Belarus: persons and events (Vladimir Chanturia)

Vladimir Chanturia was born on June 30, 1923 in Baku. In 1947, after graduating from the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, he was sent to Minsk. He worked at the Belgosproject Institute. In 1948, he entered graduate school at the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. He continued his further studies in Moscow at the Institute of Urban Planning of the USSR Academy of Architecture.

The formation of V. Chanturia as a scientist and researcher took place under the guidance of famous architects A.V. Shchusev, I. V. Zholtovsky, V. M. Semenov, M. D. Koli, A. P. Voinov, Y. A. Egorov. In 1953, he defended his PhD thesis on the topic «City centers of Belarus», which was devoted to one of the urgent problems – the formation of central ensembles of cities. Since 1953, he taught at the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute (BPI) and at the same time studied the architectural heritage of the country. In 1965, he defended his doctoral dissertation on «The study of the architectural heritage of Belarus.» In 1968. He became a professor. In 1969, he founded the Department of Theory and History of Architecture at BPI, which he headed until 1988.

In the long-term scientific activity of V.Chanturia, three main stages are defined. The first (1954-1964) is associated with the identification, measurement and description of the most famous architectural monuments in Belarus. These include works of monumental architecture and urban planning ensembles of the XVI-XVII centuries in Gomel, Mogilev, Pinsk, Nesvizh, Svyatsk, etc. As a result, more than 200 unique architectural drawings, sketches, and scientific annotations were prepared.

At the second stage (1965-1970), little-known or completely unknown to scientists objects of Belarusian architecture were studied: the fortress house in Gaityunishki, palaces in the villages of Germanovichi, Opsa, Levonpol, manor houses in Porozovo and Zapolye, temples in Ishkoldi, Mikhalishki and other works of architecture of the XV-XIX centuries.

The third stage (1971-1983) is associated with the problem of preserving the urban heritage during the reconstruction of populated areas in Belarus. During this period, about 50 cities of the republic with the most ancient buildings were surveyed. The historical boundaries of their centers have been determined, the architectural value has been identified and scientifically substantiated.

The complex reconstruction projects of the Grodno and Vitebsk centers, carried out under the direct supervision and leadership of Vladimir Chanturia, were highly appreciated and awarded medals at the exhibition of achievements of the national economy of the USSR. The results of the research were published in the Belarusian Soviet Encyclopedia, union, republican, foreign journals and scientific collections.

The scientist is the author of special and popular publications on the history of Belarusian architecture and urban planning: «Architecture of Belarus of the late XVIII – early XIX century» (1962), «History of architecture of Belarus (pre-October period)» (1969, 1977; State Prize of the BSSR, 1980), «Architectural monuments of Belarus» (1982), «Atlas of architectural monuments and memorial complexes of Belarus» (1983), «architectural monuments and Urban Development of Belarus» (1986), etc.

V. Chanturia also did a lot for the establishment of the Higher School of architecture in Belarus. For more than 30 years, he lectured on historical and theoretical disciplines at the BPI. For many years he was a member of the Board of the Union of Architects of the BSSR. He was the chairman of the Scientific and Methodological Council for the Protection of Monuments of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR, a member of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Voluntary Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the BSSR and the problem council «Traditions and Innovation in Soviet Architecture» under the board of the Union of Architects of the USSR. He was a member of the editorial board of the Belarusian Soviet Encyclopedia, was a member of the editorial board of the publication «Code of Monuments of History and Culture of Belarus» and the bulletin «Monuments of history and culture of Belarus». The scientist made a great contribution to the development of architectural and historical knowledge of the Slavic peoples and is one of those who provided the Belarusian architectural science with international recognition.

Based on the materials of the National Library of Belarus.

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