Morphological and structural-compositional features of the historical block development of St. Petersburg

Fedotova Galina Olegovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6443-7549 senior lecturer, Department of Architectural and Urban Planning Heritage, St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering 190005, Russia, St. Petersburg, 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya str., 4, office 408-a g.o.fedotova@yandex.ru

Zhdanova Evgeniia Iurevna undergraduate student, Department of Architectural and Urban Planning Heritage, St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering 190005, Russia, St. Peteburg, 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya str., 4, office 408-a ev.zhdanova@list.ru

IntroductionSaint Petersburg is a city with a special historical and urban genetic code, formed on the basis of a unified development strategy, taking into account urban planning and architectural regulations implemented in the system of territorial-spatial, urban–planning and architectural-compositional, morphological parameters and patterns ^[1].

At the same time, not only individual ensembles or monument buildings are of particular value, but also the entire historical environment of the city as a whole, represented including ordinary buildings.

At the present stage of studying St. Petersburg, an important role in understanding its features is played by the works of S. V. Sementsov ^[1-5], devoted to the urban development of the city and its agglomeration. It is also worth noting a number of studies affecting certain aspects of the architectural and urban environment - the silhouette of the city ^[6], urban compositions ^[7] and landscapes ^[8], morphotypes of quarters and intra–block space ^{[9, 10]}, compositionally incomplete types of historical environment ^[11], architectural and compositional structure of facades ^[12], parameters and quality of the architectural and urban environment ^[13] of St. Petersburg, etc.

The historical environment of cities was formed through numerous reconstructions and reconstructions throughout their development and, as a rule, is heterogeneous. A system of legislation has been developed for St. Petersburg that allows preserving not only particularly valuable ensembles or individual buildings-monuments, but also the architectural and urban environment of the city as a whole, taking into account the peculiarities of individual fragments of the environment (environmental zones) with special characteristics that determine their uniqueness. Urban planning regulations have been developed for each environmental zone, defining the basic rules for working with historical buildings (the Law of St. Petersburg?St. Petersburg dated 19.01.2009 No. 820-7 "On the borders of the United Zones for the protection of Cultural Heritage objects Located on the Territory of St. Petersburg?St. Petersburg, land use regimes and requirements for urban planning regulations within the boundaries of these zones"). Despite the sufficient completeness of legislation in the field of protection of the historical environment of the city, it is not possible to fully avoid urban planning errors and violations ^[14]. At the moment, there is a need to clarify the strategy of urban planning regulation of the historical center in order to preserve its uniqueness, integrity and quality. In this regard, the task of moving to a detailed and comprehensive study of the existing parameters and characteristics of ordinary buildings in St. Petersburg ^{[15, 16]}, including individual blocks and plots (as basic units of the historical environment of the city) becomes urgent ^{[17, 18]}. The indicated research direction is coordinated with the modern domestic practice of searching for approaches and methods for studying individual fragments of the urban environment and developing local regulations ^[19-21].

The purpose of this work is to study the existing architectural and urban planning characteristics of the residential development of St. Petersburg. The block within the boundaries of Moskovsky Prospekt, Klinsky Prospekt, Bronnitskaya Street, Zagorodny Prospekt was chosen as the object of study (here and further in the article the modern names of streets and avenues are given). The morphological and structural-compositional features of the building are the subject of the study.

The block under study is located within the boundaries of the historical center of St. Petersburg and is adjacent to Moskovsky Prospekt, one of the most important thoroughfares of the city in the XX century (the understudy of Nevsky Prospekt). The development along the entire Moskovsky Prospekt is included in various zones of St. Petersburg and includes the quarterly development of the historical center, urban ensembles of the mid-20th century, as well as new construction projects (which are often conducted in violation of historically established parameters and leads to a violation of the integrity of the architectural and urban environment).

Methods and materialsThis study of the parameters of an ordinary quarter of the historical center of St. Petersburg is based on an integrated approach that allows us to identify the features of development not only at the level of urban planning structure and spatial characteristics, but also at the level of architectural and compositional solutions of the front.

The study is based on data obtained as a result of historical, archival and bibliographic surveys, as well as visual field survey of the development.

