Cameron Charles is a Scottish architect whose genius was developed and embodied in creations during the Enlightenment in the era of Catherine the Great in Russia. He created buildings of remarkable beauty in Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk.
Young years of the architect
The exact date of his birth has not been established. Presumably this is 1745-1746. And although he was a Scot, and it would be logical to assume that the future architect was born in Edinburgh, but historians indicate London as the place of his birth. His father, a construction contractor, wanted to teach his son to this craft and sent him to study at the Carpenters Company. But the young man was attracted to something completely different. He studied drawing and engraving and soon became an excellent draftsman and met the architect Isaac Wear, who fascinated him with the study of ancient baths and work on a book about them.
Italy
After the death of Wear, when the young man was twenty years old, Cameron Charles went to Rome to make accurate measurements of ancient Roman terms, and then correct the mistakes in the work of Andrea Palladio, the architect of the late Renaissance, and bring the work of Wear to the end. It took sixyears. After that, the monumental theoretical work "Thermae of the Romans" was published both in English and in French. Catherine II got acquainted with him and was delighted. Then she invited the architect, who had not yet built a single building, but who had a brilliant knowledge of antiquity, to Russia.
In the Russian Empire
Cameron Charles arrived in Russia in 1779. He came from England through Denmark to Kronstadt and then to St. Petersburg, and entered the service, having concluded a three-year agreement to work in the country where he was destined to become famous.
Replacing lush Elizabethan baroque with a light and austere antique style, Cameron Charles proved that classicism is viable and far from those warm and sunny lands where it was born into the world. The architect was an ambitious, but stern and gloomy man who put a wall between himself and the people. In Russia, judging by the descriptions, Charles Cameron did not make close friends even in the English diaspora. However, in 1784 he married Catherine Bush. In marriage, his daughter Mary was born.
Tsarskoye Selo
The Empress was no less passionate about antiquity than the invited master, and dreamed of seeing the recreated spirit of ancient Rome in Tsarskoe Selo. An extension was made to the Great Catherine Palace in the form of a building of two floors, on the first of which there are Cold Baths, and on the second - amazing Agate Rooms.
The Empress spared no expense, and the creator gave free rein to his imagination and knowledge. This building is built in a classical style that mixes Greek and Romanmotifs, and inside it is trimmed with jasper, marble, agate, gilded bronze. The building below was as if undermined by time. But the higher, the cleaner it became. The columns were getting smoother and more radiant. The second tier stood up completely timeless. He struck the eyes of his contemporaries. After each victory in the Turkish war, Catherine intended to erect a monument, combining antiquity and modernity. But this is not enough. On the second floor, Charles Cameron creates the Hanging Garden. Tsarskoye Selo begins to change. A newly built gallery with a colonnade leads from the Hanging Garden to the lake. It is completed by a staircase, which is decorated with bronze sculptures. This ensemble was started in 1783 and completed three years later.
Interior work
In the Great Catherine Palace, interior work is being carried out to transform the private chambers of the Empress and the state apartments. The bedchamber with extraordinary glass columns, the Sofa Room (otherwise it is also called the “snuffbox”), lined with white and blue glass tiles with colored foil linings, the Lyon living room, the wallpaper of which was silk, the Green and Domed dining rooms - these are all the masterpieces that he created Charles Cameron. Work on changing the interiors was carried out in the late 80s of the XVIII century. These Cameron pieces inspire contemporary designers.
Charles Cameron Salon
The large Russian-British interior gallery "Charles Cameron" is located in the center of Moscow on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya. Here they can create a magnificent, satisfying the highestrequirements of a family nest, and to finish the apartment. When working inside the apartment, all the wishes of the customer will be taken into account. In the dining room, for example, you can select the required zones. Its interior can be planned from the very initial stage, ending with such nuances as serving. Everything will matter: furniture, lighting, accessories, textiles. It is also possible to plan and design the hall - this business card of the apartment. Mirrors, consoles, lights - everything will be spectacular and stylish. There are special requirements for the furniture in the lobby. Its main aesthetic function is to shape the space. The hall usually follows a small hallway and is decided in the general style of an apartment or house. This entrance area overlooks the living room and is combined with it with color, materials and decorative techniques. So, a classic chest of drawers can become its center, on which bronze figurines, figurines of birds or animals, vases and caskets with inlay can be placed.
