The Durasov House at Pokrovsky Boulevard
Prehistory of the Mansion on Pokrovsky Boulevard
The mansion that today houses the administrative building of the National Research University 'Higher School of Economics', was built in 1790 on Pokrovsky Boulevard to house the family of brigadier Durasov, but fate had a different purpose: the house became the abode of education. For the HSE, the Durasov House is valuable not only as an architectural monument, but also as an object of diverse research activities involving students, staff, alumni, and everyone else. One of the manifestations of such activity was the Wimmelbuch (book for viewing), created in collaboration with the HSE Art & Design School.
The Legacy of the Capetians and Ural Factory Owners
House on Pokrovka at the Beginning of the 19th Century
The Wimmelbuch book is divided into 12 chapters, each devoted to a certain stage in the history of the Durasov House — from the moment of construction to the present days. Each chapter is prefaced with a short essay that concisely tells about what happened on Pokrovsky Boulevard during the described period. Centerfold illustrations with a huge amount of details, solved in a comics style, complement the essays with bright, memorable images, everyday scenes, visual humorous sketches.
Big Changes
Pokrovka During the War Years
Return of the Lost
Restoration and Reconstruction of Pokrovka
HSE of the Future Starts Here
The idea of creating a Wimmelbuch book about the Durasov House belongs to HSE Vice Rector Irina Martusevich; students and staff of the HSE Art & Design School took part in its creation. The project was headed by the artist and curator Yulia Blyukher and the Head of the Comics Profile, translator and researcher Maria Skaf, the art direction was performed by an employee of the Design Laboratory, art director Svetlana Sebyakina, and the book was illustrated by Polina Kulchitskaya, Maria Stepanok, Sofia Kochetkova, Ill Krivaleva, Marina Vanyushkina, Alisa Atamas, Daria Litovchenko, Polina Gorshenina, Michie-Kuo Tumusova, Ksenia Sidlina and Alina Umirova.