To identify the existing architectural and urban planning characteristics of the studied fragment of the urban environment, the following methods were used:

· historical and urban planning analysis, including the identification of the stages of formation and the existing features of the urban framework, surveying and fabric. The main source base for the preparation of this section were materials of historical planography from the collections of the Russian National Library (RNB), the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (TSGIA SPb), as well as materials on the history of the development of individual owner plots from the funds of TSGIA SPb;

· morphological and structural-compositional analysis of the front, presented by the analysis of: silhouette; the ratio of the surface area of the wall and glazing; systems of vertical and horizontal divisions of facades, the overall compositional structure and plasticity of facades.

Research results Architectural and town-planning features of the formation of the studied quarter

Based on the stages of formation of the spatial environment of St. Petersburg proposed by S. V. Sementsov ^{[2, 3]}, as well as the study of historical planography and visual analysis of the existing development, the main (enlarged) periods of development of the studied quarter are determined (Figure 1).

Stage 1. 1703-1736 The beginning of the formation of the frame (suburban area). At this stage, the area under study had not yet been developed and was located outside the city border, which ran along the Fontanka River. Nevertheless, already at the beginning of the XVIII century, the main roads connecting urban areas with suburban residences were laid – modern Zagorodny and Moskovsky avenues (Plan of St. Petersburg in 1738 ("Zichheim Plan"); RNB, cipher K 4-L CD/568).

Stage 2. 1737-1780-ies. The beginning of the formation of the quarter, the primary wooden building (suburb). In the 1740s, in the area between modern Zagorodny Prospekt, Moskovsky Prospekt, Malodestkoselky Prospekt and Zvenigorodskaya Street, on the basis of a project developed by the Commission on the St. Petersburg structure, a regimental settlement of the Life Guards of the Semenovsky Regiment was located. At this stage, the boundaries of the studied quarter are probably not yet fully formed, but detached wooden buildings are built along Moskovsky Prospekt (the plan of the capital city of St. Petersburg with the image of the most notable of these avenues, 1753 ("Truscott Plan"); RNB, cipher K 1-Pb 8/6).

Stage 3. 1790s–1836. The formation of primary land surveying, the beginning of the formation of residential urban development (the periphery of the city). In the 1790s, stone barracks were built for the quartering of the Semenovsky regiment. The territory under study gradually began to be built up with urban housing – by the end of the XVIII century, the boundaries of the quarter had already been formed (approximately corresponding to modern ones), primary surveying appeared (irregular – large plots of different sizes and complex shapes), several wooden buildings were built (Atlas of St. Petersburg 1798; TsGIA SPb, f. 513, op. 168, unit chr. 319). In the first third of the XIX century, there was a consistent division of plots into smaller ones, the formation of wooden buildings continued, the first stone buildings appeared (a detailed plan of the capital city of St. St. Petersburg ("Schubert's Plan"); RNB, cipher K 2-Pb 4/58).

Stage 4. 1836-1917 Reconstruction of land surveying, formation of cellular perimeter firewall buildings (ordinary territory of the city). Both surveying and building at this stage have undergone repeated changes (TSGIA SPb, f. 513, op. 102, dd. 4746-4752, 4849, 4853, 4854, 5856, 4858).The surveying that had developed by the beginning of the XX century had an irregular structure, the construction of sites with stone buildings was perimeter, firewall, with an average height of the front buildings of 4-5 floors, the system of courtyard buildings was not fully formed. The main function of the buildings is apartment buildings (along Moskovsky Prospekt with retail premises on the ground floor), with the inclusion of a hospital and a factory in the structure of the quarter (the building of the hospital of the Alexander Community of Sisters of Mercy of the Russian Red Cross Society, the building of the tobacco factory association "A. N. Shaposhnikov and Co." (TsGIA SPb, f. 513, op. 102, d. 5856)).

