is probably what the author intended, but in reality, something completely different happened. At the corner of Tolmazov Lane, architect N. P. Basin built himself a house in the cocky Russian style of that time, something like a confectionery pie, next to it a house for the Credit Society, and the next ordinary income house of Golubev, adjoining at an angle to Rossi’s monumental creation. On the other side, at the corner, stood the old wooden circus, which housed Fedotov’s buffo theater until the 1880s, and was then demolished... the square was violated, spoiled to the end. (Punin, Architecture of Petersburg in the mid and second half of the 19th century).
The picturesque silhouette and richness of decoration make the house stand out in the surrounding development. At the same time, its entire majestic and astonishing appearance simply ignores the ensemble of the Alexandrinsky Theater and the overall view of the square. Basin’s house seems to strive to break out of the general row and loudly declare itself through bright decorations on the facades — bas-relief images of roosters, as if taken from the walls of Russian terem palaces, and other decorative elements. The overt “Russian-ness” in the decoration is also hinted at by various details: kokoshniks, column-like pillars, stucco reminiscent of wood carving or traditional embroidery on tablecloths in a noble country house.
The corner location allows for a perspective where two facades are visible at once, the presence of which creates a kind of 3D effect, making it more voluminous. This effect is further enhanced by bay windows, which, of course, do not have a rounded but a rough multifaceted shape. All this forms around the building an image of an unusual complex shape, while in reality Basin’s House has the shape of a regular parallelogram.
Architect Basin, when creating the project of his own income house, was not afraid of stylistic inconsistency with the buildings already present on the square. According to some researchers, Basin involved Nikolay Nikonov — a well-known architect in Saint Petersburg and an expert in the Russian style — in the project. The facade decoration is attributed to him. Construction, which began in 1878, was completed a year later. One of the art critics — Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov — spoke very enthusiastically about the newly built building, noting that the facade elements create an “extraordinarily artistic whole.” Stasov described Basin’s house in his major review article “Twenty-five Years of Russian Art” as follows: “The picturesque overall composition, large masses, and most beautiful is the middle part crowned with very distinctive low domes, a row of triple windows with the middle one protruding higher, in the manner of Byzantine and ancient Russian architecture, carved cornices everywhere, Russian columns with bulbous and pillar shapes scattered over both facades — all this together is new and original, all this forms an extraordinarily artistic whole, convex, full of shadows, light, and color, worthy to compete in originality with old Italian and French palaces of the 16th century.”
It is noteworthy that Vladimir Stasov was the son of the famous architect Vasily Stasov, who most likely would not have shared such an enthusiastic opinion about a building so clearly disrupting the unity of the architectural ensemble.
An interesting Petersburg legend arose on the occasion of the appearance of this house in the city, connected with the name of Emperor Alexander III. Allegedly, upon seeing Basin’s masterpiece after its completion, the tsar decided to continue the revival of national traditions, grew a beard, and subsequently dressed the army in wide trousers and high boots. Whether this event really served as the reason for the tsar’s decree, we do not dare to judge, but the story itself deserves attention at least because it once again emphasizes the emperor’s love for his homeland and his desire to preserve national color, not to please the aristocracy, which sought to Europeanize the country.
Before the 1917 revolution, architect Basin was the sole owner of the income house. It was inhabited by representatives of the wealthy public: merchants, aristocrats, generals, and high-ranking officials. Under Soviet rule, the building was nationalized.
Sources:
https://www.citywalls.ru/house1563.html
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