Andreyan Zakharov (; 19 August 1761 – 8 September 1811) was a Russian

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 representative of the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

. His designs also alternated

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

with

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

.George Heard Hamilton. ''The Art and Architecture of Russia''. Yale University Press. 1992. Zakharov was born and died in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He was a member of a family employed by the Admiralty board, and his greatest work was his renovation and expansion of the Admiralty building. He studied in the Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts from 1767 to 1782 with Alexander Kokorinov and

Ivan Starov Ivan Yegorovich Starov (; 23 February 1745 – 17 April 1808) was a Russian architect from Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg who devised the master plans for Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, and many other towns in Russia and Ukr ...

, and then in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1782 to 1786 with Jean Chalgrin. In 1794, he became a full Academician at the Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. In addition to the Admiralty building, he constructed several buildings in Gatchina and other towns neighboring Saint Petersburg.Большой советской энциклопедии
''Захаров Андреян Дмитриевич''
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The Admiralty

In 1805, Zakharov was appointed Chief Architect of the Department of the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. His focus was on conducting the management of buildings; including the design, and construction of civil, and industrial buildings. Reconstruction of the building of the Admiralty became the first task of the architect at this post. Admiralty SPB

The Admiralty building in Saint Petersburg is the greatest monument of Russian architecture in the empire style. It is a symbol of the Saint Petersburg and is the architectural center of the city. Zakharov preserved the plan configuration of the preexisting building, the initial building was of 1738, by architect I. K. Korobov. From 1806 to 1823, Zakharov created a new, grandiose construction, with the main facade extending 407 meters, and a majestic architectural appearance that emphasised its central position in the city with arterials converging from it in three rays. In the center of the building is a monumental spired tower, which became the symbol of the city. Zakharov preserved this old spire by Korobov and flanked it with two new neoclassical wings. The composition of twin winged facades with smooth walls, strongly protruding porticoes, and deep loggias is symmetrically located along the sides of the tower, creating a complex rhythmical alternation of simple and clear volumes. The building's sculptures added additional value and significance. Decorative reliefs were integrated organically with the large architectural volumes, sculptural groups along the walls emphasise the human scale in contrast to the immensely expanded facades. In the interior of the Admiralties, the vestibule with the main stairway, the meeting halls, and the library were preserved. The austerity of the monumental architectural forms was softened by the abundance of light and by the exceptional refinement of finishing.

Other work

The earliest works by Zakharov were several buildings in Gatchina such as the Lutheran Church of Saint Peter, Gorbaty bridge, Lviniy bridge, and an aviary.Т.Ф. Родионова
''Работы архитектора А.Д. Захарова во Дворце и парке''
Исторический журнал «Гатчина сквозь столетия» 2004–2007 гг. The church was designed in a simplified volume with gothic detailing. In addition to the Gatchina projects were the development of Vasilievsky Island in Petersburg, and the reconstruction of the building of the Petersburg Academy of Science in 1803–1804. This was executed in the tradition of the French school of town planning, where the unity of the ensemble was reached by creating a rhythm of the arrangement of buildings with similar architectural details. At this time Zakharov prepared the architectural plans for the Nizhniy Novgorod fair, which were realized by the architect

Agustín de Betancourt Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (; ; 1 February 1758 – 24 July 1824) was a Spanish engineer, who worked in Spain, France and Russia. His work ranged from steam engines and balloons to structural engineering and urban planning. As an educator, ...

in the following years. Zakharov created projects for developing buildings on Proviantskii island (1806–1808) and Gakernyi port (1806–1809), a number of projects for Kronstadt (St. Andrew's Cathedral, built in 1806–1817, which has since been demolished), projects for public structures and churches for the provinces, counties, and cities of Russia with a pronouncedly monumental disposition. The cathedrals in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

and Izhevsk both derive from Zakharov's cathedral in Kronstadt. Beginning in 1787 he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, and among his students was the architect A. I. Melnikov.

Buildings

File:Sviato-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral.jpg, File:Orthodox Church, Izhevsk.jpg, File:Cathedral kronstadt.jpg,

The Admiralty

Other work

Buildings

References

Further reading