Stage 5. 1918-1991. "Point reconstruction" of the building (the historical center of the city). Since the late 1920s, Moskovsky Prospekt has become one of the main compositional and transport highways, which to some extent influenced, among other things, the development of the studied quarter. In the conditions of the formed historical environment, a "point reconstruction" of the development of individual sites was carried out. So, on two historical owner's plots on the site of stone apartment buildings at the corner of Moskovsky and Zagorodny Avenues, the building of the metro station "Technological Institute" (1955) was built, which completed the formation of the ensemble of Technological Square. During the construction of the subway exit in the 1960s. the building at the address: Moskovsky Prospekt, 30 has been significantly reconstructed (including the dimensions of the first floor display windows have been changed). Some buildings are built on 1-3 floors (for example, the front buildings of buildings at the address: Moskovsky Ave., dd. 38, 40).

Stage 6. 1992 – present. "Point reconstruction" of buildings, fragmentary reconstruction of individual buildings. There were no significant changes in the development of the quarter as a whole at this stage. It is possible to note numerous fragmentary losses of architectural elements of the facades, as well as violations of the configuration of the window openings of the first floors when adapting the premises for modern use. On the site at the address: Klinsky Ave., 25 / Bronnitskaya str., 11, from the end of the 2010s to the present, the buildings of the former tobacco factory are being reconstructed with the demolition of historical buildings.

Figure 1 – Summary diagram of the stages of block formation within the boundaries: Moskovsky Prospekt, Klinsky Prospekt, Bronnitskaya Street, Zagorodny Prospekt. Author: Fedotova G.O., 2022Thus, it is possible to distinguish the following features of the formation of the development of the studied quarter:

- step–by-step transition from the suburban area (the beginning of the XVIII century) to the suburb (the middle of the XVIII century), the periphery (the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century) and the city center (the middle of the XIX – the middle of the XX century);

- the gradually formed surveying has an irregular structure, which is due to the historical features of the formation of the boundaries of the quarter, surveying and development at all stages of its development;

- gradually developed (mainly in the second half of the XIX – mid–XX century) stone buildings with a "single facade" along the red line - perimeter, firewall; the system of courtyard buildings is not fully formed (there are undeveloped areas inside the block).

Morphological and structural-compositional features of the front of the investigated quarter (along Moskovsky Prospekt)As a result of the morphological and structural-compositional analysis, some characteristics and parameters of the front of the block building were identified (for example, the facades of buildings No. 28-42 on Moskovsky Prospekt).

The front of the building is made with a "single facade" along the red line (Figure 2, a). The silhouette is formed "under a single cornice" (according to the principle of a single height of the street front) and is fairly uniform, height differences within one floor are insignificant. The building that closes the front of the block at the intersection of Moskovsky and Klinsky Avenues is completed with a corner turret (Figure 2, b).

The ratio of the wall surface area to the area of openings corresponds to the parameters characteristic of the historical center of St. Petersburg (approximate ratio - 70/30) (Figure 2, c). The compositional structure of the openings depends on their location on the facade. Window openings are usually vertical and can have different dimensions and proportions. At the ground floor level, almost all facades have showcase panoramic windows, glazing prevails over the blank plane of the wall. In other levels, the size of the piers is close (as a rule, equal to or greater) to the width of the window openings, which ensures the perception of the wall as a solid array (Figure 2, d).

The structure of the facades is decorated, including a system of vertical and horizontal divisions. In general, the predominance of horizontal rods (plinths, interstory and crowning cornices), vertical divisions (wall projections, bay windows and decorative elements – pilasters, semi-columns) divide the facade into background and accent compositional parts is noticeable. At the same time, a developed system of horizontal divisions is more characteristic for extended facades, narrower facades are emphasized by vertical divisions (Figure 2, d). It can also be noted that the floors of the upper tier are decorated richer than the lower tier.

A hierarchical system of accent planes and axes of facades has been formed. Accent planes are formed by protrusions of walls and decorated with decorative vertical divisions, compositional axes are emphasized with the help of turrets, attics, bay windows, balconies, entrance arches, window and door openings. The rhythm of window and door openings is fairly uniform. Beating the rhythm emphasizes accent areas, and also allows you to divide extended facades into compositional parts, corresponding in scale to the module of short facades (Figure 2, e).

