New Directions in Russian Orthodox Church Architecture at the beginning of the Twentieth Century

At the beginning of the 20th century certain influential voices in Russian architecture began to question the highly ornamental approach to church design that had reigned during the latter half of the 19th century.In the opinion of these architect-critics, the so-called Ostankinshchina style (named after the late 17th-century Church of the Trinity at Ostankino) seemed to deform the aesthetic purity of medieval Russian church architecture, even as it lessened the spiritual meaning of the church itself.In response, a number of architects, such as Aleksei Shchusev and Vladimir Pokrovskii, explored new paths in church design by combining a study of early medieval Russian forms with new technological methods.