Building of the Executive Authority of the Baku City

The Building of Baku City Executive Power is an administrative building in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, at Istiglaliyyat Street, 4. The building was built in Baroque style in 1900–1904 on the basis of Polish architect Józef Gosławski's project. The building is the last work of Gosławski. After his death in 1904, the project was initially led by Kazimierz Skórewicz, later by the Polish architect Józef Płoszko.

The building was constructed on the order of Baku Duma and is currently being used by executive authority of Baku. The building is registered as a national architectural monument by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan dated 2 August 2001, No. 132.

Preparation

In 1898, Kazimierz Skórewicz prepared detailed sketch project with assignment of State Duma, Construction Commission, which included Gosławski, Józef Płoszko, Skórewicz and Adolf Eichler. On 18 July 1898, after the Commission evaluated Skurvick's sketch project, it was decided to assign Gosławski the plan, façade works. It's unknown to determine if Gosławski used Skórewicz's ideas, since there is no sketch of Skórewicz in the archives.

Construction

Although the building was designed with side wings, the construction began with the main building, and the cost of such large construction was too heavy for the city treasury. On 18 May 1900, a solemn ceremony was held for groundbreaking of city duma and first administrative building of the city's personal services. The Construction Commission carefully monitored the construction progress and the quality process. Particular attention was paid to the quality of the stone chosen for facade walls, as it could have an effect not only on firmness, but also on the general impression.

On the eve of the construction of the first floor in the course of construction works, the governor of Baku requires the mayor to send the project to confirm it. He referred to the necessity of the governor's approval of the construction of public and private buildings for the community halls. According to some statements, Gosławski prepared a special project part of the building intended for the hall, "specially designed for the Duma sessions and designed as an amphitheater in the style of a parliamentary hall". The cost of this additional building was 51,000 rubles, and the cost of the whole building reached 441,174 rubles. Later this idea lost its importance.

After the main construction of the building and the cleaning of the construction dump, the chief city gardener offered to plant "a garden to serve the beauty of architecture" in front of the building. He drafted the garden and in 1904 this project was implemented.

After the death of Gosławski on 15 January 1904, Skórewicz, who was appointed to manage the construction of the building, made a great effort to keep the architectural idea completely and do not load interiors by Uprava and Duma. The weakening of the construction commission, which had completed the work of the building, led to the stoppage of work to be done, and Skórewicz, who could not work without the commission's decision, demanded the commission to take over the completed work because the successful completion of the construction of the city house was dependent on it.

Under the direction of Józef Płoszko, one of the flanks on the premises for the Upravan water pipeline department was built, based on the Gosławski's project. The construction started in the summer of 1911 was completed on 27 September 1912 and the building was handed over.

Use of bricks and plowing problems

The stones used for the facades of the building was shaved and prepared by the Atayev brothers (masters Salman, Aslan, Iskender, Abuzar, Eyyub) in Baku. Bricks were used on the facade of two upper floors as the artistic element of the Gosławski composition. At that time, new modern-style facing materials were beginning to be included in the structure of buildings. Since this was a very expensive material, it is not widely distributed in Baku buildings. However, in the architectural facade of the City Duma building, this color element has been an effective part of the building's history and modernity. For the second and third floors of the Gosławski's project, he included a red brick as a facing material in the overall estimate. The construction was successful and as Gosławski's report to construction commission, it was necessary to order a bricks to keep the construction going. While reviewing the history of the City Duma's construction process, it becomes evident that Gosławski was the chief architect of the city and the author of the building project, but did not have the right to act freely, and sanction of the construction commission was necessary in the solution of each issue.

When fasading with red bricks it became clear that white flakes could not be cleaned on the bricks. At that time, Gosławski, who did not know how to deal with this difficult situation and how to solve the problem, appealed to the journal of "Civil Engineers Society news", published in St. Petersburg. In his question, Gosławski explains that the sulfuric acid solution used to remove the shingles had a negative effect on the limestone used to cover all facades, saying that "it cannot be used, and I do not know any other method." At the same time, he was advised to familiarize himself with some articles in "Brushing and Cleaning the Brick" magazine. There is no information about the architect's use of these tips or the solution of this serious problem.

Tower

Difficulties appeared between the governor of Baku and the City Duma, who reported on 3 May 1901, to the commander of the civilian section in the Caucasus while building a tower directly on the front of the building. Because, any change in the plan required higher authorities permission. Based on the Gosławski project, the tower on the sidewalk reduced width of the sidewalk because it stood on the arches.