Boltaevsky, A. A., Pryadko, I. P. Vladimir Shukhov’s Geometry in Bio Tech Environment

Abstract: The article is devoted to famous architectural designs of a genius Russian designer, engineer and philosopher Vladimir Shukhov amid historical processes ongoing in Russia and the other world at the end of the last century. The authors of the article provide an evaluation of his creative activity and study the influence of Shukhov on the development of constructivism and bio tech. The authors raise a question about the role of Shukhov’s original projects in engineering and architecture as well as architectural styles and esthetic philosophical movements of the first quarter of the 20th century. In particular, it is underlined that the opinion on Shukhov being an adept of constructivism can be partly disapproved. In this connection, the authors describe disputes of the leaders of Russian constructivists on Shukhov’s masterpieces. The last part of the article is devoted to the definitions of constructivism as a movement in architecture and art, on the one hand, and a logical-mathematical and philosophical approach, on the other hand. In their research the authors have used the methods of immanent criticism which was quite popular in philosophical researches of the 19th – 20th centuries. The immanent approach means an analysis of a theory using terms and categories of the same theory. Analogy is also one of the most central methods in the authors’ research. Allowing to make valid conclusions based on particular examples, analogy is a descriptive and evidence-based method. It is underlined that analogy formed the basis of Shukhov’s thinking as a philosopher and inventor. In their research the authors have used the general scientific method of historicism allowing to compare dynamics in different spheres of culture with the situation in the country and the other world. This article is the first attempt to describe Shukhov as a messenger of modern bio tech. It is also for the first time in the academic literature that someone tries to describe Shukhov as an engineer who followed humanistic concepts of his epoch. Noteworthy that so far Shukhov’s principle ‘to learn from nature’ hasn’t been paid enough attention in similar researches. That was the core principle in mathematical engineering design of the Russian designer and scientist and later the same principle had a dramatic impact on bio tech activists. The authors of the article also make an attempt to view Shukhov’s activity from the point of view of social philosophy and history of intellectual culture. The authors discuss the influence of Shukhov on modern bio tech architecture. Viewing Shukhov’s ideas in terms of modern bio tech is what creates the novelty of the present research article.

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