INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF
CONSERVATION SCIENCE
ISSN: 2067-533X
Volume 12, Issue 3, July-September 2021: 935-960
www.ijcs.ro
FINISHING MATERIALS FOR FACADES AND INTERIORS OF ART
NOUVEAU BUILDINGS. EXAMPLES OF UKRAINE AND POLAND
Yulia IVASHKO1, Ann KOROVKINA2, Iryna YERMOLENKO3, Valerii TOVBYCH1,
Dominika KUśNIERZ-KRUPA4, Justyna KOBYLARCZYK4
1
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, 31 Povitroflotskyi Avenue, Kyiv, 03037, Ukraine.
2
O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv,17 Marshal Bazhanov Street,
Kharkiv, 61002, Ukraine.
3
National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute", 2 Kyrpychova Street, Kharkiv, 61002, Ukraine.
4
Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, Cracow 31-155, Poland.
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of building materials for Art Nouveau buildings in the cities
of Ukraine and Poland and the experience of their restoration using modern materials and
technologies. Considering the vastness of Art Nouveau (Secession style) heritage in Ukraine
and Poland, the authors limited themselves to only one narrow aspect – finishing materials
and four cities – Kyiv, Kharkiv, Cracow and Lodz. The example of Rodzianko's apartment in
Kyiv shows what finishing materials were used at the beginning of the 20th century. The
buildings of the northern national romanticism, in which natural raw stone was widely used,
were distinguished by the specifics of the decoration. The Polish Art Nouveau version formed
in the mainstream European trends and under the direct influence of the Vienna Secession.
On the example of objects in Сraсow and Lodz, different methods of finishing the facades of
buildings with various functional purposes were shown. The scientific novelty of the article is
the analysis of the chemical compositions of paints and plasters of the Secession period, and
modern methods of restoration of such objects.
Keywords: Art Nouveau, Facades and interiors, Finishing materials, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Cracow,
Lodz, Restoration.
Introduction
The purpose of the article is to draw the attention of specialists to the issue of finishing
materials in the restoration of architectural monuments. On the example of Kyiv and Kharkiv
buildings from the 19th – 20th centuries, it is demonstrated how the original decoration and
colour of the building are gradually distorted, details are lost, and the reliefs are altered in the
process of subsequent repairs. Today, it is impossible to establish the initial colour of the
facades of houses in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Cracow without a detailed chemical and technical
examination of the colourful layers. There is an issue typical for many countries: if a building
was repeatedly re-plastered and repainted during its existence, is it necessary to recreate the
original finishing and colour scheme during the restoration, or to use materials as close to the
original as possible? Is it possible not to be tied to the initial colour of the facades and use
modern colourful materials, similar in colour to the original, but with a different chemical
composition? Another problem is related to the period for which the colour of the facade should
Corresponding author: yulia-ivashko@ukr.net
Y. IVASHKO et al.
be repeated, and whether it should be reproduced if it was initially unsuccessful. All these items
gave reason to discuss the specificity of finishing materials on the cusp of the 19th and 20th
centuries, and the experience of restoration accumulated in Ukraine and Poland.
Art Nouveau buildings make up an extensive part of the historical heritage of the cities
in Ukraine and Poland, so the authors sought to show the common and the differences between
them, choosing only one specific aspect – finishing materials and decor.
The Art Nouveau inheritance includes buildings of various functional purposes, which
resulted from a variety of sources. It was taken into account that the stylistics of historicism and
local cultural traditions often layered on the Secession stylistics, which was generally typical
not only for Europe but also for the settlements in China and Japan.
The problem of the revalorization of Art Nouveau architecture in the countries of Europe
and Eastern Europe is currently very relevant due to the ubiquitous large stock of monuments
from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In order for the revalorization of the Art Nouveau
heritage to be conducted properly, extensive research into the history of individual buildings,
their spatial structure, functional, construction, detail and ornamentation should be carried out.
Such studies are conducted, among others, in Russia where Art Nouveau architecture
constitutes a very large resource. These studies concern both individual objects [1] and the style
itself [2]. Similarly, in Ukraine [3], Serbia [4], France [5], Germany [6], Poland [7- 9], Italy [8],
Portugal [8] and Slovakia [10], scientific research very often precedes revalorization activities
of specific objects. Art Nouveau architecture is also the subject of research when analyzing the
architectural activity of specific artists, such as Viktor Horta [11] in Belgium; Charles Carr in
Latvia [12] or Teodor Talowski in Poland [13].
The relevance of the research is based on the fact that the principal attention of the
scientists dealing with the theme of the Art Nouveau heritage in Ukraine and Poland was drawn
to the historical and theoretical aspects. In particular, in many sources, the compositional,
planning, morphological features of buildings serving various functional purposes have been
researched in detail. However, the specificity of the use of building and finishing materials has
practically not been studied in terms of its influence on the creation of the image of the Art
Nouveau development, and, as far as contemporary tasks are concerned, the use of appropriate
restoration materials and technologies that are as close as possible to the original materials.
Today, in Ukraine this issue is especially aggravated against by many private companies and
their non-compliance with the recognized requirements for the restoration of historical
buildings, when non-professional repairs violate the authentic appearance of objects, facades
are painted in randomly chosen colours, and the like. The dilemma lies in different approaches
to the restoration of the old paint and plaster of the Art Nouveau era: whether to preserve the
finishing as much as possible during the restoration, to bring the modern finishing closer to the
authentic one in technology and chemical composition, or to use new effective materials and
technologies that are visually similar to the genuine ones.
One more question of studying the Art Nouveau objects in Ukraine is related to the fact
that the absolute majority of the most fundamental publications – articles and monographs – are
absent from scientometric databases. They are printed in Ukrainian or Russian in local
collections, and therefore, practically inaccessible to the scientists all over the world. It led to
another task of the authors – to familiarize the public with the Art Nouveau heritage in Ukraine
and the experience of restoration of such objects.
The authors put forward the assumption about the peculiar role of finishing materials for
creating the image of an Art Nouveau house, and a significant part in it was assigned to
colouring and plaster. Since this aspect is related to other characteristics of the Art Nouveau
style, the authors have developed a suitable source base to identify common, controversial and
uninvestigated issues. The studied scientific sources concerning the architectural characteristics
of the Art Nouveau objects were grouped in the following way:
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FINISHING MATERIALS FOR FACADES AND INTERIORS OF ART NOUVEAU BUILDINGS
1) urban planning aspects associated with the preservation and restoration of the
territories of historical cities and historical industrial development of the times of historicism
and Art Nouveau (this aspect is related to the topic of the article since the decoration of the
facades determines the frontage of the streets);
2) the influence of the environment and changes in building materials on the variation in
the perception of style;
3) the history of the Art Nouveau architecture and the work of prominent Art Nouveau
architects;
4) problems associated with the protection and restoration of public, residential and
industrial facilities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many scientists propose to start the research of the development of the Art Nouveau era
in Ukraine with identifying the specifics of the urban planning aspect of the development [14,
15]. Moreover, they emphasize the importance of preserving the authentic finishing of the
monument objects from the proposed list of modernization, from the viewpoint of converting
them into art spaces [16]. At the same time, similar experiences of Poland and other countries
have been analysed, where industrial buildings in individual cities make up an extensive part of
the protected historical heritage [17].
The variety of new building materials during the period of several waves of construction
activity in large industrial cities of Ukraine contributed to the diversification of methods of
building decoration, including industrial buildings.
