Architect Bove Osip Ivanovich: biography, list of buildings

Foreigners played an important role in shaping the architectural appearance of Moscow and St. Petersburg. But Giuseppe Bova can hardly be called a guest of Russia. He took a lively part in the life of the country and put his soul into his buildings.

Osip Ivanovich Beauvais: brief biography

The real name of the architect is Giuseppe Bova, although he was born in St. Petersburg (1784). His father, the Neapolitan painter Vincenzo Giovanni Bova, came from Italy. Later the boy began to call the Russian manner - Osip. When he was still a child, the family moved to Moscow. This city, he will give all his strength and talent. At the age of 18, Beauvais entered the school in order to master the architectural work under the direction of Francesco Camporesi. After graduation, the youth's career progressed swiftly. As an assistant architect, he was lucky to work under the guidance of such great masters as Rossi and Kazakov.

At the height of the events of 1812, Osip Ivanovich Bove became a member of the people's militia. Fortunately, during the hostilities he was not injured and after demobilization was appointed to the architectural commission for the restoration of Moscow as the head of the "facade". Of the four sectors of the city of Beauvais, the central one was taken. Arbat district, Presnensky, Tverskoy, Gorodskoy and Novinsky - the architect gave this part of the city the appearance that has survived to this day. He designed the Red and Theater Square, the Alexander Garden - the three main architectural ensembles of the capital's center. In addition, Bove was engaged in the development of the facades of residential buildings in post-war Moscow and church construction.

As architect Beauvaet received a well-deserved recognition already during his lifetime and did not need anything. He had money, fame and a loving family. Perhaps, the only thing that he could not achieve - the status of an academician, because the task of the Academy of Arts for some reason failed to fulfill. Most likely, it was a lack of time. Possessing such talents, it is unlikely that Beauvais would have been able to draw up a project for the building of the theater (and this was exactly the mission). He died in the summer of 1834, a little before his 50th birthday. The architect was buried at the cemetery at the Donskoy Monastery, for which he built a church during his lifetime.

Red Square

After the war, part of the square was destroyed, and the remaining place was occupied by traders. The young architect Beauvais restored the damaged walls of the Kremlin and rebuilt the Nikolskaya Tower along with the Resurrection Gates. Private shops were decided to be removed to the building of the Trading Rows. The building in the style of classicism with a beautiful portico still adorns the center of the city and is now called GUM. The earthworks, like the ditch along the walls, were destroyed, and the boulevard was built on the site of the latter.

A little later, the first city monument was erected near the church of St. Basil the Blessed - a monument to Minin and Pozharsky Martos. The pre-war area had a completely different appearance, and its present appearance is entirely due to Beauvais.

Alexander Garden

It was decided to add greenery to the red brick walls. The Kremlin garden, or, as it is now called, Alexandrovsky, visibly enlivened the center of the capital. According to Beauvais, it was a regular park with picturesque ruins and small pavilions. Some of them have survived to this day, for example, the Italian grotto. To create the park, we had to take the channel of the Neglinka river that was flowing under the ground . Initially it was planned to create a system of ponds with its help, but they did not realize the idea.

Manege

Drawings of the arena were occupied by another architect. Beauva directed his decoration and sculptural decoration. Designed the building of Betancourt in 1817. The design at that time was unique and had no analogues throughout the world. The building was intended for military exercises and was called the Exercircus, or House for training. The interior space should not have hampered regimental maneuvers. And we managed to create such a structure! In a room where there were no internal supports and all the load bearing was on the walls, 2000 people could comfortably fit in.

In 1824, Bove created a decorative design of the arena after a small reconstruction. It was supposed to decorate the walls with military armor, marking victory, power and greatness of the state. The plastering works were carried out, the building is decorated with stucco molding. On the walls are adorned with ornaments, made in the form of legionary attributes. In the deaf intervals of the walls it was planned to fix cast-iron high reliefs, but they were never cast.

Theatre Square

Petrovsky Theater, which used to be on the site of the Bolshoi, burned down before the war, in 1805. And only in 1816 the square was decided to transform. It was necessary to build a new theater building and split a rectangular square in front of it. On the right and left of the square, the front facades of the buildings closed, and the best view of it was to be opened from the side of China Town.

