His talent was respected in the Russian Empire. After the revolution, our hero was instructed to create a new look for the cities of the Land of Soviets.
To be modern is to be popular. The creativity of this amazing person kept pace with the times, and sometimes even ahead of him. He knew how to admire the classics, but borrowing from it did not turn his creations into copies, or imitation of masterpieces. Such a subtle flair made Ivan Fomin popular in a country where the political and social way of life has radically changed.
early years
Vanya was born in January 1872. His happy father worked at the post office in the city of Orel. His position allowed him to earn good money and provide for his wife and two children - son and daughter Olya. The artist will become the husband of the latter. In 1876, the Fomin family moved to Riga, where the boy went to a gymnasium. This educational institution was not included in the list of the best in the country, however, it was there that our hero fell in love with mathematics.
In 1890, the graduate of the gymnasium went to Moscow, where he entered the university. The young man chose the Faculty of Mathematics. During his studies, Ivan became interested in architecture and decided to get an appropriate education at the capital's Academy of Arts. After the third year, the student fled to St. Petersburg, but failed the entrance exams to the university of his dreams. Fomin fell under the call. The dreamer did his military service in the engineering troops.
Rebel
Our hero in the army did not waste time in vain - he devoted every free minute to self-education. In 1894 he managed to enter the architecture department of the recently opened Higher Art School in the city on the Neva. After 3 years, the students distinguished themselves during the riots and the institution was closed. Those who wanted to continue their education were asked to write a petition. Fomin refused to humiliate himself before the tyrants and went to study in Paris.
In the capital of France, the young man got acquainted with the new style of Art Nouveau and became interested in it. Returning to Russia, Fomin was able to obtain an architect's diploma. Soon he married and became the father of little Igor, who, when he grows up, will also become an architect. Changes in his personal life and material difficulties did not prevent Ivan from shocking the public with his knowledge of advanced trends in art. In 1902 he became one of the organizers of an exhibition dedicated to the new style in Moscow. The public did not approve of the revolutionary Parisian ideas.
Changing course
Ivan Fomin made a significant contribution to the popularization of Art Nouveau in Russia. He experimented himself, combining this style with elements of ancient Russian architecture. In search of new ideas in 1910, he traveled to Egypt, and when he returned home, he drew attention to the development of Moscow. Now our hero with the same fanaticism began to popularize the masterpieces of the time of Alexander I.
The authorities approved Fomin's new hobby. After the publication of a number of works in defense of the Moscow Empire style, it became easier for him to build a career. The wealthy and aristocrats began to order houses in the neoclassical style to the architect, proposals were received for the project of monuments to the participants of the Patriotic War of 1812. At the beginning of the First World War, Ivan was working on a project for the development of the Golodai Island in St. Petersburg. In 1914, all work was stopped, and a year later he was awarded the title of Academician of Architecture.
Power is changing
In the turbulent times of the two revolutions, Ivan Fomin was engaged in teaching. Among his students were the famous Mikhail Minkus, Leonid Polyakov, Lev Rudnev. The biography of this freedom-loving person was ideal for a responsible post in the field of urban planning. The democratic-minded architect was invited to the Commission of Artists, since 1919 he headed the first Architectural and Planning Workshop.
As soon as the state was able to start financing the construction of new buildings, Fomin began to propose his projects, which were successfully implemented. The first works of the Soviet period of the architect's work were the Workers' Palace of the Moscow-Narva District and the crematorium. He made them in 1919. The following year, the master was entrusted with a number of significant objects in the city on the Neva, including the memorial complex on the Field of Mars.
Flourishing
The Land of the Soviets was looking for its own architectural style. Ivan Fomin proposed an original combination of empire style and constructivism. He called his invention proletarian classics. As a material for future buildings, this original saw reinforced concrete, which was a novelty in those days. In 1929 he was invited to work in Moscow.
In the capital, preparations were being made for a major restructuring of the city. Since 1931, Fomin has worked with a team that has created the modern look of Moscow with stately high-rise buildings. Our hero also managed to design administrative buildings in other large cities of the USSR, including the capitals of the republics.
last years of life
Mid 30s XX century in the USSR became a period of shock construction projects and grandiose projects. Some of the latter were so advanced that they remained only on paper. This sad fate befell a number of developments by Ivan Fomin. Perhaps this is what made him leave the ranks of the professors of the Academy of Arts and concentrate on more modest, but realistic tasks.
Ivan Fomin died in June 1936. His creations became models for those who rebuilt our Motherland after the war. The style, born after the Victory, was given the name Stalinist Empire style.