In the cities of Ukraine and Poland, the use of various types of building materials and
finishing methods created fundamentally different images of houses of the Art Nouveau era. In
particular, the use of red facing bricks on the facades of industrial buildings in Lódz created the
building appearance that was different from the image of Kyiv industrial buildings made of
yellow bricks or with the use of plaster and painting on the traditional yellow Kyiv brick [18].
Due to the historical specifics, the issue of restoring old paintwork and plaster in Lodz is not as
relevant as in the cities of Ukraine, where most of the Art Nouveau objects are plastered and
painted. The study of the traditional types of plastering in the historical houses in Poland and
the description of methods of restoration of such objects are presented in the analytical tables
[19-21].
The regional traditions of using certain building materials and finishing methods,
coupled with natural and climatic conditions, led to the fact that even objects representing one
style became dissimilar and underwent stylistic transformations influenced by local cultural
traditions [22, 23].
The Art Nouveau decoration of buildings depended on local traditions and the individual
style of the architect; therefore, the sources devoted to the historical and architectural aspects
and personalities of the outstanding architects of Art Nouveau were studied [24-27]. There is
also a direct connection between the type of decor and the method of its manufacturing [28].
The researchers emphasized the difference between the methods of ornamental finishing
in decorative "wooden mansions" and rationalistic Art Nouveau and National Romantic Style. It
is clearly demonstrated on the example of Art Nouveau in Chernihiv, where several varieties of
Art Nouveau are presented – each with a corresponding design, on the basis of which we can
say that the combination of several types of decorative finishes and textured surface treatment
played a much greater role in Art Nouveau – even the provincial one – than in earlier styles in
Ukraine [29]. In Ukraine, a peculiar type of Art Nouveau emerged – the so-called "regional" or
"provincial" Art Nouveau with local stylistic traditions overlapping on the recognized style of
Art Nouveau. This kind of Art Nouveau was a simplified version and, in most cases, had an
eclectic character; therefore, it did not occupy a dominant place in the development of the small
and medium-sized cities, "dissolving" in the prevailing development of historicism-eclecticism,
and having borrowed from it both the methods of decoration and individual elements, which is
clearly demonstrated on the examples of Chernihiv and Poltava. “In the case of Poltava, it is
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quite difficult to apply the term ‘the Secession style’, as Secession is expressed here in
interpretations of regional variations, and instead, it developed an expressive type of Ukrainian
national romanticism, the so-called Ukrainian Art Nouveau, based on the modernization of folkstyle forms and compositional techniques. Along with regional variations of the Secession style
Poltava presents options of so-called eclecticism with Art Nouveau features, even featuring
Gothic and Moorish motifs“ [30].
The presence of style variety, characteristic of many cities, became the significant factor
that had an impact on the type of facade decoration of buildings of the Art Nouveau era. In
small and medium-sized cities, the major focus was not on the combination of several different
types of decoration on the facades, which was characteristic of modernity with its tendency to
create decorativeness through various processing and use of modern materials, but on imitation
of the quite limited list of "cognitive" forms of Art Nouveau and national romanticism
("national romantic Art Nouveau") in provincial cities: “The hip roofs, tile roofs, turrets,
porches, pseudo-Baroque gables, trapezoidal openings of windows and doors, triangular
windows, ‘opasannia’ (structural addition-in the form of galleries on columns), folk style decor
in majolica, wood and brick are used. Buildings in the style of Ukrainian national romanticism
are marked by active dynamic silhouettes in symmetrical and asymmetric houses, with the
presence of an accent or dominant element” [30].
Researching the finishing materials of Art Nouveau facilities in Poland required two
groups of sources. First, it was necessary to analyze the stylistic features of Polish Art Nouveau
buildings to recognize the finishing materials (and their characteristic features) of houses that
appeared in Cracow during the heyday of Art Nouveau. For this purpose, the following sources
were used: the collective research on this issue, with the definition of the essential features of
the Art Nouveau buildings in Poland (with different functions), while focusing on the treatment
and colours of the facade. The next stage of the research was the analysis of the Art Nouveau
buildings in Cracow, which required studying the specific character of the "individual style" of
the famous creators of the Krakow version of Art Nouveau, like Teodor Marian Talowski or
Zygmunt Hendel. Reviewing these sources made it possible to evaluate the building materials
used in the corresponding period, especially those used for finishing the facade, and the rich
ornamentation of the facades.
The aforementioned studies provided the basis for the research on colours and facade
decoration methods of the selected, specified objects of Art Nouveau of Cracow. The research
was also carried out basing on the available literature, in which it was discussed the restoration
of the Cracow landmarks in the Art Nouveau style, as well as publications on the technology of
conducting the field surveys of decorative plaster in the architecture of the first half of the
twentieth century, on the technical and aesthetic aspects of the Art Nouveau style, the issue of
ornamentation of buildings in the Art Nouveau style.
Directly related to the theme of the decoration types from the Art Nouveau era, is the
aspect of the restoration of such objects in Ukraine and Poland [31-33].
Yet, a review of the processed sources showed a lack of professional publications
devoted to finishing materials of the Art Nouveau era in different countries, with an emphasis
on the specifics of the restoration of such objects. Most often, architectural sources only
casually mention the types of finishes; in particular, their chemical properties are not
characterized, and the experience of restoration with a description of all technological stages
and the chemical composition of substances is covered mainly in the design and restoration
documentation closed to the general public. And highlighting these aspects was the objective of
the presented material.
Materials and Methods
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FINISHING MATERIALS FOR FACADES AND INTERIORS OF ART NOUVEAU BUILDINGS
The evidence for the study carried out by the authors was the Art Nouveau buildings in
the cities of Ukraine and Poland. The presented brief overview of the history of the production
development of building materials, including paints, starting from the second half of the 19th
century, indicates the influence of the development in the construction industry on the
expansion of figurative means of architecture – including a variety of finishing methods and
improvement in the types of paints and plaster. Diversity in the types of produced paints, and
the improvement of their characteristics, continued with the development of concrete,
reinforced concrete, steel and reinforced concrete structures. The economic advancement of the
Russian Empire led to a rapid exposure to world inventions in the field of paint production, and
the development of Russian chemistry. The types of facades and interiors finishes with
appropriate chemical characteristics were determined; the influence of regional traditions on the
distribution of the particular types of finishes was emphasised; the application of various types
of finishes was compared to prove the direct influence of materials on changing the perception
of the image of an Art Nouveau building.
The methods of historical and comparative analyses, as well as a graph-analytical
method were used as the main ones.
Results and discussion
The influence of the development of chemical industry for producing of building
materials at the end of 19th– the beginning of 20th centuries
If we want to understand the peculiarities of the construction of the period, it should be
emphasized that Art Nouveau relied on the achievements of the earlier period, namely the
rationalism of the 20th century. The discovery of cement (in 1820) and reinforced concrete
played a phenomenal role. After the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, architects had
reinforced concrete, actually introduced in France in 1849, in their arsenal but it was widely
used only in the first decades of the twentieth century, after the development of calculations for
reinforced concrete structures. A striking example of the innovative use of reinforced concrete
and cement in Art Nouveau buildings is the House with Chimaeras, the house of architect
Władysław Horodecki at 10 Bankova Street in Kyiv. The choice of materials was not
accidental: Władysław Horodecki, being a co-owner of a cement plant in Kyiv, at the same time
advertised the ample opportunities of new materials. In Kharkiv, A.M. Ginzburg was also one
of the first to use the reinforced concrete structures in the construction of houses, the support
brackets of the cornice of which he masked with cement sculptures of fish. He called his
construction company "Reinforced Concrete", which was also an advertising tool.
