HSE.Cornerstone: 12/4 Malaya Pionerskaya
Building No. 12 on Malaya Pionerskaya Ulitsa has a complicated history. Residents of neighbourhoods and even some university staff members believe that a women's prison once stood here. This is not true. Before the revolution, it was the Olovyanishnikov merchants’ factory, which produced expensive church vessels. In the 1920s, the Geodesy Optical and Mechanical Plant had already found a new home at this location. This is where the first Soviet model camera Leica was manufactured, which was to become the best in the world, although that never came to be.
HSE.Cornerstone: 18 Myasnitskaya
This house was rebuilt first by merchant Old Believers, who owned the largest optical workshop in Russia, then by former peasants who made their fortunes selling houseware. The original appearance of the building changed with time: during the war, the front lost a part of its sculptural decorations and recently an attic floor was added which broke with the initial architectural concept. Even so, number 18 is one of the most remarkable buildings on Myasnitskaya Ulitsa.
HSE. Cornerstone: 20 Myasnitskaya
The main wing of the Higher School of Economics occupies a huge territory between Myasnitskaya Ulitsa and Krivoklenny Pereulok. Inside, chambers from the early 18th century have been preserved, which at one time belonged to Prince Koltsov-Mosalsk, a descendent of Rurik. Later, the home was owned for a long time by the family of the wealthy Armenian merchant Ananyan. Later, in the the 1890s, part of the reconstructed building on Myasnitskaya was occupied by the offices of Alexander Bari, where the famous engineer Vladimir Shukhov worked.
'HSE. Basis': 3 Bolshoy Tryokhsvyatitelsky Pereulok
The HSE continues the project ‘HSE. Basis’, which covers the history of the buildings the university occupies today. The second article is about Building 3 on Bolshoy Tryokhsvyatitelsky Pereulok. The main story about this place begins not in the distant time when it was owned by merchants (although it certainly was) but in the 1930s when the construction of a new institute began.
History behind HSE Buildings
The HSE launches a new project ‘HSE. Basis’, which will cover the history of the buildings the university occupies today. The first article is about number 8 Pokrovsky Boulevard which at various times has been a famous girl’s gymnasium, the apartment of the animalist painter Stepanov, and the editorial offices of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.