Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Tekhnologichesky Institut – Lines 1 and 2

Tekhnologichesky Institut, Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov

Tekhnologichesky Institut, Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov

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Moscow Metro – the world’s biggest Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Tekhnologichesky Institut – Lines 1 and 2

Tekhnologichesky Institut (Russian: Технологи́ческий институ́т, English: Technology Institute) is a cross-platform interchange station of the Saint Petersburg Metro. The station consists of two halls, both serving the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line and Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya Line trains. The first hall serves the southbound trains, while the second hall serves the northbound ones.

Tekhnologichesky Institut - 02

Tekhnologichesky Institut – 02

The first hall was opened on November 15, 1955, as part of the first metro line between Avtovo and Ploshchad Vosstaniya. The name comes from the fact that the surface vestibule is located immediately next to Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology. The architects were A.M. Sokolov and A.K. Andreyev (surface vestibule and underground hall). The basic theme of the station is the achievements of Russian and Soviet science. The basic material for decorating the underground hall is Ural marble. On the columns are 24 bas reliefs with portraits of well-known Soviet scientists. On the platform walls are placed decorative grilles.

Tekhnologichesky Institut - 01

Tekhnologichesky Institut – 01

This deep column station existed for several years as an ordinary station of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line, with trains traveling in both directions. But on April 29, 1961, the second hall was opened, as a part of the second line of the Saint Petersburg Metro. This became the first cross-platform facility in the USSR, coming into full operation on November 1, 1963.

The second hall, in contrast to the first, was built in the functional style, called for by Nikita Khrushchev’s program of total economy. The architects A.I. Pribulskiy, A.Ya. Macheret, and V.V. Gankevich designed an almost white wall with decorative texts on the marble columns, chronicling the accomplishments of Soviet science and technology, which were continually added to over time (until 1976).

Tekhnologichesky Institut - 03

Tekhnologichesky Institut – 03

Initially, the second hall had no exit to the surface and was connected to the first by a central passage, during the construction of which the bas reliefs of Friedrich Engels and Joseph Stalin were removed. Only in 1980 did the architects A.S. Getskin, A.V. Kvyatovsky, and I.E. Sergeyev build a second inclined passage and join the vestibule of the first hall with the second.

Exits from both halls are located at the northern end, with three escalators each.

On April 3, 2017, a suicide bomber exploded on a train in Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya line between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens.

Text above from Wikipedia.

As is the case in all of the Moscow Metro stations when might be images in their twenties they are really a smaller number repeated – normally four times. Such is the case in Tekhnologichesky Institut Line 1. There are in fact six images of Russian scientists which are repeated on four occasions.

The scientists (none of whom are Soviet scientists) are;

Mikhail Lomonosov – polymath scientis, artist and inventor

Ivan Fyodorov – printer

Nikolai Lobachevsky – mathematician

Ivan Kulibin – mechanic, inventor

Sergei Botkin – physicist

Nikolai Priogov – anaesthetist

The ‘decoration’ of Tekhnologichesky Institut Line 2 is truly bizarre. This is indicative of the influence of the Revisionists, starting with Khrushchev but going up to 1976 when Brezhnev was leader. Opposed to the beauty of the earlier station the ‘decoration’ of Tekhnologichesky Institut is merely consists of listing the achievements of Soviet science and technology, together with dates.

Location:

Admiralteysky District

GPS:

59°54′59″N

30°19′07″E

Depth:

60m (200ft)

Opened:

November 15, 1955

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Moscow Metro – Teatralnaya – Line 2

Teatralnaya - Line 2 - A Savin

Teatralnaya – Line 2 – A Savin

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Teatralnaya – Line 2

Teatralnaya - Line 2 - 01

Teatralnaya – Line 2 – 01

Teatralnaya (Russian: Театра́льная, English: Theater) is an underground metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya line of the Moscow Metro, named for the nearby Teatralnaya Square, the location of numerous theatres, including the famed Bolshoi Theatre. The station is unique in that it does not have its own entrance halls. The north escalator leads to Okhotniy Ryad and the south escalator to Ploshchad Revolyutsii.

Teatralnaya - Line 2 - 04

Teatralnaya – Line 2 – 04

History

Ploshchad Sverdlova station opened on September 11, 1938, as part of the second stage of construction of the Moscow Metro system. It was the terminal station of the Zamoskvoretskaya line until the line was extended on January 1, 1943. Teatralnaya’s architect was Ivan Fomin. The station is located at a depth of 33.9 meters (111 feet). The central hall has a diameter of 9.5 meters (31 feet), with an 8.5 meters (28 feet) lateral lining of cast-iron tubing.