At the same time, the widespread use of innovative design schemes and materials
required an expansion of the methods of finishing facades and interiors. During the Art
Nouveau period, a variety of ceramics and majolica cladding in the form of decorative friezes,
belts, and thematic panels became widespread. Finishing materials also acquire sophistication,
consonant with the general style of Art Nouveau.
One of the hallmarks of Art Nouveau is its varied colour scheme, which differs radically
from the poorer colourism of the Baroque period (in Ukraine – white, or less often blue walls
with white details) and Сlassicism-Empire era (when all the facades were yellow, and the
details were white, and it was strictly regulated by the construction legislation). Art Nouveau
brought orange, blue, green, blue, violet and purple colours to the palette of facades and
interiors, which became its distinctive feature. Such a variety of the Art Nouveau colours is
directly related to the successes of the chemical industry at the end of the 19th century when
factory paints began to be sold in large quantities.
The analysis of historical events in the late 19th – early 20th centuries allow us to
establish a relationship in the chain "development of chemical synthesis → production of
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industrial synthetic dyes → expansion of the colour range of the facades of the Art Nouveau
period", which directly influenced the colours of the facades of the Art Nouveau buildings in
the whole Russian Empire, a part of which was then Ukraine. If we compare the significant
stages in the development of synthetic dyes and the periodization of Art Nouveau in Ukraine,
we can see how the increase in the number of the new dyes coincided chronologically with the
increasing variety of facade colours, which began during the period of historicism in the second
half of the 19th century and reached its height during the Art Nouveau period.
A total line of discoveries in organic chemistry had become significant, among which the
following should be noted:
‒ 1840‒1842 ‒ Carl Julius Fritzsche determined the structural formula, and N. Zinin for
the first time synthesizes aniline which became the basis for synthetic dyes;
‒ 1856 ‒ William Henry Perkin discovered a synthetic bright purple aniline dye,
mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, and created the synthetic colours
such as British Violet and Perkin Green;
‒ 1869 ‒ Carl Graebe and Carl Liebermann determined the structure and synthesized
natural red Alizarin;
‒ 1870‒1873 ‒ K. Caro, W. Perkin and H. Koch, independently of each other, developed
an industrial method for the synthesis of alizarin;
‒ 1869 ‒ Johann Baeyer succeeded in deciphering the structural formula of indigo and
obtaining it from the simpler isatin;
‒ 1898 ‒ Stanisław Kostanecki, by the condensation reaction of an aromatic aldehyde
with mixed aromatic-aliphatic ketones, synthesized yellow benzalacetophenone (1.3-diphenyl2-propen-1-one), called it chalcone, and also set the curcumin formula.
These achievements were of decisive importance in the history of chemistry, both from a
scientific and practical point of view, including the development of industrial production of
synthetic dyes. A stream of ready-mix paints poured into the market; the palette has expanded
enormously; new names of paints and new colours appeared.
For example, synthetic alizarin completely replaced the natural dye on the market for
several years, since it turned out to be not only cheaper but also cleaner. According to Ludwig
Martens [34], in 1890 there were 12 factories producing alizarin: 8 in Germany, 1 in
Switzerland, 2 in England and one in Russia. Consequently, the cost of 1.0kg of synthetic
alizarin decreased from 140 German marks in 1873 to 5.5 in 1900. Alizarin became the first of
the anthraquinone dyes class, characterized by high dyeing power, light resistance, brightness
and purity of colour, which was necessary for the Art Nouveau stylistics. Alizarin became the
first of the anthraquinone dyes class, characterized by high brightness colouring power, light
fastness, and colour purity which was necessary for the Art Nouveau stylistics. A significant
reduction in the synthetic alizarin cost determined its widespread use in various industries,
including architecture.
Given the fact that the year 1890 is considered the official beginning of the development
of Art Nouveau in the world architecture, and its greatest demand is observed precisely at the
end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, there is every reason to assert that the
achievements of organic chemistry and the development of industrial synthesis became the
determining factor in the emergence of a large number of polychrome facades on buildings
from that period.
Thus, the leap in the development of the chemical industry influenced all industrial
processes, and it reflected in the best way on the activities of architects.
The colour scheme for the facades of Art Nouveau buildings followed particular patterns
and included the colouring of the wall planes, structural and decorative elements of the facades,
as well as the use of an expanded palette of colours in ceramic panels and stained-glass fillings.
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Opening of E.E. Bergenheim's ceramic plant in 1876, and I.R. Lindenberg's plant of
paintwork materials in 1896, greatly simplified the practical implementation of Art Nouveau
trends in the architecture of Kharkiv.
It is well known that the colour of dyes, the method of dyeing, their field of application
and properties depend on the nature, position and number of substituents. Many authors
presented a detailed review of the composition, structure and practical application, including
anthraquinone natural colouring pigments [35-37].
It allowed the authors of this work to compare the colour gamut of dyes of different
composition and structure with the colour palette of buildings of the Art Nouveau era in
Kharkiv and present their results in the analytical tables in the next section. It should be noted
that most of the works on the study of organic dyes presented in the scientific and technical
literature are aimed at improving the composition of the existing and new polymer dyes.
C. Dollendorf et al. synthesized a series of new polymer substances of red, blue and green
colors by nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions of anthraquinone derivatives with several
amino alcohols [38]. The synthesized substances have high durability and gloss color. Dongjun
Lu, Jin Cui reported obtaining polymer dyes by grafting brominated anthraquinone derivatives
onto Ocarboxymethyl chitosan through Ullmann condensation [39]. The dyes obtained are
characterized by longer adsorption wavelengths and deeper color.
These examples prove there was a significant transformation in the composition,
structure and the technology of dyes over the last hundred years. It is obvious that the
composition of modern dyes is fundamentally different from the compositions of paints of the
Art Nouveau era. Besides, the past twenty years have seen intensive renovation and
construction work aimed at preserving buildings. However, restoration work without taking into
account the colouristic traditions of the architectural periods lead to the loss of the original
appearance and historical value of buildings.
Recently, there is a positive trend towards the restoration of the primary colour palette of
the buildings from the Art Nouveau era. The most prominent example of the restoration of the
authenticity of the appearance and colour of the facade is the reconstruction of Kharkiv House
of Real Estate at 4 Pavlovska Square, as a result of which the original colour of the facade –
chalcone – was restored (Figs. 1-4).
Fig. 1. Kharkiv Real Estate House at 4 Pavlovskaya Square: the original view in 1912.
Photo from the archive of Vladimir Novgorodov, scientific director of the facade restoration project
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Y. IVASHKO et al.
Fig. 2. The building state in the 1940s. Photo from the archive of Vladimir Novgorodov,
scientific director of the facade restoration project
Fig. 3. Before the start of reconstruction in 2016. Photo from the archive
Fig. 4. After the reconstruction in 2020. Photo from the archive of Vladimir Novgorodov,
scientific director of the facade restoration project
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A significant point in the successful implementation of reconstruction and restoration
work is the preliminary study of the facade plastering and painting; its results are the basis for
choosing the restoration materials. The research by E. Doleżynska-Sewerniak [40] confirms the
difficulty in identifying the colour range of facades due to the stripping of the original layers of
plaster and paint during renovation. The identification of authentic plaster and paint colours will
allow not only to reproduce the historical appearance of buildings, but also to explore the
dominant tendencies of the Art Nouveau era. The successful solution of such problems is
possible with the integrated use of modern physicochemical research methods [40]. The
methods of Optical Microscope (OM), Polarized Microscope (PM), Scanning Electron
Microscope (SEM), equipped with (EDS), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) have been
successfully used in restorations of the Qarh's monuments at Al-Ulla in northwest Saudi Arabia
[41] and on tomb walls in Egypt [42]. Also, phase liquid chromatography and mass
spectrometry with electrospray have proven themselves in the analysis of paint layers and
identification of the components of complex natural products used in art [43, 44].