Peterburgets Andrey Mikhailov designed the Bolshoi Theater. Beauve supervised the work and made significant changes to the drawings. He reduced the cost of construction, adjusted the size of the future theater for the area and environment. The main outlines and composition were preserved, and at the same time the role of decoration and decorative elements was strengthened.

Like the Manezh, the Bolshoi Theater was called to glorify the city that won the war. This was best served by the majestic classic style. On the portico, they established a sculptural group depicting Apollo in a chariot. It was made of alabaster and destroyed by a fire in 1853. Later it was replaced by the composition of the work of Klodt. She repeated the same story, but was larger in size and more dynamic.

The opening of the theater took place in early January 1825. The spectators in the boxes applauded. It was a triumph not only for the actors' troupe, but for the architect himself.

The Triumphal Gates

Unlike the Manege or the Bolshoi Theater, the Arc de Triomphe is a completely author's project by Bove. The construction was planned at the entrance to Moscow from the St. Petersburg direction at the Tverskaya Zastava. About two years, it took only sketches and drawings, and in 1829 the final version was approved. In the foundation "for happiness" they threw a handful of silver rubles and laid a memorable bronze slab.

During the construction, a stone was used from the gravity channel and the Tatar "marble" from the village near Moscow. Sculptural compositions are made of cast iron sculptors Timofeev and Vitali. All of them are cast according to sketches, which the architect himself created. Because of interruptions in financing, the construction took 5 years, and the opening of the monument took place in the autumn of 1834.

I must say that the modern Triumphal Gate on Kutuzov Avenue is a remake. The original was dismantled a century after the construction of the square in the framework of the reconstruction. Were made measurements, sketches and photography, to later restore the arch near the Belorussian station. The decorative elements were transferred to museums. Huge cast-iron columns during the Second World War were melted for front-line needs, only one could be saved. But thanks to these drawings and surviving fragments in 1968, the arch was restored on Kutuzovsky Prospekt next to the panorama "The Battle of Borodino."

Hospitals

Devoted to his beloved city, architect Bove worked not only on monumental buildings, but also on premises intended for ordinary people. One of them is the Gradskaja hospital in the area of the Kaluga outpost. Above her drawings, Beauvais began work in 1828. A spacious, majestic building in the style of classicism, decorated with a "proprietary" portico, opened its doors to those in need of help from Muscovites.

For a comfortable placement of patients, the architect provided for the bright enclosures. The walls were decorated with bas-reliefs, some of which have survived to this day.

Under another - Ekaterininskaya - hospital Osip Ivanovich Beauve re-equipped the Gagarins' house. Work began in 1825. Despite this, both hospitals were opened only in 1833. At that time they had the best technical base in Russia.

Temple construction

Among the churches built by Beauvais, you can note the Intercession Church, St. Nicholas Church in Kotelniki, the Trinity Life-Giving Church on the territory of the Danilovsky Monastery. Within the framework of the construction of hospitals, they have built two churches. In 1822 a wonderful temple was built in the village of Arkhangelsk, consecrated in honor of the Archangel Michael. The rotunda church in Empire style was made of bricks. Three-tier bell tower was crowned with a high spire. The church is well preserved and was recently restored.

The temple of Michael the Archangel was so fond of people that the money, collected by the parishioners, was built by the same sketch. In the village of Pehra-Pokrovskoye there is a "twin" of the Archangel church - the Intercession Church. From the prototype it is distinguished by a white-blue color scheme.

Residential houses

As an architect responsible for the facades of postwar Moscow, Osip Ivanovich Bove could not help influencing the appearance of ordinary residential buildings. Under his leadership, compilation guides were compiled, called "Albums of exemplary projects". Here recommendations and examples of how houses of representatives of various city estates should be looked. You could choose the right one, guided by your taste and wealth.

Thanks to Beauvais, the townhouse appeared as an entirely new type of house. For the merchant the apartment house was designed: the upper floor was reserved for the owners, and in the lower floor there could be shops and shops.

The invaluable architectural heritage was left behind by Osip Ivanovich Bove. The sights of Moscow are inextricably linked with his name. Come and see for yourself!