You can't forbid living beautifully: how a Rostov resident fought for the Baroque in the entrance and what came of it

How to create a branch of Venice at the entrance with your own money and with your own hands, and then go to court for a long time. And it's not about flooding neighbors at all. Mikhail Triboy, a photographer from Estonia, told the story of a Rostov graphic designer who decided to decorate his house.

In Rostov-on-Don, far from tourist routes, in one of the sleeping areas there is an inconspicuous nine-storey building.

But if you go into her first entrance— you will have a cultural shock.

Floors, staircases, elevator, doors are decorated with a frantic eclecticism of plaster bas-reliefs in the Baroque style, forged metal ornaments, views of Venice in gilded frames, paintings based on Levitan, Monet and Semiradsky.

Residents, when asked who did all this, proudly answer: "Artist Konstantin Nikolaev from the fifth floor!"

Having bought an apartment in this panel ten-storey building in 2001, Konstantin Nikolaev noticed with longing that everything was dull in his entrance: green walls, gray cement floors. And the neighbors have "colorless eyes and a desire to sneak into their apartment as soon as possible, because who wants to linger in this discomfort."

Then Konstantin, a graphic designer by profession and a graduate of the Rostov Art College named after Grekov, caught fire with a difficult mission: "Well, you can't go on living like this, because people don't live in the world like that, they live beautifully."

Konstantin was 39 years old at the time, and he decided to make his entrance unusual by decorating all the floors for his money with a focus on the pre-revolutionary merchant houses of Rostov. To do this, the artist needed new skills — he learned how to lay tiles and install plaster stucco decor.

"When I started laying tiles on the floor of the first floor, the neighbors hurried by, afraid to meet my gaze, averted their eyes — everyone was afraid that I would start demanding money from them for the tile," says Konstantin. - And when I started to mount stucco decor on the ceiling, people stopped noticing me at all."

In the process of work, residents of three or four apartments approached the artist and offered to take some money from them (about 500 rubles) - he took it.

Like-minded people and enemies appeared. First of all, the board of the Homeowners' Association (HOA) did not appreciate his work. "My initiative completely went against their life position," Konstantin believes.

It is not difficult to guess that Konstantin himself lives on this floor.

The elevator doors are like the entrance to the dwelling of a rich Byzantine.

Diplomas and old framed photographs hang inside the elevator.

In 2008 , the Board of the house filed for Konstantin is being sued for actions without permission. According to the artist, neighbors at the entrance came to the district court to defend him, and the board members opposed him, insisting that all entrances in the house should be the same.

The court ruled that Konstantin should return the entrance to its original state. Then the artist turned to the mayor of the city, who advised him to challenge the decision in the Court of Cassation with the support of the city administration as a third party. As a result, Konstantin defended his project.

Going up from the first to the ninth floor, I want to look at and look at.

Since then, Konstantin assures, most of the residents of the entrance have fallen in love with the Baroque in everyday life, and from time to time one of the neighbors tells him a similar story: a repairman was called, and he did not go up by elevator, but on foot - he looked at the entrance. "When they tell me this, I feel that people are proud," the artist adds.

Konstantin told me a funny moment from his life in a conversation with me: "My friend told me that her daughter's teacher at the institute (RINH) talked about the superiority of private ownership over state ownership, cited my entrance as an example. They say that earlier, with housing offices, it was impossible for someone to decorate a public place on their own initiative. That's how me and my case are already taught at the institute."

Konstantin's entrance brought him local and national fame, thanks to the media that covered the proceedings, and became a local landmark.

In May last year, the city Department of Culture awarded the artist for the work done to create an art entrance in an ordinary Rostov panel with a badge of distinction "For services to the city of Rostov-on-Don".

Now Konstantin is 56 years old. In 1986 he graduated from the Rostov Art College named after M.B. Grekov. He paints paintings for sale, participates in exhibitions. The main profession is a graphic designer. (Photo provided by Konstantin Nikolayev.)