Unfortunately, there are practically no publications about such studies of buildings of the
Art Nouveau era in the scientific and technical literature. The identification of the colouring
components during restoration work requires separate studies.
The experience in the restoration of Kyiv buildings in the Art Nouveau style
One of the first examples of the complex restoration of an Art Nouveau object in Kyiv,
carried out by the specialists of the "Ukrrestavratsiya" Corporation, is the building at 14-B
Yaroslaviv Val Street. The restoration work in the object was preceded by a technological
survey in 2001. The development of the design was carried out by the "Ukrainian Research
Institute Project Restoration" (authors of the project – E. Rubtsov and V. Otchenashko). The
design for the restoration of the main facade of house No. 14-B with the adaptation of the
former apartment of L. Rodzianko for a chamber theatre consisted of eight volumes, where each
one was devoted to complex scientific research describing the conducted field investigations
(architectural measurements, fixation by probing, photographic fixation, chemical technology
research, engineering survey, wall painting survey).
In March 2001, a full-scale technological survey was conducted to investigate the
technical condition, composition and type of interior decoration materials and the original kind
of painting of finishing elements, as well as the technical condition of wooden floor structures.
The survey was carried out using a natural method with sampling for a laboratory stratigraphic
study of the composition and quality of finishing materials.
Since the article deals only with the aspects concerning decoration and decor, we will
mention some sections – "Technical condition of the elements of the ornamental finishing";
"Results of laboratory analyses of original building materials samples"; "Results of determining
the initial type of interior decoration" and "Conclusions based on the results of the technological
survey" (supplemented by the table with the results of the stratigraphic study).
For the restoration task, the premises of Rodzianko's former apartment, the staircase and
the entrance hall of the first floor were reviewed. The technical condition of the interior
decoration materials was approximately the same in all rooms; the hall was decorated with
luxurious stucco and architectural ornaments; the walls of several rooms were covered with
paintings; a significant number of decorative elements were gilded. The decoration imitated
wood on the staircase, in the lobby of the first floor and one of the halls.
At the time of the survey, the walls of the premises were plastered with lime-gypsumsand mortar, and then the surfaces were smoothed with a gypsum coating. Additionally, the
wall surfaces were levelled with emulsion putty and painted. The technical condition of the wall
plaster was satisfactory: the cracks in plaster were up to 3mm wide, and the 'cobweb cracks'
were small.
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During the entire period of functioning of the former Rodzianko apartment, about ten
colour coatings were applied onto the original painting, which led to a distortion of the initial
colour, the appearance of inequalities, the separation of the plaster layer from the brickwork, the
appearance of plaster chips, lagging and sprinkling of paint layers. The technical condition of
the stairwell plaster was better than in the rooms. All things considered, the technical condition
of the wall plaster on the premises at the time of the survey was found to be subject to
conservation and restoration.
The original colour scheme of the entrance hall was brown. The stucco decoration
against the background of the walls was of darker intense colour.
A separate aspect of the research was related to the review of columns and vases, which
were in satisfactory technical condition. It was found that the vases were made by semi-dry
filling a cement-sand mortar with a plasticizing additive in the moulds and painted with bronze
paint. The sculptural compositions in the form of two women with amphorae were gilded. At
the time of examination, the fust of the gypsum column was covered with a layer of putty, a
layer of dark brown oil paint, two layers of putty and another layer of dark brown oil paint. The
gypsum capital of the column was covered with a layer of drying oil, a layer of dark brown oil
paint, a layer of brown paint with a green tint, and two coats of bronze paint.
The brickwork of the walls was covered with a lime-gypsum-sand mortar, a gypsum
coating, and on top of it, there was low-strength brown emulsion paint with a green pigment.
The decorative plaster elements were covered with layers of drying oil, putty, brown emulsion
paint, white primer and two coats of bronze paint. The plaster rods were covered with a layer of
linseed oil imitating wood with a brown glaze layer, putty and four coats of light green colour.
The pilasters of the staircase were made of a lime-sand mortar with a slight admixture of
gypsum, on top of which a layer of a levelling plaster coating and a layer of black varnish
imitating black natural stone were applied. The capitals of the pilasters were cast from plaster
and painted with bronze paint; significant damage and gaps were recorded on the capitals; the
pilasters themselves were covered with wide cracks, and there was a "swelling" of the paint
layer on the capitals.
Three halls and the staircase of Rodzianko's apartment were decorated with fireplaces
made of compound lime-cement-sand mortar, finished with plaster moulding and painted. The
paint layers of subsequent repairs changed the original appearance of the decor elements on the
fireplaces; the repair colour layers became dirty and darkened over time, chips and cracks were
observed in the face layer.
In the "English studio" on the second floor of Rodzianko's apartment, layers of limegypsum-sand mortar, lime-gypsum-sand finishing coating, textured link rust, putty and several
layers of paint were applied over the brickwork. During examinations the remains of authentic
striped, green English silk wallpaper pasted on old theatre posters were found under the
lincrusta paper. The stucco decoration of the ceiling was made of plaster, on top of which there
was a layer of drying oil, emulsion putty, several layers of bronze paint and a layer of varnish
(Fig. 5). The wooden frieze on the wall was covered with two layers of grey putty and a layer of
varnish on top of it. The moulded curl of the frieze was gypsum; on top were layers of drying
oil, emulsion putty, two layers of bronze paint, a layer of varnish, and a coat of paint. Ceiling
mouldings and fireplace decor were made of plaster with subsequent covering (Fig. 6). Bronze
paint was widely used in the decoration of the "English studio" – for the stucco curls of the wall
frieze, the stucco decorations of the ceiling, ceiling mouldings, fireplace decoration and
imitation of wood – on the friezes of the walls, covings, and ceiling mouldings.
The problem was that the original colour of the walls of the so-called "room with angels
on the ceiling" was not preserved. The covings and ceiling mouldings of this room had
"woodgrain" finish; the fireplace was yellow; the sculptural image of the fireplace was painted
first with bronze, then with brown paint.
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The most luxurious was the light green decoration of the banquet hall. Part of the stucco
details and individual elements of the fireplace decor were covered with gilding. The fireplace
itself was painted light brown. The stucco elements – patterned cornice, floral ornaments, and
mouldings in the frame of the picture, ornament near the chandelier, pilasters, ceiling moulding,
fireplace figures and fireplace decor were made of plaster, and some of the mouldings and
panels were made of lime-gypsum-sand mortar. The plane of the door leaf of the banquet hall
was covered with oil putty and four layers of light green paint; the figured "mirror" of the doors
– with oil putty, oil light ocher paint and seven layers of ocher and light brown paint. The
overlay pattern of the doors was made of putty wood, followed by a layer of gilded lacquer,
primer, bronze paint and four additional paint coats.
