St. Basil's Cathedral
See the rest of the list of Unusual Building Designs here.
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, more popularly known as St. Basil’s Cathedral, is a church located at one end of Moscow’s Red Square. It was built between 1551 and 1561 at the behest of Ivan the Terrible as a war memorial, with the architects designing eight pillar-shaped churches on one base, arranging seven of them around the central church, using domes, polygonal towers, blank arches and sharp spires to create the shape of bonfire flames rising into the sky.
The architects took inspiration from Byzantine as well as Asian architecture, and used open brickwork which was a new technology at the time.
As Russian preferences moved towards the use of vivid colours during the 18th century, the onion-shaped domes were given garish individual colour schemes.
The cathedral has narrowly avoided destruction on several occasions. In the 19th century, Napoleon and his forces tried to dynamite it as they left Russia but the plan was scuppered by rain. Then in the 20th century, Stalin developed plans to destroy it, apparently for not being stylistically representative of the Soviet Union, but he was prevented by architect Pyotr Baranovsky who refused to prepare it for demolition.
Today it is a no longer a functioning church but a museum and popular tourist attraction, having become a unique and iconic symbol of Russia.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- A House for Essex.
- Architectural styles.
- Building of the week series.
- Cathedral of Brasilia.
- Chelyabinsk Congress Hall.
- Dancing House, Prague.
- Floors of the great medieval churches.
- Florence Cathedral.
- Habitat 67.
- Heddal stave church, Norway.
- Mahabat Maqbara, India.
- St Pauls Cathedral.
- St Peters Basilica.
- The Kremlin.
- Types of dome.
- The Gherkin.
- Unusual building design of the week.
IHBC NewsBlog
‘European Perspectives’ in Context 157, includes Jokilehto on ‘Concerning Heritage’, ‘Brexit’ takes and more.
Nominate for the IHBC Marsh Awards 2019 – Celebrate OUTSTANDING retired IHBC members, and SUCCESSFUL new Heritage Learners – Closing 28 Feb!
IHBC HESPR top pick from £200K+ costed work this week
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) seeks ‘Parks for People’ impact assessment, closing 28/01, value £55-60k.
Locally-driven approach is needed to rejuvenate town centres
Expert retail industry panel, the Town Centres Expert Panel, calla for a community-focused approach to tackling the challenges facing high streets and town centres.
BEIS Committee energy efficiency inquiry - deadline of 17 January
Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee inquiry into Government’s approach to delivering energy efficiency improvements to buildings – submissions deadline 17/1.
Heritage Lottery Fund: ‘Updated Policy Directions’ issued by DCMS
Following consultation, updated policy directions have been issued to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in its role as a distributing body of National Lottery funds.
BSI: UK to maintain European standards position
European Standards Organizations have approved a plan to secure BSI’s membership post-Brexit.
CIOB Parliamentary Reception launches call for improving quality in the built environment
The Chartered Institute of Building’s parliamentary reception on 12 Dec launched its report ‘Improving Quality in the Built Environment’.
Programme to support placemaking in England at local level launched
RIBA, Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), Local Government Association (LGA) and RTPI’s ‘Future Place’ will recognise, reward and encourage high quality placemaking.
SPAB awards for new design in historic settings
3 young architecture graduates have won the SPAB’s, Philip Webb Award, for schemes proving that with imagination and sensitivity you don’t need to demolish historic buildings.
Dounreay nuclear reactor demolition contract awarded
The decommissioning of Dounreay’s oldest nuclear reactor in Scotland has taken a major step forward with the award of a multi-million pound demolition contract.
image: Open Government Licence v3.0
Civic Voice plans for 2019 - more Conservation Area advocacy
Civic Voice has highlighted how ‘hundreds of conservation areas mark their 50th anniversary’ in 2019, as it continues its Big Conservation Conversation.
Launch of a new strategic framework for heritage science in the UK: 2018-2023
A new strategic framework for heritage science in the UK has been launched.
Planning Awards 2019 open - deadline 24 Jan
The 2019 Planning Awards have been launched, with categories including an award for ‘best use of heritage in placemaking’ among 25 linked categories.