«Pantheons of the Great Patriotic War»

1942 -1945

In 1942, when the Union of Architects announced a competition for monuments to war heroes, Chernikhov created the design-graphic suite “Pantheons of the Great Patriotic War” that embodied the tragedy and greatness of Russia in the Second World War. For the competition Chernikhov prepared nine Pantheon project-perspectives, made in large format (900x1200 mm), which was unusual for the author. He has worked out the detailed program for the Pantheon conceived as a grandiose museum.
After the War the total number exceeded 50.

The versions of Pantheons have been studied in numerous projections as to the subjects and compositions (in facades, sections and master plans) for the cities-heroes Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, Kiev, Minsk and Odessa. Along with this, Iakov Chernikhov arranged a number of pantheons, which represented the heroic burial vault of the military leaders and heroes of the Great Patriotic war.

“The Great Patriotic war made deep changes throughout the world. Neither people on earth accomplished so many wonderful and great deeds that were accomplished by the Soviet people. The suffering and greatness, struggle and death, labor and life – all this was interwoven in one unrestrained impulse and the Russian people wiped off from its road the consequences of the evil and madness. The events unprecedented in history shook the whole world, and our country endured on its shoulders all the burden of this terrible, inhuman and fierce war. The war rushed as a tornado over the vast space of our country having left behind devastated and broken  areas of the land. The whole deserts of death appeared at the place of hundreds of towns and millions of inhabited locations.

There is no doubt that all this will be restored in the future, and life will boil again at these places. The heroism of the people and its separate descendants will find the response among the architects, who will imprint these bravery deeds in visible grandiose landmarks, pantheons, triumphal arches and other deserving architectural works. This will happen in reality. And each of us should do his best in full measure of one’s talent”.