Fig. 5. The interior of the "English studio" after restoration. Photo from a private archive of Y. Ivashko
Fig. 6. Fireplace in the "English studio". Photo from a private archive of Y. Ivashko
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The walls of the stage box in the banquet hall were originally pink, and the architectural
and stucco decor was light green and light brown, with the stucco elements decorated with
gilding.
The ceiling of the banquet hall was plastered with plaster mortar with a small admixture
of lime on the shingles, with stucco decoration. The technical condition of the plaster layers of
the hall ceiling was considered unsatisfactory, as the entire surface of the plaster layer was
covered with cracks, and large areas of stucco decoration sagged.
The condition of the plaster stucco decoration was assessed as satisfactory. Small
volume losses and chips, surface corrosion of gypsum stone was recorded. Initially, the surfaces
of the gypsum stucco moulding were lined and covered with later numerous emulsion and oil
paint layers, which smoothed out the clarity of the lines and the relief of the decor, making
rounded corners. Thick layers of paint have broken off from the substrate in places, mainly
along the line of through cracks.
Three test samples were taken from the covings above the windows to assess the
technical condition of the wooden floor structures, the degree of preservation of the shingles
and the moisture of the gypsum plaster on the ceiling. In these places, an increased relative
humidity of the plaster layer was recorded, which arose due to improper use of the premises.
The entrance doors on the ground floor in the entrance hall are made of wood and
covered with a layer of brown lacquer that has darkened with time. The wooden moulding of
the cornice on the second-floor landing was covered with a thick layer of white putty, a layer of
varnish, gold leaf from white metal and bronze paint.
The volume "Working Design" included a description of the architectural part of the
project – the principal design solutions, floor and ceiling structures, joinery, the design part of
the project, interior painting passports, and recommendations for the technologist of repair and
restoration work. A separate project was developed for the restoration of interior painting. The
restorers tried to recreate the original appearance of the premises of Rodzianko's apartment as
much as possible. The plaster layer was fragmentarily restored and the damaged areas of limesand plaster were replaced with modern plaster of the same composition. Gypsum parts –
mouldings, stucco decoration, column details – were restored according to the original chemical
composition. The original colours of the interior were determined according to the modern
European colour classification.
The "Alfrey marble" of the main staircase was restored according to the original
technique – an imitation of real marble was made with oil paints. Easel painting was recreated;
the type of wallpaper of the "English studio" was selected according to historical samples (Fig.
5). The wood panels and parts were cleaned of the later residue of varnishes, stains and paints.
The experience of research of the Kharkiv buildings in the Art Nouveau style
The degree of development of the chemical industry at the turn of the 19th and 20th
centuries provided a great variety of colours for finishing materials. It influenced the
architectural look both of individual buildings and the city as a whole. Mass production of
analogues of natural dyes was established, which were added in large quantities to glass and
facade paints. There is a tradition to paint the walls of buildings outside and inside in pastel
colours – lilac, greenish, pearl grey, etc. Trends in the development and architecture of Kharkiv
corresponded to the pan-European ones. It was during this period that a contradiction between
the internal and external content matured, that is between the prevailing conservatism of the
traditional forms and new building materials – reinforced concrete, metal, cement, glass,
colouring pigments, which were сramped in the established traditions of construction.
Gradually, new materials and structures changed the general architectural solution of
new buildings, while the elements of the order system, as a means of organizing an artistic
form, were becoming a thing of the past. It allows us to assert that, thanks to the development of
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scientific and technical progress at the turn of the 20th century, a new style appears in
architecture which used the achievements of many industries.
The most characteristic of the Art Nouveau architecture with its desire to reveal the work
of structures is the option of increasing the height of the basement floor and highlighting it with
textured processing (smooth or rough-faced rustication). The most common variation is to raise
the basement, but the option to increase the basement by combining the lower floors and
highlighting them with texture is also widespread. A variant of the conditionally deformed
finishing under the load of the basement floor, highlighted by a rough surface became
widespread in Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv (Fig. 7). The tradition of using different textures and
various stone cladding was borrowed from the northern national romanticism (Northern Art
Nouveau). The influence of the Northern Art Nouveau on the architecture of Kharkiv consisted
in the restraint of the colours and the emphasized importance of the texture of the materials of
the facades, which provides decorativeness. The cladding of facades with natural stone and
terrazite plaster on top of the brick masonry with open joints (marble chips with mica and
cement spray) became widespread.
The Art Nouveau style in architecture, which was born at the turn of the 20th century,
perfectly absorbed all the achievements of the chemical industry of that time. It can be seen on
the example of Kharkiv where the colour of the facades of buildings begins to change, and
grey-green and ocher shades become widely used.
Fig. 7. Facade texture at 57 Pushkinska Street, Kharkiv. Photo from a private archive of A. Korovkina
The architecture of Art Nouveau Kharkiv is closer in its colouristic solution to the
Northern Art Nouveau of St. Petersburg than the Art Nouveau architecture in Lviv and Kyiv;
grey colour and yellowish ocher prevail in Kharkiv Art Nouveau, a significant role is assigned
to the texture of facade materials which are responsible for the decorative function.
Designed by Nikolai Vasilievich Vasiliev and Alexandr Ivanovich Rzhepishevskii, the
building of the city Commercial Bank and the Astoria Hotel on Pavlovskaya Square (10,
Rozy Luxemburg Square) in Kharkiv, were executed in St. Petersburg in the style of Northern
Art Nouveau (Fig. 8).
The complicated plastic compositions of this architect are related to the Finnish northern
national romanticism and to individual objects of the German national romanticism of the early
20th century. Its "calling card" was the use of rough-faced rustication, massive sculpture,
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accentuation of the centre and corner in corner buildings, projections of different heights, bay
windows, gables, attics, and superstructures.
Fig. 8. A fragment of the facade of the former building of
the Kharkiv City Commercial (Merchant) Bank and the Astoria Hotel.
The work of N.V. Vasiliev's co-author A.I. Rzhepishevsky was characterized by the
replication of architectural motifs, a fascination with versatility (not only northern modernity
but also the classicized Art Nouveau, decorative Art Nouveau in the style of German Jugendstil,
modernized Renaissance, the rationalism of the 20th century); the use of specific colours of
facades – grey stone and "yellowish sandstone", the embodiment of the Art Nouveau style both
on the facades and in the interiors, the use in the interiors of wooden front stairs with fountains
on the landing.
The devotion to northern Art Nouveau of another Kharkiv architect, Mikhail Fedorovich
Piskunov, was expressed in the emphasized multi-textured facades (terrazite facade plaster with
pigment on brickwork.
The building at 19 Pushkinska Street, by architect A.M. Ginzburg (1905), has a light greygreen, nuanced colour. All the decoration of the facade of this object is highlighted in a darker
shade (the floral ornaments and mouldings are grey, brown on an almost white background). The
building at 1 Gogol Street is also characterized by a floral theme, but here decorative daisies have
a light-yellow tint against the background of a red-brown facade. Increasingly, architects use
colour in their works, which completely changes the appearance of buildings. So, soon after the
open inorganic combination of chalcone and the yellow pigment obtained from it, they erected
buildings on the facades of which yellow dominates. These are buildings at 26, 49, 53 and 65
Sumska Street, 47 Alchevskykh Street, 14 Kulikovskyi Spusk, 8 Kulikovska Street, 3a and 5a
Klochkovska Street. The availability of pigments and their significantly reduced cost allowed for
diversifying the design of the facade of Art Nouveau objects in Kharkiv. There are a large number
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of examples of buildings of this era where recently discovered pigments of synthetic dyes were
used in the colour scheme of the facades (Figs. 9 and 10).
