Old Helsinki buildings and their St. Petersburg prototypes
By Jussi Konttinen
The centre of Helsinki is familiar to all Finns.
The white majesty of the Lutheran Cathedral, the Government Palace and the Main Building of the University of Helsinki facing each other across the Senate Square: could there be a more typical view of Helsinki?
Yet, a visitor from St. Petersburg might also feel quite at home on the square.
Before coming to Helsinki in 1816, architect Carl Ludwig Engel spent a year and a half in St. Petersburg, and was strongly influenced by the grand architecture of the capital of the Russian empire.
"Engel's most important influence was the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi, who brought Palladianism to St. Petersburg," says State Archaeologist Henrik Lilius.
Palladianism refers to the Italian Andrea Palladio, who wrote "Four Books on Architecture", which became the guiding light for an entire generation of architects in the 16th century.
Lilius emphasises that Engel did not copy Quarenghi's constructions - he simply brought the same style to Helsinki.
"They arranged facades in a similar way."
Architect Kristo Vesikansa, who has studied the works of Engel, says that Engel's German and Russian influences were a subject of debate in the 1930s.
"The debate was politically flavoured. Although the basis of Engel's style was German neo-classicism, St. Petersburg's influence is obvious and stronger," he claims.
In Vesikansa's opinion the Government Palace, formerly the Senate, is closely related to the Smolna Institute in St. Petersburg.
"Both buildings have Corinthian columns, triangular gables, a stone-patterned ground floor, and arches by the entrance. The buildings are both divided into three parts."
Other similarities can also be found: The Finnish Foreign Ministry building has triangular gables that are similar to the external outcroppings on the side of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg.
In his letters, Engel wrote that he admired the majestic Cathedral of Kazan.
"This is a rather surprising comparison. But although the structure of the cathedral is different, there are also similarities," says Vesikansa.
Vladimir Lisovski, Professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art, thinks that drawing influence from St. Petersburg was natural for Engel, since Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and neo-classicism was in fashion.
"Engel's, Quarenghi's, and Vasili Stasov's use of shapes was very similar: simple and monumental. The layout of the buildings is uncomplicated," Lisovski explains.
He thinks the Church of the Trinity and the Church of the Epiphany designed by Stasov, are related to the cathedral, although they were completed only slightly earlier.
In Lisovski's opinion the similarity between St. Petersburg and Helsinki is strengthened further by the fact that the surfaces of the buildings in both cities were plastered, while in Germany and in France, stone surfaces were in favour.
"By no means did Engel copy buildings, his style was similar to that of the others. Engel was a unique architect. I consider him one of the best of his time," says Lisovski.
The young St. Petersburg architect Nikolai Maksimov finds great similarities between the Government Palace in Helsinki and the bank building on Sadovaya street, designed by Quarenghi.
Maksimov also finds points of criticism in Engel's work:
"He deviated from the symmetry that is one of the virtues of classicism. He has, for example, added ornamentation to the triangular gable on the Government Palace, removed a decorative structure from the arch at the entrance, and he failed to have another set of columns beneath the gable. This is not pure classicism."
The buildings around the Senate square are also too different in Maksimov's opinion.
"They do not form the kind of impression that a square designed by a single architect could give."
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.10.2005
More on this subject:
 PERSPECTIVE: Echoes from the past
FACTFILE: Engel and Quarenghi
JUSSI KONTTINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
jussi.konttinen@hs.fi
|
| 1.11.2005 - THIS WEEK |
Old Helsinki buildings and their St. Petersburg prototypes
|
|
