Art
Nouveau Architecture in Georgia
Georgia is well known for its ancient civilization and its wealth of older
monuments, but what few people realize is that Georgia also boats a significant
collection of buildings belonging to the 19/20th western architectural
movement. It should be noted that the history of Georgian architecture,
including the Soviet Period is scientifically studied and published. Only
the Art Nouveau style has not been properly studied. It was regarded as
a phenomenon of a "bourgeois culture", and therefore ignored and neglected.In
small colonial Georgia, remote from Europe, at the beginning of the 20th
century many wonderful Art Nouveau buildings were built: houses, schools,
workshops, cinemas, theatres, shops, banks, hospitals, and not only in
the capital Tbilisi, but in other small cities: in Sukhumi, Gagra, Akhali
Atoni, Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi, Dusheti, Abastumani, Borjomi etc. Many interesting
Art Nouveau tombs are located in the historical cemeteries. The reconstruction
of old buildings in Art Nouveau style is masterfully done.Internationally
Georgia's contribution to this style is virtually unknown. Whilst Art Nouveau
was an international movement, in Georgia Art Nouveau architecture incorporated
local forms. This created an original synthesis of European style facades
on the street side, and Georgian wooden balconies decorated with Art Nouveau
motifs on the back courtyard side.Art Nouveau style architecture is not
a mechanical repetition of European samples: There are worthy patterns
of this style with original planning, furniture, mosaics, stained-glass
panels, statues, fireplaces and other decoration of interiors and highly
artistic facades. In the Soviet period Art Nouveau was regarded as
a phenomenon of bourgeois culture. Whilst other architectural monuments
were scientifically studied and published in Georgia, Art Nouveau was neglected
and allowed to fall into disrepair.Many buildings are in a bad state of
disrepair and need of urgent specialist intervention. Other buildings are
at risk as well: with the changing economic climate, Art Nouveau architecture
is being gutted and refurbished.Unfortunately, the attention and financing
of the State is mostly directed only at the defence of an ancient
architecture of Georgia. The main threats of Art Nouveau monuments are:
endangered physical state of buildings, inappropriate modern intervention,
lack of maintenance, lack of managerial skills in architectural heritage
preservation, legislative vacuum in the fields of cultural heritage preservation
and lack of information about Art Nouveau's cultural value in the world.The
project director, architect Nestan Tatarashvili with her colleagues
organized the Georgian Art Nouveau Preservation Pressure Group (GANPPG).
The GANPPG was only able to carry out first valuable work after winning
in a competition held by the OSGF (Open Society Georgia - Foundation, Gr.
CH/1997) Cultural Heritage Program in April 1997. The Grant enabled GANPPG
to do the documentation of several significant buildings in Tbilisi, Batumi
and Kutaisi. In 1998, Nestan Tatarashvili received the grant of RSS
(Research Support Scheme. Prague. Gr. N1230/1998) for implementation
of the first part of the research "Art Nouveau Architecture in Georgia".
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