Alexandra Biriukova (July 10, 1895 - February 10, 1967) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. She is known for being the first woman in the

Ontario Association of Architects The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is the regulatory body responsible for registering and licensing all architects legally entitled to practice the scope of architecture in the Province of Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in N ...

and for her design of Lawren Harris's residence. She was the second woman to register as an architect in Canada.

Biography

Biriukova was born in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, Russia. Her father was Dmitry Biriukoff (1864

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

-1928

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy), Russian nobleman, who was the chief civil engineer on the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...

. Her mother Julia Biriukova (1867 Russian Empire-1925 Rome, Italy), maiden name Glass, was raised in the family of State Councillor Wladyslaw Wojciechowski ( Vladislav Voicehovsky) in Sankt-Petersburg. In 1911, Biriukova studied architecture and received a degree from the School of Architecture in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, she and her family left the country and moved to

. In 1925, in Rome, she received a post-graduate degree in architecture from the Royal Superior School of Architecture. Between 1924 and 1929, she worked in Rome for architect Arnoldo Foschini. In 1929 she moved again to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

where her sister, Yulia Biriukova, an artist, lived. She registered with the

(OAA) in 1931.

Work

In Toronto, her first commission is believed to be an interior design for a

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. However, Biriukova's most recognized work is the Lawren Harris residence, which was designed in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style and is one of the few homes to be built in Toronto along

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

lines. Construction on the home, located at 2 Ava Crescent in Forest Hill, began in 1931. The house is symmetrical, smooth and made up of "almost austere two- and three-storey masses." While the designs for the house had initially been prepared by Douglas Kertland, she reworked the designs at Harris's request and she is credited for all of the final design work. Biriukova's design was considered "radical" for the time. At first, the Harris home received a negative critical reception from contemporaries. However, today, the building continues to be recognized: the OAA named it one of the top ten Art Deco Buildings in Toronto. Biriukova has not been well recognized in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

due to

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

s "who have tried to diminish the role she played in the design of Harris's well-known house." Even though she was named as architect on the contract drawings, some historians "have questioned how much credit Biriukova should receive for this elegant and iconic house." Geoffrey Simmins, an art historian from the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, asserted, with little evidence, that Harris instead may have influenced most of the home's design, saying, "Certainly the house's geometric plan and clear, axial sequence of spaces...accord with Harris's own interests." Cynthia Hammond calls such readings of Biriukova's work "troubling narratives" which are loaded with

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

ed assumptions. It seems likely that Biriukova, coming from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, would have already been aware of the "avant-garde, pre-revolution Russian architects and the modernist designs coming from the Bauhaus School," and her design reflected "the emerging early international style emanating from Europe. Harris had been to Europe prior to building his house and had "consciously sought European precedents for the design of his home." After her work on Harris's house, she received no further commissions. Other architectural historians, like Ayla Lepine, have wondered if

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

was "too much for conservative Canadians," or if the Depression dried up opportunities for architects, or if it was because she was a Russian woman. The Depression most likely created a "dearth of work."

Later life and death

In 1934, Biriukova registered as a nurse and never practiced as an architect again. Instead, she worked at the Free Toronto Hospital for the Consumptive Poor until she retired in the 1960s. Biriukova died in Toronto in 1967.

References

Article about mother’s family (in Russian) - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B9%D1%86%D0%B5%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_%D0%92%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87

External links

Image of Harris house
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biriukova, Alexandra Canadian women architects 1895 births 1967 deaths Architects from Toronto Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Italy 20th-century Canadian architects Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada 20th-century Canadian women People from Vladivostok