TOMSK'S LAST ARCHITECTURAL STYLE - SIBERIAN ART NOUVEAU 
 
 
  
 		 The urban form of pre-Revolutionary Tomsk is clearly demarcated from the later Soviet period by its built heritage and in particular by the use of construction materials and methods. While Soviet building diktat demanded the use of brick, and later, pre-fabricated panel construction, the final phase in the architectural development of wooden houses in Tomsk was the Art Nouveau period during the first decades of the twentieth century. It was a simpler, more functional style than before, elaborate carved ornamentation being abandoned with the exception of some stylised motifs borrowed from local traditions of folk art and from medieval Nordic architecture, e.g. the restored house by the architect K. K. Lygin at 68 Krasnoarmeiskaya St. (Figure 13 - Blaser, 1994). 
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Figure 13: Art Nouveau House

Craftsmen to build in wood were trained at trade schools and Sunday classes held in technical drawing. Such a two-year school existed in Tomsk from 1883, and by the beginning of the twentieth century had over 100 students. They were instructed free of charge by architects and painters who had received special education at higher schools in St. Petersburg and Moscow, including those who had attended the Imperial Academy of Arts. (Shepelev and Zaitseva, 1987). Students learned drawing, composition, architectural styles, profiles, ornamentation, and modelling to develop an understanding of aesthetic harmony and to develop a taste for form and precision in their work. While they lasted, the classes were very influential in promoting a distinctively Tomsk style of architectural design, but were destined to disappear under the new social order established in Tomsk after 1917.  

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