Age-old traditions of real masters: a new collection of the Presidential Library marking the 110th anniversary of the St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Today, November 29, 2018 marks the 110th anniversary of the St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering. Marking the anniversary of the long-standing institution, the Presidential Library has prepared a special electronic collection. The collection contains many rare documents and photographs from different years.

The starting point in the history of the St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering was November 29, 1908. On this day, construction engineer Mikhail Alekseevich Shummer founded the First Petersburg Polytechnic Courses. Over the course of a century, the school changed its name and addresses more than once. However, it managed to preserve and bring through the rich traditions of education and training of high-class professionals.

Details about the buildings where the college was located in different years is included in the historical reference (2018), which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal. Before the revolution, the school was located in house 5 on Razyezhaya Street. In the 20s of the 20th century, the First Petersburg Polytechnic Courses was renamed as the Petrograd Practical Polytechnic Institute. With the new name, a new building appeared. It was the apartment house of E. P. Dubrovich, built in 1860 by the chief engineer of E. G. Shubersky.

But only a few years later, the future St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering — and then the Leningrad Construction Technical School — moved to Bolshaya Morskaya Street (at that time Herzen Street) in the building of the First Russian Insurance Company (architect L. N. Benoit, built in 1899–1900)). In 1971, another room was added on Bolshaya Morskaya Street - the former Russian building for foreign trade of the bank (architect V. A. Schreter, built in 1871–1888). The educational process is depicted in the photographs (1960s). One of them shows how future architects comprehend the science of building design.

Only in 2009, the educational institution moved into a specially reconstructed building on Rizhsky Prospekt, where the Imperial barracks of government workers were located in the XIX century. Now there are spacious modern classrooms and workplaces. Here is a selection of photographs (2017), where you can see how classes are held today.

It is worth noting that the college has always led an active social life. For example, in Soviet times, students and teachers took an active part in May Day demonstrations, assisted collective farms in harvesting crops, and participated in sports events (1970s).

Thus, the educational institution is one of the most reading. The college has a library, the fund of which is quite impressive - about 50 thousand books.

St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering can rightfully be proud of its graduates. Yesterday's students today are the highly sought after masters of the highest level. They designed and restored a number of cultural and historical heritage sites in Russia: the Palace of Congress in Strelna, the building of the Constitutional Court (former Senate building) and the Presidential Library (former Synod building), the Buff Theater, the National State Archives and many others.

Of particular interest in this context are photographs of various layouts created by students of the St. Petersburg College of Architecture and Civil Engineering. You can also get familiar with these works on the Presidential Library’s portal in one of the sections of the collection devoted to an educational institution.