The People’s House

 

The building at Polzunova 35 witnessed many important and dramatic events. It was here that revolutionary meetings and gatherings were held. During the October Socialist Revolution of 1917, the building housed the headquarters of the Barnaul’s Military Revolutionary Committee, which directed workers’ and soldiers’ activities.

Little is known about the earliest owners, except their last names and initials and the fact that they must have had enough money to build and maintain a house which stood out among others in an age when most of Barnaul consisted of single-story wooden buildings. This stately building is a specimen of Russian style. The main floor rests on a ground floor with arched rooms. The façade, its “plank” rustic masonry of the lower tier passing into the trowel finish of the upper part, is in conformity with designs used at the time in Russia. The composition of the building inspired by the traditions, of ancient national architecture is elegantly enhanced by decorative ornamentation. The façade is out through by tall rectanqular windows and the walls are uniformly articulated by pilasters. During the second stage in construction a modest wing of the same height as the main building was built along the western side of the property. The third stage in construction several years after the second, involved joining the wing with the main buildings and making a passage-way for carriages through the part of the wing adjacent to the main building.

The People’s House was opened on the 17^th of December 1900 and became the center of the public education. The House was brimful of versatile activities. In the first decades the building was one theatrical site, a number of Russian plays were staged here. The House was the site of various ceremonies. 1917 marked a sharp turn in the fate of the House which became one of the centers of the revolutionary events in February and October. It was due to the fact that the square in front of the building became the site of numerous revolutionary demonstrations against the czrarist authorities. The building underwent reconstruction in 1956 according to a design by D. Bazhenov and in 1975.

In 1936 it accommodated the Drama Theatre. As a result, the building still smacks of classical architecture with its columns. At present the building houses the Philharmonic Society. Usually, the concerts are on Saturdays and Sundays, but it is possible to pick up a program of concerts at the beginning of the month.

 

 

Text study

 

1. Read the text without consulting the dictionary, pencil-mark the words that you do not understand. Make up a list of unknown words.

2. Read paragraph 1, 2. State the main idea of the paragraphs. Follow the words “Russian style”. Copy out the words equivalent to: революционные собрания, пример русского стиля, рустичная кирпичная кладка, лопатка (штукатурка), композиция здания, традиции древней национальной архитектуры, декоративное украшение, прямоугольное окно.

Give Russian equivalent of: “plank” rustic masonry, revolutionary gatherings, the headquarters of the Barnaul’s Military Revolutionary Committee, a stately building, a specimen of Russian style, arched room, decorative ornamentation, tall rectangular windows, pilasters, ancient national architecture, upper part.

3. Read paragraph 3&4. Follow the words “the People’s House” through the paragraphs and make up a summary of the paragraphs in three sentences, either in English or in Russian. Copy out the words equivalent to: народный дом, центр народного образования, различная деятельность, театральная площадка, первые десятилетия, русские пьесы, различные церемонии, резкий поворот, центр революционных событий, драматический театр, филармоническое общество.

Give Russian equivalents of: Russian plays, public education, first decades, People’s House, various ceremonies, versatile activities, sharp turn, design, Philharmonic Society. Translate paragraph 4 into Russian.

4. Make up a list of words that you have looked up in the dictionary and give their contextual Russian equivalents.

5. Write an abstract of the text in three sentences.

 

 

Writing

 

You are going to write a letter describing cultural events of Barnaul to your penfriend. Make notes on your ideas. Then organize your notes into clear paragraphs according to this plan:

 

- introduce a topic;

- develop the topic;

- reach a conclusion.