Fig. 9. Chemical structures and colors of natural pigments [19 – 24]
in Kharkiv houses of the beginning of 20th century.
Part 1. Photo from a private archive of A. Korovkina
Ukrainian experience in the restoration of textured plasters
Since textured plasters are a widespread method of finishing in Art Nouveau objects, the
experience of the "Ukrrestavratsiia" Corporation can be used for their research and restoration.
Plastering on masonry is carried out with various plaster solutions, except lime-gypsum.
Restoration work on plaster begins with the tapping of the plaster and the installation of probes.
As already mentioned at the beginning, the issue of finishing materials during the restoration of
a monument is debatable: to what extent it is permissible to replace the original finishing with a
more modern one, how much the new finishing should correspond to the original one in
composition, technology, colour, etc.
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Fig.10. Chemical structures and colors of natural pigments [19 – 24] in Kharkiv houses
of the beginning of the 20th century. Part 2. Photo from a private archive of A. Korovkina
When carrying out restoration work on old plasters, the specialists of the
"Ukrrestavratsiia" Corporation use the compositions of the plaster solution according to the
technology developed by technologists and chemists. Since the buildings of the turn of the 20th
century were decorated with a variety of stucco ornaments fixed on top of the plaster, it is
preliminarily dismantled and installed in its original place after the new primer has been laid to
replace the removed one. If the task is to preserve the old plaster, it is fixed by injection with
complex lime mixtures with further pressing against the wall with special devices until the
mortar sets, or by introducing special polymer or stainless-steel plaster dowels with very wide
caps into the wall.
The re-plastering consists of spraying a 5 mm thick layer for brick, stone and concrete
surfaces, on top of it, after setting by the method of throwing (lower soil layer) and spreading
(subsequent layers), a thicker solution is applied in several layers – the ground coat. Cement
mortar assumes a smaller the ground coat thickness, lime-gypsum – twice as large, up to 20mm,
the thickness of the ground coat layers is even greater for slopes. Before applying the top layer
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– finishing coat, the last layer of soil is levelled, and the finishing coat layer is applied with a
thickness of 1 – 2mm on the adhered undried soil, followed by levelling the surface. As M.
Orlenko wrote, these layers differ in their purpose: the spray provides strong adhesion to the
surface and the strength of the subsequent ground coat and spray, the ground coat solution is
thicker than the spray consistency, and it is the thickest layer in the plaster, the covering layer
provides decorative qualities plaster and mortar for it is less durable than for the ground coat, on
fine sand [23].
The specialists of the "Ukrrestavratsiya" Corporation have developed appropriate
recommendations on the technology of restoration and conservation work of plastering facades,
which were made locally by layer-by-layer application of plaster mortar on embedded metal
mouldings. The order of such events is carried out in the following sequence: first, by the
method of plastering additions, solid rustications are restored with the removal of exfoliated
fragments, cleaning from old colour layers, with antiseptic and anti-salt treatment, removal of
corroded reinforcement and anti-corrosion treatment of retained reinforcement, then plastering
additions are made with a thickness of 5 – 10cm, using stainless steel reinforcement. If the size
of the complemented fragment is less than 30x30cm, the plaster is applied on stainless-steel
netting with the diameter of 1.5mm, stretched over stainless-steel anchors. If the size of the
complemented fragment is 30x30 cm or more, the plaster is applied along a plaster grid with a
cell of 20x20mm and a wire thickness of 1.5 – 2mm made of stainless steel, fixed on anchors.
The anchors are installed in a staggered manner with a pitch of 15 – 25cm; the outer end of the
anchor is hidden under a 1.5 – 2cm plaster layer.
In the monograph by M. Orlenko, Y. Ivashko and S. Li [23], the subsequent technology is
described in detail. The cleared surfaces of the rustication stones are moistened with water and
kept moist for two hours. The surface of the rustication stone in the places of the additions is
covered with an adhesive ground coat from KEIM, rubbed in with a brush. The first plaster
layer is applied with a thickness of not more than 1.5cm per application on the adhesive layer
using the "wet on wet" method. The surface of the setting layer of the mortar is cut to ensure the
adhesion of the lower layer with the upper one, and by layer-by-layer application of plaster,
they gradually approach the texture of the "rough" stone of the old rustication. Each layer is
kept moist until the next layer is applied. The texture "rough-faced rustication" is carried out in
a setting solution.
To supplement the rock-face stones, a dry plaster mixture is used, consisting of alumina
non-shrinking cement, sand and superplasticizer; the mortar is kneaded with an aqueous
solution "Acryl-60"; the fastening of solid rustic materials that have moved away from the brick
surface is carried out according to the designer's solution; the restoration of cracks in the rustic
materials is performed using the KEIM system of materials.
Then, the cracks are restored, and only then – hollow rusts, the addition of which is made
with a plaster solution from a dry plaster mixture, using stainless steel pins, a plaster mesh of
stainless steel and wooden formwork, which is installed on the backside of the rock-face stones,
while the emergency corroded reinforcement is cut out and they are replaced with a new one, after
which the cracks in the rustication are restored and the homogeneity of the old and the new
coating is ensured by applying a 2mm layer of cement putty over the entire area of the rustication
materials and textured a new layer similar to the finish of the old rustication materials.
In the decoration of Art Nouveau buildings, decorative and artistic plasters have become
widespread – textured unpainted with wavy cuts, coloured due to colour fillers and coloured
cement or coloured cement painted with pigments. Decorative plasters used on the facades and
interiors are as follows: lime-sand coloured plaster (based on the lime dough with or without the
addition of cement, quartz sand or sand from coloured rocks and pigment, with processing in a
plastic state with giving them by spraying, stamps, rollers or by scratching in cycles of smooth
grooves or any other texture); terrazzo plaster (based on hydrated lime slaked into a fine powder
with or without the addition of cement, marble powder, marble chips, mica and pigment, with
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the addition of cement and processing in a semi-hardened state by scraping, chopping down
solution for obtaining the texture of chipped stone and in rare cases forging with bush
hammers); stone plaster (based on cement with the addition of up to 5% lime dough for
plasticity, marble or other stone chips and processing due to the greater rigidity in the hardened
state by forging with chisels, bush hammers, gears or by acid etching) and sgraffito.
M. Orlenko indicates such a composition of lime-sand plasters: lime dough, up to 10% of
Portland cement, natural quartz or marble sand as filler, pigment, in some cases stone flour or
powder, and notes that in the case of a smooth texture, more fine sand (grain size 0.3 – 0.5mm),
when making textured spray plaster, sand is used, where 50% of the grains are of 0.6 – 2mm [23].
The use of light quartz sand in the solution provides a light plaster colour, the use of
white marble or limestone obtained by crushing gives a white plaster color and the use of sand
from such coloured rocks as dolomite or tuff-weakly coloured plaster.
If we characterize terrazzo plasters, then the terrazzo mixture itself consists of hydrated
lime, aggregates (glass, mica, stone chips), to which crushed mica or crushed glass of a certain
size is sometimes added to add shine, and pigments, and the type of mixture is determined by
the type of binder (lime, lime-cement, cement-lime, cement mixtures using white cement and
aggregates of various sizes – fine-grained, medium-grained and coarse-grained).
