Authors
Dmytro Zhurylo, Volodymyr Levchenko, Mykola Zaveriushchenko, Evgen Yashcheritsyn, and Oleh Zhurylo
Journal
ICON, Volume 31, Issue 1 (2026)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.11590/icon.2026.1.05
Abstract
Interest in the history of architecture is not only part of the cognitive process, but also an element of the professional discourse among Ukrainian architects. Following the founding of the first higher technical educational institution in Ukraine in 1885, experience was gained in the design, construction, and operation of buildings intended for students. When the Imperial University was opened in Kharkiv in 1805, no educational buildings were built: the University was accommodated in the former Governor’s residence.
This experience in design, construction, and operation was subsequently used many times in the construction of other educational buildings in Kharkiv. Despite severe financing constraints, which excluded the construction of buildings in an eclectic style, buildings in the “brick style” provided good natural lighting and other optimal microclimate conditions. Their facades still display various elements derived from European medieval architecture: Gothic columns, Romanesque stepped gables, and string courses. Spiral staircases were constructed inside some laboratory buildings to save space. The emergence of the “brick style” represented not only a development of “historicism,” which over time evolved into forms of rationalised eclecticism, but also proved a powerful incentive for the development of the high-quality building materials industry. As a result, buildings constructed using these new materials were not only practical but also durable.
In Kharkiv, a further development of the ideas of the “brick style” can be seen in a number of clinics constructed for the medical faculty of the Imperial Kharkiv University (now the Regional Clinical Hospital) at the end of the nineteenth century. Other examples of buildings constructed in this style include the present-day Museum of Nature, and one of the city’s first dormitories built for students of Kharkiv University in 1901. This article examines the construction of one of the first buildings of Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute which is distinguished by its unique architectural concepts and has not only historical but also architectural importance.
The article concludes with facts about the restoration of educational buildings following their destruction caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.