TRADITION AND PSEUDO-HISTORICISM IN CONFLICT WITHIN CONTEMPORARY SACRED ARCHITECTURE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article addresses the topical problem of the identity crisis in contemporary sacred architecture of Ukraine, which emerged as a result of the violent interruption of historical continuity in the twentieth century. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the historical preconditions of this crisis, which made it possible to identify significant regional distinctions: while in the East and Centre the destructive factors were prolonged imperial unification and Soviet atheism, in the West the natural evolution of the national style was artificially halted by the Soviet occupation of 1939. The methodological basis of the research is a comparative analysis of the architectonic solutions of historical churches and contemporary realised objects. The current state of church construction is examined, and the main destructive tendencies are identified: the ideological expansion of alien stylistic models (in particular the Russian “Synodal” style) and the mass replication of pseudo-historical forms (“blind copying”), which leads to the emergence of architectural kitsch. As an alternative to these processes, the experience of the Ukrainian diaspora (exemplified by the works of R. Zhuk, Z. Mazurkevych, M. Nimtsiv) is analysed, demonstrating that the preservation of the national code is possible through rhythmic and geometric interpretation of tradition without the use of superficial decoration. The aim of the article is to define new design principles capable of ensuring the evolution of the Ukrainian church. An approach to the transition from decorative-stylising to structural-spatial formation is proposed. A system of principles is identified, including the geometrisation of archetypes, the use of scenario lighting as the main means of spatial sacralisation, and the ethics of using modern materials. Special attention is paid to the social function of the contemporary church. It is concluded that such an approach makes it possible to integrate the canonical tradition into the context of contemporary European architecture.