The history of the construction and reconstruction of the Yaroslavsky station

Subject: the subject of this research is the extension of the history of the Yaroslavsky Station building and its interiors’ reconstruction and restoration caused by changes in the cultural and historical development of Russia. Objective: to generalize the scattered data related to the Yaroslavsky station building construction and reconstruction; to find out what the impact of external conditions related to the various periods of development of Russian history and culture on the appearance of the station was; to find actual materials about restorers’ actions in the last decades; to trace the change in the functional peculiarities of the station. Methods: the methodology of the article is based on the principles of objectivity, consistency and historicism. With the help of historical and genetic method, the conditions that gave birth to the need to create the station, the reasons that contributed to the constant changes in the design of the building, its interiors and their content were examined. The functioning of the station building in a capital city was described by systematization of separate materials, generalization and analysis of data from various sources. Results: the main result was the statement that the Yaroslavsky station, being an important public building, retains significant changes in the development of Russian society in its history and appearance and reflects new ideas implemented in construction practice. Significant changes in the appearance and scale of the station building were noted; they occurred after the revolutionary events of 1917, the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the increase in passenger flow in the 1960s and attempts to restore the elements of historical interiors and exteriors of the station of the Shekhtel’s reconstruction time since the 1990s. The actual materials for the reconstruction and restoration of the station building in last decades, the expansion of the functions of the station premises, as well as the prospects for the development of work in this direction were elicited from various sources. Conclusion: the interesting experience of construction and reconstruction of the Yaroslavsky station allows saving and positioning of the most valuable elements of the building, designed by outstanding architects, tracing the nature of the semantic and engineering changes. The materials complement our ideas about the mutual influence of the transport system development and public consciousness on the architecture of the railway stations. The prospects for the preservation of the cultural heritage and the expansion of its functions are shown.