Socio-economic problems of the Russian construction of art nouveau period (on the example of A.L. Lishnevsky's activity)

The author studies the specifics of Russian architect’s work on the example of the activity of prominent architect of Art Nouveau period A.L. Lishnevsky (1868-1942). The special attention is paid to the architect’s relations with the authorities, contractors and workers, as well as with customers and colleagues. The author shows the opinion of citizens about the activities of an architect as a builder and businessman, reveals the main socio-economic problems which the architect faced from the moment of inception and approval of the project prior to its actual implementation. The author attempts to trace the mechanism of professional networking in the architecture environment of that time, and to reveal the peculiarities of private architectural bureaus (“offices”). The attention is paid to the assessment by the architect of their own professional activity. A.L. Lishnevsky’s activity is a good example of architect’s work in the construction business. A native of the city of Kherson, he received the metropolitan education at the Art Academy, then for over six years (1895-1901) he worked as a municipal architect in Elisavetgrad (Kirovograd, since 2016 - Kropivnytsky) during the period of rapid economic and cultural growth of the town. After 1901 and up to 1917 he was actively engaged in municipal and private construction in the capital of the Russian Empire, Saint Petersburg. The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that the Art Nouveau period architect worked in capitalism construction market, and was forced to deal with issues similar to those that the architects of our time solve. The study is based on materials from Russian archives and periodicals of late 19th - early 20th century.