Modern technologies for producing decorative dry building mixtures base on the use of
inorganic pigments, among which it is worth highlighting the following: blue – ultramarine
Na2O ∙ Al2O3 ∙ nSiO2 ∙ Na2SO3, green – chromium (III) oxide Cr2O3, white – titanium (IV)
dioxide TiO2, as well as a whole class of iron-oxide pigments, a wide colour range of which is
provided by the different chemical composition of iron oxides. So, yellow pigments are
hydrates of ferric oxide Fe2O3 ∙ H2O; red ones are ferric oxides Fe2O3; black ones are ferrites of
iron Fe3O4 (FeO ∙ Fe2O3); brown ones are a mixture of yellow and red pigments. Iron oxide
pigments are characterized by high colouring power, hiding power, oil absorption,
dispersibility, lightfastness, and are also resistant to the action of salts, acids, alkalis and salts,
which determines their widespread use for the production of coloured cement, concrete,
decorative dry building mixtures, etc.
The experience of the"Ukrrestavratsiia" Corporation made it possible to establish the
most frequently used inorganic pigments for colouring terrazite mixtures, among which
M. Orlenko singled out:
– white, light grey and grey (mortar pigment – ground slate);
– blue, turquoise and blue (pigment for a solution – ultramarine);
– light green and green (an example for the solution is chromium oxide);
– light yellow and cream (pigment for the solution – golden ocher and light ocher);
– rich yellow (pigment for the solution – golden ocher);
– pink (pigment for the solution – light mummy and red lead);
– terracotta (pigment for a solution – red lead iron and golden ocher);
– red;
– red-brown;
– brown;
– fawn / straw-coloured (pigment for the solution – golden ocher and mummy);
– black (pigment for a solution – manganese black and soot).
Moreover, it is allowed to use several colours by thoroughly mixing pigments to obtain a
more complex colour scheme of the terrazzo mixture.
The area of application of terrazzo mixtures is determined by the degree of grinding: fine
and medium-grained lime-cement mixtures of hydrated lime, cement and pigments are used for
finishing external brick walls, for plastering socles, columns, pilasters and fences with increased
moisture load and exposure to adverse atmospheric factors, fine-, medium- and coarse-grained
cement-lime terrazzo mixtures are used; for plastering of plinths, balconies and fences made of
concrete or heavily fired bricks, fine-, medium- and coarse-grained crushed cement mixtures are
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used; for cornices and mouldings use terrazzo plaster with fine-sized plaster walls and slopes –
with a medium-sized aggregate; for plastering of basements and lower floors of facades – with a
large-sized aggregate; for socles and creating the effect of finishing the lower floors "under
rough-faced stone" – with an especially large aggregate.
There are varieties of decorative plasters that imitate natural stone finishes. Plaster with
"sandstone" imitation is provided by a mixture of three compositions:
1) coloured cement, quartz coarse sand and marble sand;
2) coloured cement with marble chips and coarse quartz sand;
3) coloured cement with yellow marble chips and coarse quartz sand;
Plaster with imitation "red granite" is provided by four compositions:
1) coloured cement, red and grey granite chips and labradorite chips;
2) coloured cement, red granite chips and labradorite chips;
3) coloured cement, chippings of red granite of fine-crystalline structure with a purple tint;
4) coloured cement, red granite chips, labradorite, grey granite.
Plaster "grey granite" give four compositions:
1) coloured cement, grey granite chips, labradorite;
2) coloured cement, grey and black granite chips;
3) coloured cement, lime paste and grey granite chips;
4) white Portland cement with additions of 30% marble powder, lime paste and finegrained chippings of grey granite and labradorite.
Specialists of the "Ukrrestavratsiia" Corporation developed a procedure for making
decorative plaster on architectural monuments, and a significant role in the work is played by
the strength of the solution when processing the applied decorative coating layer. The first stage
consists in applying a preparatory layer of spray and ground coat on the screeds (solutions of
the preparatory layer can be lime, lime-gypsum, cement, cement-lime) and to better adhere to
the subsequent layer, the surface of the surface layer is scratched and kept well. The second
stage consists in applying a one-, two- or three-layer finishing coat from a decorative solution –
first, spraying of the decorative solution, then a layer of ground coat and, if necessary, an upper
finishing coat layer from the same solution.
The consistency of the plaster mortar should ensure its workability i.e. its mobility –
spreading under the influence of tools in a thin dense layer, adhering tightly to the base and
ensuring that irregularities on the surface are filled.
The experience of research of buildings in the Art Nouveau style in Poland
Even though Cracow, as mentioned earlier, is primarily the main centre of medieval
architecture, quite a lot of objects of a new style were built in it including such public buildings
as: the Union Printing House; the State Industrial School; the manor house of the Society of
Supporters of Fine Arts; the manor house of the Cracow Technical Society; the Old Theatre and
residential houses – stone house "Under the Owl"; "Under the Spider"; "Under the Dagger",
richly decorated with friezes in the technique of plane stucco decoration with geometric and
phytomorphic (plant) ornaments (Figs. 11 and 12). The rapid spread of the new style in Cracow
was facilitated by the influx of wealthy customers – landowners from Galicia, who built
decorated buildings and invited famous Polish architects to design them [28].
The decoration of buildings in this period in Cracow depended on their function. It was a
sculptural stucco decoration, bas-relief, painting or mosaic, in which, in addition to the
previously mentioned phytomorphic and zoomorphic motifs, the anthropomorphic decor was
used in the form of symbolic or geometrized male and female images.
Decorations on the facades were made primarily with the use of cement mortars or
concrete, and the natural stone was sporadically fitted mainly in bas-reliefs. In some buildings,
the facades had an asymmetric composition with a combination of window openings of
different sizes and shapes.
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Fig. 11. Public buildings of Cracow in the Art Nouveau style [12, 13]
Regardless of the function of the buildings from the Art Nouveau period, the facades
were finished with various types of plasters – lime-cement, based on ready-made lime-cement
mixtures. The composition of such mixtures included: cement, lime, sand and fine aggregate
[19, 21]. Face brick was also used for decoration. It should be noted that in several cases brick,
stone and ceramic mass were used simultaneously on the facades (Figs. 11 and 12).
The analysis of the objects mentioned made it possible to analyze the type of facade
decoration: in the Building of the Union Printing House, in the Old Theater, in the stones of
Festina Lente and David Gronner – mass-painted plaster; in the house of the Society of
Supporters of Fine Arts – mass-painted plaster combined with mosaics; in the Cracow
Technical Society building – unplastered main facade with a combination of rusticated lower
floors and white glazed bricks of the upper floors (Figs. 11 and 12).
Analysis of the coloristics of the facades of buildings in Cracow makes it possible to
establish that the colors were diverse, some facades were painted with pastel colors of paints
and plasters, others had facades of unplastered bricks- white or glazed, which was especially
fashionable in Cracow [25] (Figs. 11 and 12).
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Fig. 12. Tenement houses of Cracow in the Art Nouveau style
It is appropriate here to compare the Art Nouveau buildings in Cracow and Lodz. A
striking example of this style in Lodz is Leopold Kindermann's villa at 31/33 Wólchańska Street
(now the City Art Gallery), designed by the architect Gustav Landau/Gutenteger (1903). The
building is remarkable for its rich phytomorphic decor in the Art Nouveau style, and the entrance
portico rests on columns that imitate apple tree trunks. The decoration of the facade combines
sculptural decor and plaster of different textures – smooth, rusticated, grooved (Fig. 13).