The floor can be accented with a marble rosette. There are a lot of options. Experienced designers cooperate with the world's best manufacturers, so originality, high craftsmanship, impeccable taste will be present in its design. Of course, the artists will show their high skill in the design of the kitchen, bedroom, study, library.
Modern requirements for comfort and convenience will be combined with classic traditions. Specialists of the Charles Cameron Gallery will give advice on how to choose the right apartment innew building. If there is a construction of a detached house, then in this company you can get an opinion on roofing materials. The company knows absolutely every little thing that concerns the construction and improvement of a house or apartment. Since 2013, the gallery has been operating not only in Moscow, but also in Cannes. It has a unique Library of catalogs and samples, allowing you to solve any problem. However, turning to modernity and the continuity of generations, we deviated somewhat from the original topic - Charles Cameron - the architect who created the style of classicism in Russia.
Sophia Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo
To revive Orthodoxy, to expel the Turks from Constantinople, to give the grandson an empire - these were the dreams of the Empress. In Russia, in the Crimea, as it was liberated, cities with Greek names were founded - Sevastopol, Simferopol. And at home in Tsarskoe Selo, she wished to build a temple similar to Sophia of Constantinople. Cameron did not copy it, but the similarity is immediately visible.
The central dome seems to soar above the entire temple, its elegance is emphasized by the unusual color of eight columns of black and red granite. It is not too similar to the usual Orthodox churches, but contemporaries were delighted with it. The main thing in it is simplicity and harmony of forms.
Works in Pavlovsk
In a vast landscape park on the steep bank of the Slavyanka River, a huge palace has grown up.
It resembles a noble house, very harmonious and visible from any point in the garden. An alley leads to it, andfree-form paths run from different parts of the park. The building is reflected in the river, and not far from the palace is the Temple of Friendship. It is a rounded rotunda surrounded by 16 columns and covered with a flat dome. In the center of the dome is a round window that illuminates the pavilion. It is located on a clearing surrounded by openwork light birches, poplars and cedars, blending very harmoniously into the landscape. It hosted breakfasts and dinners, as well as concerts. And then Charles Cameron continues building in Pavlovsk.
Architectural and landscape compositions
And on the other side of the river, opposite the palace, the colonnade of Apollo turns white. In a semicircle of limestone Doric columns stands a copy of the statue of Apollo Belvedere. The original building was completely round. But in 1817, during a thunderstorm, part of the structure collapsed. The view became historically reliable, and this added to its picturesqueness. It was decided not to restore the colonnade, but to leave it as it was.
In the regular part of the park, a poultry house was built, more precisely, the "Aviary", the central hall of which was connected to two small pavilions on the sides.
This building was an allegory, the opposition of life and death. Birds flutter and sing between sunlit and vine-covered columns, and in the pavilions there are urns, ash-guards and genuine antique tombstones that Maria Feodorovna, Pavel Petrovich's wife, collected in Italy. This light, graceful and modest building is one of the most remarkableworks of the architect, imbued with sensitivity and tenderness, which so corresponded to the spirit of the 18th century.
Gorgeous and pavilion of the Three Graces, which is a covered terrace surrounded by Ionic columns. Inside there is a sculptural group carved from a single piece of marble. The pavilion area is surrounded by a marble balustrade. It offers one of the most beautiful views of the park.
The last years of the creator's life
After the death of Catherine II in 1796, the unpredictable Emperor Pavel refuses orders to Cameron, and he, being in disgrace, goes to Little Russia at the invitation of Hetman Razumovsky. In his estate, an architect is building the Baturin Palace. Alexander I returns the architect to the capital again.
Charles Cameron died in St. Petersburg in 1812. This concludes the description of the life and works that Charles Cameron created. The biography shows that it was in Russia that his creative genius, completely innovative for its time, was used.