The system of structuring and decorative design of facades forms plastic contours of various levels. For the front under study, one can distinguish: silhouette contour – outline of the dominant (turret); secondary contour – outline of crowning cornices and high–rise accents (attics, parapets); additional contour – outline of entrance arches, window and door openings of the first tier; inconspicuous contours - outline of interstory draughts, frames of window and door openings of the upper tier, lines plinth (Figure 2, g).

Figure 2– Morphological and structural-compositional analysis of the front of the building along Moskovsky Prospekt, dd. 28-42: a) scan; b) silhouette; c) the ratio of the wall area to the area of openings; d) window and door openings; e) a system of horizontal and vertical divisions; f) a system of accent planes and axes of facades; g) a system of plastic contours. Authors: Zhdanova E.Yu., Fedotova G.O., 2022As a result of visual analysis of the front facades, structural violations and fragmentary losses of architectural elements were revealed.

The dimensions and configuration of the openings in the first floor level have been changed – the panoramic windows of the first floor of the front facade of the building at the address: Moskovsky Ave., 30, pierced in the 1960s, have a large length (in connection with which one of the principles of the organization of facades of the historical center of St. Petersburg - vertical windows) is violated; on the facade of the building at 38 Moskovsky Ave., the window openings of the first floor have different dimensions (the width of some openings has been increased); on the facades of buildings at the address: Moskovsky Ave., 34 and Moskovsky Ave., 42 / Klinsky Prospekt, 27, the configuration of showcase windows has been changed when installing entrance doors. The front facades show the loss of historical fences of roofs and balconies, brackets, window and door fillings, as well as decorative elements – rustication, platbands, etc.

Conclusion As a result of the conducted research, the main morphological and structural-compositional features of the ordinary building of the historical center of St. Petersburg are revealed on the example of the studied quarter within the boundaries of: Moskovsky Prospekt, Klinsky Prospekt, Bronnitskaya Street, Zagorodny Prospekt.

The morphotype of the quarter is a perimeter firewall building of the historical center of St. Petersburg of the XIX century with the inclusion of objects of the mid–XX century, with irregular surveying and an incomplete system of courtyard buildings. The nature of land surveying and urban fabric, which developed mainly in the second half of the XIX century – the middle of the XX century, was influenced by the planning structure laid down in the XVIII century and the location of the quarter in the structure of the city (which caused the gradual transition of the territory from suburban (beginning of the XVIII century) to suburban (middle of the XVIII century), peripheral (end of the XVIII century – the beginning of the XIX century) and the central part of the city (mid-XIX – mid-XX century)).

The compositional structure of the front of the block along Moskovsky Prospekt obeys the uniform principles of the organization of facades (which is typical for both historical buildings (before 1917) and buildings of the mid-XX century). The following main features of the structural and compositional construction of facades can be distinguished: the formation of the front of the building "under a single cornice" along the red line; the accentuation of the corners of the block; the predominance of the wall surface area over the area of openings; the dependence of the composite structure of openings on their location; the design of the facade structure using a system of horizontal and vertical divisions; the formation of a hierarchical system of accent planes and axes of facades; formation of extended decorative and plastic contours throughout the entire front. In general, these provisions correspond to the basic rules for the construction of the front of the quarters of the historical center and the features of the compositional structure of the facades characteristic of the buildings of the XVIII century of St. Petersburg, identified in the study of E. R. Wozniak based on the theory of classical architectural forms ^[12].

On the front front, there are violations of the structure of facades (changes in the dimensions and configuration of openings at the ground floor level) and fragmentary losses of decorative elements (historical fences of roofs and balconies, brackets, window and door fillings, as well as decorative elements – rustication, platbands, etc.). Such violations can be eliminated and avoided in the future, provided that the historical rules of the organization of facades and decorative and plastic design of buildings are observed.

The approach to the study of the architectural and urban environment proposed in this study allows us to study the historically formed features of ordinary residential buildings. In this paper, only some basic characteristics and parameters of the development are affected by the example of a separate quarter. It is necessary to continue studying the ordinary development of St. Petersburg, including clarifying and expanding the methodology and system of the parameters studied; to study the architectural and urban planning features of the quarters of various zones of the historical environment of St. Petersburg and conduct their comparative analysis.

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