The building was renovated in 2011 – 2013. As Jacek Olesiak, Product Manager of
Renowacje, Dział Ochrona Budowli Remmers Polska sp. z o.o. said, the complex restoration of
the mansion was carried out by the firm Cialbud-Wiesław Ciałkowski from Radzymin
according to the project and under the supervision of architect Ariana Gano-Kotuli from
"Arcona" Company [20].
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Fig. 13. The fragment of the wall decoration of the Kindermann’s villa. Photo by O. Ivashko, 2017
Repair and restoration work involved the restoration of waterproofing of foundations,
renovation of basements, roof trusses, carved wooden elements of openings; a separate part of
the work related to the conservation of old plasters and the reconstruction of fluted plaster from
the so-called Roman cement; waterproofing, restoration and renovation works were carried out
with products from the Remmers catalogue [20]. It concerns the materials of the Kiesol system
and renovation plasters for waterproofing and dehumidification of building basements, plasters
based on Roman cement, impregnations and paints for the glazed pattern of plasters and
impregnations Adolit and Induline varnishes for interior and exterior windows and doors [20].
The high standard of restoration work was recognized by the Iconic Houses Foundation, and in
2015 the building itself was included in the Iconic Houses list of the most outstanding buildings
[20].
If we talk about the features of many factory buildings in Lodz at the turn of the 20th
century, then the facades were usually made of unplastered red facing bricks of local production
and decorated with brick decor. This popularity of unplastered bricks in Lodz was driven by
economic feasibility when decorative finishes were limited to ornamental brickwork and
complemented by metal elements.
Conclusions
Traditionally, all published scientific studies on Art Nouveau in Ukraine are limited to
purely architectural and art aspects, without delving into the chemical composition of building
materials and solutions, and without combining the actual historical and architectural part with
the analysis of the experience of practical restoration of specific Art Nouveau buildings. This
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combination of different aspects is present only in the restoration documentation, which is not
available to the general scientific community. That is why the scientific novelty of the article is
as follows:
for the first time:
– materials for decoration of houses of the Secession period of different countries
(Ukraine and Poland) and different cities from the point of view of their aesthetic and chemical
properties, chemical components with the corresponding formulas, and also ways of
performance of finishing works are analyzed;
– on the basis of the conducted analysis it is proved which modern restoration techniques
are applied to reproduction of initial finishing materials and décor;
knowledge has been extended about:
– information on the influence of chemical properties of finishing materials and
technologies of their implementation on the creation of the image of houses of the Art Nouveau
era;
– information on the effectiveness of certain methods for the restoration of Art Nouveau
buildings with a certain type of finishing;
it received further development:
– as a result of combining the results of research of Art Nouveau objects of scientists
from different countries and different cities, it is possible to identify certain trends in the
application of types of decoration of the Art Nouveau era, to identify common and different,
further adding to the analysis the restoration experience of other countries.
The decoration of facades and interiors of Art Nouveau buildings in Ukraine and Poland
was distinguished by its diversity. These were a variety of plasters, paints, stucco decoration,
stained glass windows, ceramics and majolica. If we characterize the specificity of finishing of
the main facades of buildings in Kyiv, then, as a rule, the facades were decorated with stucco
decoration, some facades were plastered, and some were not. Majolica and stained-glass inserts
were quite rare and were found, as a rule, in the most architecturally attractive objects.
Of all the cities-centres of Art Nouveau in Ukraine, more attention was paid to various
types of textured processing of facades in the cities-centres of concentrated placement of
objects of the architecture of the Art Nouveau style in the East of Ukraine. Most of the houses
were plastered over brickwork, while plastered "rough cast" brickwork is known only in single
objects, plaster "rough cast" and facing with stone "rough-faced" rustication is inherent mainly
in the samples of northern national romanticism.
The development of organic synthesis, in particular, the industrial production of
synthetic aniline dyes, is one of the main factors that influenced the formation of the colour
scale of the facades of buildings of the Art Nouveau era at the turn of the 19th and 20th
centuries.
The architecture of Art Nouveau of Kharkiv is closer in its colouristic solution to the
Northern Art Nouveau of St. Petersburg than the architecture of Art Nouveau in Lviv and Kyiv;
grey colour and yellowish ocher prevail in Art Nouveau of Kharkiv, a significant role is
assigned to the texture of facade materials, which is responsible for part of the decorative
function.
The decoration of the facades of the Art Nouveau buildings in Poland can be seen in the
examples of buildings in Cracow and Lodz. The technique of planar stucco decoration with
geometric and phytomorphic (plant) ornaments, sculptural stucco decoration, painting and
mosaics was used, lime-cement plasters were used on ready-made lime-cement mixtures. A
peculiar feature was the decoration with front brick, which was not typical for buildings in
Kyiv.
If we compare the variety of finishing materials used for facades, then in Kyiv on one
facade there could be plastering and painting on brick, stone cladding, stucco decoration,
sometimes majolica or stained-glass inserts, metal decor. In the buildings of Cracow, the
facades could also have simultaneously brick, stone or ceramic mass, and stucco decoration.
A significant role in the decoration of the facades of buildings in Cracow and Lodz was
played by bricks – white or glazed in Cracow and red obverse in Lodz. Along with the
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widespread use of facing bricks, a peculiar feature of Lódz buildings is the use of various
plasters of different textures, including grooved plaster from the so-called Roman cement.
As mentioned at the beginning, the topic of the study of finishing materials at the turn of
the 19th and 20th centuries is open for discussion. On the example of the restoration of many
architectural monuments in Ukraine, it can be seen that the choice of colour and type of
finishing materials is a very crucial aspect in the restoration since it remarkably affects the
perception of the authenticity of the object. Based on the restoration experience of cult objects,
which were often built and rebuilt over several periods, then the style, figurative, colour
solution and decor are taken for the period of maximum prosperity of the object.
The Ukrainian and Polish experience in the restoration of historical buildings at the turn
of the century made it possible to identify the basic principles of restoration. If it is possible to
preserve the authentic plaster, it is strengthened with modern methods and restored; and in the
event of the loss of fragments, it is supplemented, trying to bring the added fragments as close
as possible to the authentic ones. To strengthen the old plaster, the specialists of the
"Ukrrestavratsiia" Corporation fix it by injecting it with complex lime mixtures and further
pressing against the wall with special devices until the solution sets, or by introducing special
polymer or steel plaster dowels with very wide heads into the wall. If the plaster layer cannot be
preserved, it is replaced with modern plastering chemical mixtures designed for application in
particular places and for specific purposes, while striving to maintain an impression of
authenticity, namely maximum external similarity to the original finish. As it was shown on the
example of the building at 14-B Yaroslaviv Val Street, the colours for the facades and interiors
were selected according to the modern palette of colours and the work was carried out with
modern materials, but with the maximum approximation to the original colour scheme. An
example of the reconstruction of the wall decoration in the "English studio", which was initially
covered with green silk wallpaper, is typical. During the restoration process, we tried to choose
new wallpaper, as close as possible to the original. The same applies to the restoration of easel
painting and the return of the original profile to the stucco decor. The list of technologies used
for the restoration of decorative finishing of buildings of the Art Nouveau period in Ukraine
indicates that when using more efficient materials and technologies for decorative finishing of
facades and interiors in comparison with historical materials and technologies, restorers, at the
same time, strive for maximum preservation of the original finish and maximum similarity of
the modern finishing with authentic materials.
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______________________________________
Received: December 20, 2020
Accepted: September 07, 2021
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