Alexander Pomerantsev

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Upper Trading Rows facing the Red Square in Moscow, by Alexander Pomerantsev.

Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev (Russian: Александр Никанорович Померанцев, November 11, 1849 — October 27, 1918) was a Russian architect responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural projects realized in Imperial Russia and the Balkans at the turn of the 20th century.

Pomerantsev was born in Moscow and graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1874. He furthered his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1874-78) and completed his formal architectural training abroad (1879-86). Having returned to Russia, he delivered lectures at the Academy of Arts and served as its dean in 1899-1900 and as dean of its art school until his death.

Pomerantsev was known for the heroic scale of his works and his proficient use of eclectic elements, frequently superimposed on modern, spidery wrought-iron structures. Most famously, he applied an imaginative medley of old Muscovite details to his most defining work, the Upper Trade Rows on Red Square (1889-93). This huge agglomeration of shops is a prime example of Russian Revival and a reference point in the history of Russian architecture.

Seizing on this success, Pomerantsev executed three other pompous retrospective projects, in Rostov-on-the-Don (City Hall, 1896-99), Sofia (Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky, 1904-12), and Moscow (Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky, begun in 1911, never completed). Other ecclesiastical commissions in the Balkans included the cathedral of Cetinje (the then-capital of Montenegro), the Shipka Memorial Church, and the reconstruction of the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church in Sofia.

Pomerantsev's collaborations with engineer Lavr Proskuryakov on Andreyevsky Bridge and Krasnoluzhsky Bridge exemplify his willing experimentation with novel architectural vocabulary and innovative technologies.