Klein Roman Ivanovich (Robert Julius)
Roman Ivanovich (Robert Julius) Klein (1858-1924) was a prominent Russian and Soviet architect of the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, restorer, teacher.
Biography
He was born on March 19 (31), 1858 in Moscow in a merchant family.
He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, then at the Imperial Academy of Arts (graduated in 1882 with the title of class artist of architecture of the 3rd degree).
He trained in Europe, worked in the workshop of Charles Garnier (the author of the Paris Opera building), studied architectural monuments.
He died on May 3, 1924 in Moscow, and was buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery.
Main buildings and projects
Roman Klein is one of the most sought—after Moscow architects of the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, a master of eclecticism and neoclassicism, who worked in various styles according to the requests of customers. Among his iconic works are:
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (formerly the Alexander III Museum of Fine Arts) is one of Klein's main projects; for it he received a gold medal and the title of academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
The Muir and Merilise store (now TSUM) is an example of commercial and public architecture of the early 20th century.
Medium-sized shopping malls on Red Square.
Borodinsky Bridge in Moscow.
The mansion of V. A. Morozova on Vozdvizhenka is an early independent work by Klein.
The Colosseum Cinema (now the Sovremennik Theater in Moscow).
Industrial and educational buildings, including buildings for factories and institutes (for example, the A. P. Shelaputina Gynecological Institute, buildings for Moscow University).
Features of creativity
The scale of the tasks. Klein showed himself especially clearly in large, functional projects: industrial enterprises, shopping malls, bridges, large public buildings (the same Pushkin Museum). Many of his contemporaries focused more on private mansions or more intimate objects.
An approach to utilitarianism. Klein was one of the first in Russia to actively introduce new materials and structures (for example, reinforced concrete) into construction. He sought to harmoniously combine aesthetics with practicality and modern technical capabilities.
Klein is a master of styling and functionality, who has successfully worked in different historical keys within the same career. And his contemporaries more often relied on the promotion of a single new style (Art Nouveau). with its own distinctive, recognizable language.
Communication with cultural institutions
Klein not only built buildings, but also worked for a long time inside the museum system. From 1918 until the end of his life, he was a full-time architect of the Pushkin Museum, engaged in its maintenance and development. He also participated in the work of the Tretyakov Gallery councils and in projects for the preservation of cultural heritage.