From its opening until 1990, the station’s name was Ploshchad Sverdlova, which was named in honour of the prominent Bolshevik, Yakov Sverdlov. In 1990, the city changed the name of the square to Teatralnaya Ploshchad. The name of the station followed accordingly.

Teatralnaya - Line 2 - 03

Teatralnaya – Line 2 – 03

Decoration

Teatralnaya Station has fluted pylons faced with labradorite and white marble taken from the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Crystal lamps in bronze frames attached to the centre of the room give the central hall a festive appearance. The vault of the central hall is decorated with caissons and majolica bas-reliefs by Natyla Danko on the theme of theatre arts of the USSR, manufactured by Leningrad Porcelain Factory. These bas-reliefs are a series of fourteen different figures, each representing music and dance from various nationalities of the Soviet Union. Seven male and seven female figures attired in their national costumes are either performing an ethnic dance or are playing a distinctively ethnic musical instrument. The series included Armenia, Byelorussia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Each figure is reproduced four times for a total of 56 figures. Initially, the floor was of black-and-yellow granite patterned as a chessboard; however in 1970, the yellow panels were replaced with gray.

Teatralnaya - Line 2 - 02

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A bust of Yakov Sverdlov, for whom the station was originally named, was located at the end of the platform opposite the escalators. Only the base remains today. A bust of Vladimir Lenin was however, preserved.

Text from Wikipedia.

Location:

Tverskoy District, Central Administrative Okrug

GPS:

55.7578°N

37.6190°E

Depth:

33.9 metres (111ft)

Opened:

11 September 1938

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Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Taganskaya – Line 5

Taganskaya - Line 5 - Antares 610

Taganskaya – Line 5 – Antares 610

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Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Taganskaya – Line 5

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 02

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 02

Taganskaya (Russian: Тага́нская) is a station on the Koltsevaya line of the Moscow Metro. It opened on 1 January 1950 with the first segment of the fourth stage of the system. The station is named after the Taganka Square which is a major junction of the Sadovoye Koltso.

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 06

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 06

Designed by architects K. Ryzhkov and A. Medvedev, this pylon station was built with the post-war flamboyance in mind, the overall design is based on the traditional Russian motives in decorations. The central feature of the station are 48 majolica [earthenware] panels located on each face of the pylon. (The work of Ye. Blinova, P. Kozhin, A. Sotnikov, A. Berzhitskaya and Z. Sokolova). These contain apart from floral elements, profile bas-reliefs of various World War II Red Army and Navy servicemen each dedicated to a group such as pilots, tank crews, sailors etc. The colour gamma is balanced in such a way that the panels facing the central hall are on a blue majolica background, whilst the platform hall panels are monochromatic. Lighting comes from a set of 12 gilded chandeliers in the central hall with the same blue majolica centre. The remaining decoration of the station include a cream-coloured ceramic tile on the walls, powder coloured marble on the lower pylons and also on the walls, and a chequerboard floor layout of black and gray granite.

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 03

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 03

The end of the central hall once had a large sculptural group ‘Stalin and youth’, however this was replaced in 1961 by a new artwork of the same authors (P. Baladin and Ye. Blinova) depicting Vladimir Lenin, Coats of arms of the Soviet Republics and images of Hero-Cities Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa. This was also taken down in late 1966 to make way for a transfer to the newly opened Taganskaya of the Zhdanovskaya line. Further transfer was opened in 1979 by adding a stairwell into the middle of the central hall for the new station Marksistskaya of the Kalininskaya line.

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 05

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 05

Because the Taganka Square is located on the hill, in order to conveniently place the large vestibule, and also preserve a nearby heritage building, the escalator descent had to be broken, and an intermediate hall was added by placing a large cylinder and gradually lowering to the required depth. After a dome was added, the interior work on the new lobby began, the walls of which are faced with Altai marble, Oroktoy with Syringa shade, and the pilasters from white marble. The dome contains a large ceiling fresco, Victory Fireworks by A. Shiryaeva.

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 04

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 04

On 18 November 2005 the vestibule was closed for restoration, during which old escalators (installed in 1949) were replaced. All of the decoration features were renovated, and the upgrade included new turnstiles, ticket offices and security upgrade. The station was re-opened on 20 December 2006.

Taganskaya - Line 5 - 01

Taganskaya – Line 5 – 01

It was the deepest station in Moscow Metro from 1950 until 1958.

Text from Wikipedia.

Location:

Tagansky District, Central Administrative Okrug

GPS:

55.7418°N

37.6517°E

Depth:

53 metres (174ft)

Opened:

1 January 1950

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Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery